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UK: expensive problem of aging nuclear industry

Nuclear industry: Crumbling stores, leaky plants and the dangers of old age Guardian, by Terry Macalister 20 October 2009

Dealing with the problems of old age lies at the heart of the nuclear industry’s challenge to convince the public of its safety: leaky power plants, crumbling waste stores nearing the end of their lives and overworked inspectors who do not have the time to assess properly the next generation of power stations.

Even with billions of pounds a year being poured into clean-up operations, it is a toxic legacy going back to the cold war that continually threatens to undermine the facelift given by the new private sector companies. The companies, mainly from France and Germany, have joined the government to try to convince the public it is time for a nuclear renaissance, on both energy security and climate change grounds. In recent days the industry watchdog, the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), has admitted that the possibility of a serious accident at Britain’s biggest nuclear complex, Sellafield in Cumbria, is still “far too high”, while questioning the safety designs of new reactors being submitted for approval……………

Sellafield is now being run by Nuclear Management Partners, a consortium of Areva of France, URL Washington Group of the US and Amex of Britain. They have let it be known privately that they expect to make some £10m each this year as bonus payments under the contract they hold for clearing up the site and reducing costs. They said safety took “the highest priority” at Sellafield, but they admit that decommissioning is a slow process and any delays could leave the risk there “unacceptable”.

The admonishment from the NII is a particular embarrassment for Areva, which has run into trouble with the same organisation over the approval of its European Pressurised Reactor design. The largely state-owned French power company EDF wants to build four new EPRs in Britain, but the NII, part of the Health and Safety Executive, is questioning the design’s safety.

Crumbling stores, leaky plants and the dangers of old age | Terry Macalister | Environment | The Guardian

October 21, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, UK, wastes | antinuclear, AREVA, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium