reactor safety

UK nuclear reactors are defective, say government inspectors

Posted by bex — 5 July 2006 at 8:00am - Comments

A huge KAPOW projected onto Torness power station

A nuclear expert has called for nuclear reactors in the UK to be "immediately shut down" after secret documents written by government inspectors reveal they contain structural defects.

The documents - which were passed to Greenpeace days before Tony Blair is expected to give the go-ahead to a new generation of nuclear power stations - show that the government's Nuclear Safety Directorate (NSD) has identified cracks in the cores of up to 14 UK reactors, rendering them at increased risk of a radiological accident.

Article tagged as: climate change, decentralised energy, government, nuclear power, reactor safety, tony blair

The future for nuclear power?

Posted by bex — 19 May 2006 at 8:00am - Comments

Friday the 13th

A secret document has revealed that the new breed of nuclear reactor Blair is considering building is highly vulnerable to terrorist attack.

The Electricite de France (EDF) document looks at the vulnerability to terrorist attack of the new European Pressurised Reactors (EPR). These reactors are already under construction in France and Finland and may be built in the UK if Tony Blair has his way.

Article tagged as: government, nuclear power, reactor safety, terrorism

Assessment of the operational risks and hazards of the EPR when subject to aircraft crash

Last edited 19 May 2006 at 8:00am
Publication date: 
19 May, 2006

A brief review of a confidential leaked EdF document

Summary

This is a brief review of a confidential EdF document that has been leaked to the public domain in France.

The EdF document relates to the projected performance of the AREVA designed Generation III EPR reactor. The first of this reactor type is presently being built at Olkiluoto in Finland and construction of a second EPR is expected to commence shortly at the established nuclear power station site at Flamanville in France.

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Article tagged as: EDF, EPR, nuclear accidents, nuclear power, reactor safety, reports, terrorism

Chernobyl: "Never again"

Last edited 26 April 2006 at 8:00am
Pictures in an abandoned kindergarten in Prypyat, only a few miles from Chernobyl

Pictures in an abandoned kindergarten in Prypyat, only a few miles from Chernobyl

Article tagged as: chernobyl, health impacts, meltdown, nuclear accidents, nuclear power, reactor safety

Interim Review: Leak of radioactive liquor in the feed clarification cell at BNG THORP Sellafield

Last edited 20 April 2006 at 8:00am
Publication date: 
20 April, 2006

Review of the management and technical aspects of the failure and its implications for the future of THORP

Summary

Published by nuclear engineers John Large & Associates, this review examines the failure of pipework in the feed clarification cell of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant (THORP) at Sellafield that resulted in closure of the plant in April 2005. Operation of THORP is contracted to the British Nuclear Group (BNG) and owned by the government agency the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

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Article tagged as: BNG, NDA, nuclear accidents, nuclear power, radioactivity, reactor safety, reports, sellafield

The Chernobyl catastrophe - consequences on human health

Last edited 18 April 2006 at 8:00am
Publication date: 
18 April, 2006

Summary

In the past twenty years it has become clear, that nuclear energy conceals dangers, in some aspects, even greater than atomic weapons: the ejecta from this one reactor exceeded the radioactive contamination caused by the nuclear weapons used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki by one hundred times.

It has become clear that one nuclear reactor can contaminate half of the Earth and that no longer, not in one single country, could citizens be assured that the state will have the forethought and wisdom to protect them from nuclear misfortunes.

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Article tagged as: chernobyl, health impacts, nuclear accidents, nuclear power, radioactivity, reactor safety, reports, russia

Fallout: the human cost of nuclear catastrophe

Posted by bex — 5 April 2006 at 8:00am - Comments

Fallout: the human cost of nuclear catastrophe

Chernobyl fallout exhibition - Annya


A photographic exhibition to mark the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster

Article tagged as: chernobyl, exhibitions, nuclear accidents, nuclear power, reactor safety

Nuclear power: boom or bust?

Posted by bex — 7 March 2006 at 9:00am - Comments

A giant KAPOW is projected onto the dome at Sizewell

Over the past fortnight an enormous projection reading "KAPOW!" has materialised on several of the UK's nuclear power stations, highlighting the risk of terrorist attack to nuclear sites.

Greenpeace volunteers drove up to the perimeter fences of Dungeness, Sizewell, Wylfa, Oldbury, Heysham and Torness nuclear power stations and projected the cartoon-style image onto the walls.

Article tagged as: energy review, nuclear power, reactor safety, terrorism

Nuclear power and terrorism

Last edited 13 January 2006 at 9:00am
Publication date: 
13 January, 2006

Summary

Building more nuclear power stations will dramatically increase the risk of a catastrophic terrorist attack, which could claim millions of lives. This shocking dossier of expert evidence shows how a terrorist strike, targetting dangerous radioactive waste held at the Sellafield nuclear facility in Cumbria, could kill over two million people.

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Article tagged as: nuclear accidents, nuclear power, nuclear waste, reactor safety, reports, sellafield, terrorism

No new nuclear power: Greenpeace submission to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee

Last edited 10 October 2005 at 8:00am
Publication date: 
10 October, 2005

Summary

In detailed evidence to the Committee, Greenpeace has shown that a new reactor programme would: be an expensive gamble using an untried reactor design; increase the UK's nuclear waste stockpile by 400%; take too long to build to reduce CO2 emissions in line with the government's 2020 target; and provide more targets for terrorist attacks.

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Article tagged as: climate change, nuclear power, reactor safety, reports, terrorism