nuclear-news

The European commission has been accused of ‘dodging tough questions’ on the safety of nuclear plants in Europe.

Commenting ahead of the report’s publication on Thursday, Greens/EFA joint leader Rebecca Harms said, “The final report of the EU nuclear stress test charade looks set to dodge all the tough questions as expected. One thing seems clear: this exercise has been orchestrated to cause as little stress to the nuclear industry as possible.

“Safety campaigners also say the tests “fail to properly assess a host of key risks to nuclear reactors and contain no proposals to close unsafe reactors.”

According to the leaks, safety regimes vary greatly and the commission report will say that Europe’s nuclear reactors need investment of €10-25bn.

The commission is also expected to propose new laws next year, including on insurance and liability, to “improve the situation of potential victims in the event of a nuclear accident”.

Of the 134 EU nuclear reactors grouped across 68 sites, 111 have more than 100,000 inhabitants living within 30km.”

By Martin Banks – 3rd October 2012

The attack from the Greens group in parliament comes ahead of this week’s publication of a commission report of the outcome of ‘stress tests’ on Europe’s nuclear reactors.

The stress test report was commissioned by the executive in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in Japan last year and is expected to be adopted on Thursday.

The review was designed to ensure a disaster like Japan’s Fukushima cannot happen in Europe.

It has been claimed that leaked drafts appear to confirm fears that large numbers of nuclear reactors in Europe are deficient in basic security areas.

Safety campaigners also say the tests “fail to properly assess a host of key risks to nuclear reactors and contain no proposals to close unsafe reactors.”

According to the leaks, safety regimes vary greatly and the commission report will say that Europe’s nuclear reactors need investment of €10-25bn.

The commission is also expected to propose new laws next year, including on insurance and liability, to “improve the situation of potential victims in the event of a nuclear accident”.

Of the 134 EU nuclear reactors grouped across 68 sites, 111 have more than 100,000 inhabitants living within 30km.

The stress tests were designed to establish whether nuclear plants can withstand natural disasters, aircraft crashes and management failures, as well as whether adequate systems are in place to deal with power disruptions.

All 14 member states that operate nuclear plants took part, plus Lithuania (see note – arclight2011), which is decommissioning its nuclear units. Switzerland and Ukraine also joined in the exercise…….

[note 1 : Hitachi vice-president says regional partners key to Lithuania’s nuclear plant project    Published: 14 September 2012 14:32  http://www.15min.lt/en/article/business/hitachi-vice-president-says-regional-partners-key-to-lithuania-s-nuclear-plant-project-527-249147   ]

[note 2 :  https://nuclear-news.net/2012/09/30/belarusian-anti-nuclear-activists-blacklisted-by-lithuanian-government/   ]

The German deputy added, “While the report found deficiencies in many of Europe’s nuclear reactors, there are no real proposals for follow-up. However, the fact that the stress tests failed to address risks in crucial areas – ageing technology, terrorist attacks or human error – is a more damning indictment of the whole exercise.

“At the very least, the commission should be pressing for the security deficiencies identified in the report to be rectified. However, given the prohibitive costs – with estimates of up to €25bn – investors will only be willing to commit to this if the reactors stay online far longer than foreseen for safety reasons.

“These stress tests cannot be used as an excuse to justify lifetime extensions for decrepit nuclear reactors. If this exercise was serious, the commission should be recommending the closure of unsafe or ageing reactors.”

Further comment came from Roger Spautz, energy campaigner at Greenpeace – which believes nuclear power should be phased out, who said, “The stress tests only give a limited view.”

http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/eu-commission-accused-of-nuclear-safety-dodge/#.UGwffphG98E

Experts say safety must be improved at almost all of Europe’s nuclear power plants.

02/10 02:33 CET

[…]

Most of the recommendations are for reactors in France. This is not surprising; France is the EU’s biggest producer of nuclear power, housing 58 of the bloc’s 147 reactors.

[…]

The news will please environmental campaigners Greenpeace, who have maintained a high profile campaign to highlight safety issues.

Back in May a paraglider landed inside a French nuclear plant, in a bid to highlight its vulnerability to an attack from the air.

http://www.euronews.com/2012/10/02/eu-nuclear-plant-safety-must-be-improved/

October 3, 2012 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized