nuclear-news

Flight over nuclear reactor, smoke bombs dropped on reactor building

Activists fly over nuclear plant in Spain http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/activists-fly-over-nuclear-plant-in-spain-1.1032248 Stunt designed to prove lack of security at the plant AFP  June 6, 2012 Madrid Two Greenpeace activists flew over Spain’s oldest nuclear power plant on Tuesday in a motorised paraglider to draw attention to the alleged lack of security at the facility, the organisation said.

The activists threw smoke bombs on the roof of the building that houses the reactor of the Garona nuclear plant located near the northern city of Burgos from the paraglider, which carried a banner that read “Garona close now”.

In February Spain’s conservative government extended by five years the operating licence of Garona, which began operating in 1971. “With this action Greenpeace reiterates that there is no economic or energetic reason that justifies the extension of Garona’s licence,”
Greenpeace said in a statement, adding its stunt “highlights the lack
of safety at the plant”. Garona is owned in equal parts by Spanish
power companies Iberdrola and Endesa via their joint venture Nuclenor.
Greenpeace has pressed for its closure, portraying it as a “twin
sister” of the Fukushima plant in Japan that was hit by an earthquake
and tsunami in March 2011, causing reactor meltdowns.
Garona had been due to close on April 1, 2013, under a decision taken
by Spain’s previous Socialist government.
But lawmakers in February agreed to eliminate the pre-established
lifespan limit of 40 years for the country’s six nuclear power
stations as Spain tries to reduce its dependence on petroleum energy
sources.
Last month Greenpeace activists in France flew a motorised paraglider
inside the grounds of the Bugey nuclear power plant in the south-east
of the country to expose the vulnerability of the facility.

June 6, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, Spain