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Nuclear Free Local Authorities call for ”no watering down” of safety regulations regarding future nuclear fusion reactors

The Nuclear Free Local Authorities Network has called for ‘no watering
down’ of the safety regulations that will be applied to future fusion
reactors in its response to a public consultation by the Department of
Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.

In his letter to the BEIS, Councillor David Blackburn, Chair of the NFLA Steering Committee, outlines
the many challenges and risks that would be posed by operating nuclear
fusion, including the risk posed by the large quantities of radioactive
wastes that would result and the danger of radioactive tritium entering the
water supply.

Most frightening is the requirement to constantly and safely
contain the immense temperatures needed to spark and sustain a fusion
reaction and the long-term damage that the whole structure will suffer from
prolonged exposure to neutron radiation, a situation which if not carefully
monitored could result in the very integrity of the reactor vessel being
placed in jeopardy.

 NFLA 15th Dec 2021

December 17, 2021 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, technology, UK