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France’s nuclear industry not safe or clean

European Expert: U.S. Policymakers Are “As Wrong As They Can Be” About the French Experience With Nuclear Power
The Alliance 27 Sept 09 “…………French nuclear power is not “safer” … and the nation does not have a long term solution to waste storage. The operators of the 200 nuclear facilities in France declare a very large number of events — considered relevant for safety — every year. EDF alone declares between 10,000 and 12,000, of which 700 to 800 are deemed “incidents” or “significant events”.

Large amounts of radioactive waste arise from the French nuclear programme. In total, close to 890,000 cubic meters (m3) of radioactive waste had been produced by the end of 2004. Almost 40 percent of this amount is linked to reprocessing. This total does not account for some 12,000 m3 of waste from the reprocessing plant in Marcoule that was dumped into the sea in 1967 and 1969.

While reprocessing is presented as a means to reduce the volume of highly-radioactive long-lived wastes in final disposal, it actually increases the complexity of waste management, and thereby the danger for the population and environment. Reprocessing comes with numerous extra nuclear facilities and transports, each creating extra safety risks.

But also ‘normal’ radiation exposure arising from routine operations increases, for example by the radioactive discharges of La Hague reprocessing plants, with authorized discharge levels up to 1000 times higher than those applying to the nearby Flamanville nuclear power station. And even France, supposedly the country of nuclear expertise, has no long-term solution for its nuclear wastes….

… THE Alliance … THE Alliance … THE Alliance …: European Expert: US policymakers wrong about French experience with nuclear power

September 28, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, France, wastes | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reprocessing, uranium, wastes