No chick sexers, please, but Britain needs more nuclear safety engineers
“British graduates from university courses were also too inexperienced to take on senior roles.
Nuclear safety engineers and mechanical engineers in the oil and gas industry were also put on the list as Prof David Metcalf, the committee’s chairman, warned the report raised “important issues concerning the continuing need to upskill British workers, particularly in engineering”.
Companies, universities and the government needed to work together to develop a joined-up strategy as the current programmes were “too fragmented”, he said.”
Britain could train its own chick sexers but could use more computer game designers and nuclear safety engineers from outside the EU, the Government’s immigration advisers have found.
By Wesley Johnson, Home Affairs Correspondent
3:33PM GMT 15 Feb 2013
A review of the official list of important occupations that the British workforce cannot fill revealed there could be a shortage of engineers for the next 10 to 15 years if workers from outside the EU were stopped from taking those jobs.
The Migration Advisory Committee rejected proposals to automatically remove medical, engineering, nuclear and education jobs from the list after they had been on it for two years, saying the move would be “disproportionate”.
Overall, the number of specialist jobs which need to be filled by foreign workers is falling as a series of health sector posts were removed.
Among the more unusual requests, the committee rejected a call to enable firms to recruit “chick sexers”, workers who can earn up to £36,000-a-year segregating day-old chicks by gender, from outside the EU.
There was simply not enough evidence that a degree-level skill was needed for the job, in which 800 to 1,200 chicks are checked each hour for up to 13 hours, the committee said.
It added there was “no reason why a facility could not be established in the UK to train UK resident chick sexers”.
Computer game designers remain on the list as the committee found shortages “had been exacerbated by talented staff leaving the UK”.
Russian nuclear officials report their sites unaffected by Chelyabinsk near-miss meteorite shower
The spokesman, who asked that his name not be used, added that “asteroids and meteorites are contingencies that are so rare they aren’t really planned for in terms of security measures.”
Charles Digges, 15/02-2013
Bellona
Russian nuclear officials said preliminarily that the spectacular meteor shower that cut a swathe across southwestern Russia’s Chelyabinsk region, home to dozens of nuclear facilities including the Mayak fuel processing facility remained unscathed by the asteroid pieces that injured more than 400 people. The meteorite, however, hit a mere 90 kilometers south of Mayak.
The asteroid shower was seen as far from Chelyabinsk as Yekaterinburg, 250 kilometers to the north, according to Russian media reports and eyewitnesses, and rained debris across one of Russia’s most heavily industrialized areas.
“All of Rosatom’s facilities in the Urals region are working normally. They have suffered no consequences from the meteorite’s fall,” the state nuclear agency, Rosatom, said in a statement released within hours of the strike, which damaged factories, schools and residential buildings. The blast tore the roof off a zinc factory and shattered windows for kilometers around.
In an area as thickly populated by nuclear facilities as Chelyabinsk, Rosatom could be counted as lucky.
No emergency plans for asteroids
A Rosatom spokesman reached by Bellona today said that, “Our preliminary assessment is that no nuclear facilities were damaged – but there are several facilities in the affected area.”
The spokesman, who asked that his name not be used, added that “asteroids and meteorites are contingencies that are so rare they aren’t really planned for in terms of security measures.”
A statement by the city administration of Chelyabinsk read that, “measurements have been made. Radiation levels in the city of Chelyabinsk are normal.” The city administration also urged people to stay indoors, accept to pick up children from school.
Area densely populated by nuclear facilities and contamination
The most infamous nuclear facility in the area, located in the hard-hit Chelyabinsk Region, is the Mayak nuclear-fuel processing plant which houses some 560 tons of spent uranium fuel, 30 tons of reactor grade plutonium and 500,000 tons of solid radioactive waste. It also stores unknown quantities of weapons grade uranium and plutonium.
Mayak was the site of a major accident in 1957 caused some of the worst nuclear contamination in the Soviet Union’s history, second perhaps only to the infamous Chernobyl reactor accident in the sheer volume of the radioactive emissions it released. The accident occurred when a waste storage tank exploded and showered radionuclides throughout the Southern Urals, leaving areas that are still heavily contaminated with radiation even today.
Other sensitive nuclear sites in the area include Lake Karachai – only some 60 kilometers from where the meteorite hit – which Mayak used as a liquid waste dumping facility for decades. Some 120 million curies of radioactivity are concentrated there.
The lake is now desiccated and summer winds carry radioactively contaminated dust particles into the air. An asteroid hit in the lake bed, said Igor Kudrik, an expert on Russia’s nuclear industry with Bellona, could severely exacerbate the amount of radionuclides blown into the atmosphere.
Likewise, the Techa River Cascade, into which Mayak has dumped so much liquid radioactive contamination over six decades that the river itself is considered nuclear waste, could also spread radioactive contamination were it hit by an asteroid.
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| Industrial reservoirs surrounding Mayak. |
| Bellona |
Local NGOsare lobbying for the entire river to be covered by a cement sarcophagus, a la Chernobyl’s exploded reactor No 4.
Other radioactive waste and spent nuclear storage sites that are speckled throughout the region could also have posed a danger.
Eyewitness accounts
Today’s meteorite hit was described in local media as a fireball streaking through the sky above the city of Yekaterinburg, followed by loud bangs. Chelyabinsk took the brunt of the impact.
The shockwave from the meteorite blew out windows and rocked a 19-story building in the center of Chelyabinsk.
Most of the some 400 injured suffered minor cuts and bruises from windows that were blown out by the hit.
But some received head injuries, Russian media report. They also indicate that some five to 10 people were taken in for critical care, including a postal carrier who suffered a heart attack after the blast.
“We saw a big burst of light then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud thundering sound,” Chelyabinsk resident Sergey Hametov told AP news agency by phone.
Another eyewitness, who was driving when the meteorite hit, told Bellona that the explosion “was as bright as the sun and followed by an intense heat wave – I thought it was a nuclear bomb.”
Asking that her name not be used, she said she was afraid the report from the blast would upend her car.
Officials say the asteroid showers were the result of a large meteor partially burned up in the lower atmosphere, resulting in fragments falling earthwards.
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2013/Meteorite_nuclear_hazards
Video on link
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2013/Meteorite_nuclear_hazards
Asteroid 2012 DA14 set for record-breaking Earth pass -BBC
It will pass closer even than the geosynchronous satellites that orbit the Earth, but there is no risk of impacts or collisions.
Its closest approach will be 19:25 GMT.
By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News
An asteroid as large as an Olympic swimming pool will race past the Earth on Friday at a distance of just 27,700km (17,200mi) – the closest ever predicted for an object of that size.
It will pass closer even than the geosynchronous satellites that orbit the Earth, but there is no risk of impacts or collisions.
Its closest approach will be 19:25 GMT.
For regions in darkness around that time, it will be visible using good binoculars or a telescope.
The asteroid orbits the Sun in 368 days – a period similar to Earth’s year – but it does not orbit in the same plane as the Earth.
As it passes – at a blistering 7.8km/s (17,450 mi/hr) – it will come from “under” the Earth and return back toward the Sun from “above”.
As it does, it will pass over the eastern Indian Ocean, making for the best viewing in Eastern Europe, Asia and Australia.
But keen viewers anywhere can find one of several live streams of the event on the internet, including a feed from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Nasa, available from 19:00 GMT.
2012 DA14 was first spotted in February 2012 by astronomers at the La Sagra Sky Survey in Spain – once a fairly small-scale, amateur effort to discover and track asteroids that has in recent years become a significant contributor to our knowledge of these “near-Earth objects”.
They caught sight of the asteroid after its last pass, at a far greater distance.
From their observations, they were able to calculate the asteroid’s future and past paths and predict Friday’s near-miss – which will be the closest the object comes for at least 30 years.
Alan Fitzsimmons of Queens University Belfast said that it is a scientific opportunity not to be missed.
“When asteroids come this close, it’s very important to try to learn about them – it’s become so bright, so it’s so easy to study,” he told BBC News.
“We get an additional insight into these small objects, which are the most likely impactors on Earth.”
The notion that it is these smaller, tens-to-hundreds of metres-sized objects that pose the greatest potential threat to Earth is explored in the BBC feature article Can we know about every asteroid? .
For skywatchers in the UK, the graphic below indicates roughly where in the southern sky to try to spot 2012 DA14.
Meteorite crash in Russia: UFO fears spark panic in the Urals (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
The Emergency Ministry reported that no civil aircraft were damaged by the meteorite shower, and that “all flights proceed according to schedule.” No local power stations were damaged, either.
Residents of the town of Emanzhilinsk, some 50 kilometers from Chelyabinsk, said they witnessed a flying object that suddenly burst into flames, broke apart and fell to earth. A black cloud was reported hanging above the town.
Published: 15 February, 2013,
RT
A series of explosions in the skies of Russia’s Urals region, reportedly caused by a meteor shower, has sparked panic in three major cities. Witnesses said that houses shuddered, windows were blown out and cellphones stopped working.
Atmospheric phenomena have been registered in the cities of Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg and Tyumen.
Lifenews tabloid reported that at least one piece of the fallen object caused damage on the ground in Chelyabinsk. According to preliminary reports, it crashed into a wall near a zinc factory, disrupting the fiber-optic connections of internet providers and mobile operators.
Witnesses said the explosion was so loud that it resembled an earthquake and thunder at the same time, and that there were huge trails of smoke across the sky. Others reported seeing burning objects fall to earth.
Police in the Chelyabinsk region are reportedly on high alert, and have enacted the ‘Fortress’ plan in order to protect vital infrastructure.
Office buildings in downtown Chelyabinsk are being evacuated. Injuries were reported at one of the city’s secondary schools, supposedly from smashed windows. No other injuries have been reported so far.
An emergency message published on the website of the Chelyabinsk regional authority urged residents to pick up their children from school and remain at home if possible.
Screenshot from YouTube user Gregor Grimm
The regional Emergency Ministry said the phenomenon was a meteorite shower, but locals have speculated that it was a military fighter jet crash or a missile explosion.
“According to preliminary data, the flashes seen over the Urals were caused by [a] meteorite shower,” the Emergency Ministry told Itar-Tass news agency.
The Emergency Ministry reported that no civil aircraft were damaged by the meteorite shower, and that “all flights proceed according to schedule.” No local power stations were damaged, either.
Residents of the town of Emanzhilinsk, some 50 kilometers from Chelyabinsk, said they witnessed a flying object that suddenly burst into flames, broke apart and fell to earth. A black cloud was reported hanging above the town.
Witnesses in Chelyabinsk said the city’s air smells like gunpowder.
Screenshot from YouTube user Gregor Grimm
Many locals reported that the explosion rattled their houses and smashed windows.
“This explosion, my ears popped, windows were smashed… phone doesn’t work,” Evgeniya Gabun wrote on Twitter.
“My window smashed, I am all shaking! Everybody says, that a plane crashed,” Twitter user Katya Grechannikova reported.
Many speculated on what caused the powerful explosion – some claimed it was a crashed plane, while others said it could have been a UFO.
“My windows were not smashed, but I first thought that my house is being dismantled, then I thought it was a UFO, and my eventual thought was an earthquake,” Bukreeva Olga wrote on Twitter.
It is believed that the incident may be connected to asteroid 2012 DA14, which measures 45 to 95 meters in diameter and will be passing by Earth tonight at around 19:25 GMT at the record close range of 27,000 kilometers.
Still from YouTube video/fed potapow
Still from YouTube video/fed potapow
Still from YouTube video/fed potapow
Still from YouTube video/fed potapow
VIDEO HERE with updated info.. …Russian air force shot the meteorite down and damage to building and communications infrastructure…. more…..
http://rt.com/news/meteorite-crash-urals-chelyabinsk-283/
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/02/15/asteroid-2012-da14-set-for-record-breaking-earth-pass-bbc/
Can citizen journalism change the world? – Amnesty, Witness and Storyful and CJs: Truthloader LIVE
truthloader
Streamed live on Feb 14, 2013
The explosion in digital technology has transformed the way news is reported — there no longer needs to be a professional journalist anywhere near what’s happening for the story to get out.
Now that everyone is a potential journalist, it’s harder than ever to keep abuses of power a secret, whether that’s torture by Assad’s thugs, or police brutality during demonstrations on the streets of London.
So what do you think? Can citizen journalism change the world? Or will their voices ultimately be ignored by traditional media? Or perhaps we’re entering a new era of collaboration between professional journalists and committed citizens on the ground?
Truthloader joined Tim Pool, Faisal Kapadia, Madeleine Bair (Witness), Majed Abusalama, Della Kilroy (Storyful), Michael Cohen (Rawporter) and Christoph Koettl (Amnesty International) to discuss these issues.
Our guests on Twitter:
Majed: @majedabusalama
Christoph: @ckoettl @amnesty
Madeleine: @madbair @witnessorg
Tim: @timcast
Della: @dellakilroy @storyful
Faisal: @faisalkapadia
Fukushima: BBC Debunked – Chernobyl: BBC Debunked
“A range of other evidence assessed by the ESC included a report showing there have been 6,000 cases of thyroid cancer reported in children and adolescents as of 2005 – with many more expected over the coming decades.‘”
Uploaded on Sep 22, 2011
Sources cited
The BBC Program
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014s49z
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vywZ8…
CNN Report Quoted
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-06-06/wo…
The Yomiuri Daily Table
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/…
Atomic-Bombing Survivors Study
http://www.dmphp.org/cgi/reprint/5/Su…
In light of that study, it’s worth noting that the Japanese government calculated that the Cesium-137 alone emitted from Fukushima as of late August was 168 times more radioactive than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/world…
IAEA Report Quoted
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/meetings…
NYAS Review (Yablokov et al.) Cited
http://www.strahlentelex.de/Yablokov%…
Extra: detailed complaint submitted to BBC over the program critiqued in this video :
http://www.nfznsc.gn.apc.org/docs/new…
@ 1:53 I cite a false analogy Al Khalili commits, which takes this form:
1. Fukushima and the tsunami are similar in that both were disasters.
2. The tsunami’s harm is measured by its death toll before 9/14/11.
3. Therefore, Fukushima’s harm is measured by its death toll before 9/14/11.
That argument from analogy is assumed implicitly in his comparison aired on Sept 14, 2011. We cannot conclude as he wishes us to that the tsunami was far worse unless we accept that analogy as true. However, it’s a false analogy on account of the fact that the harm of radiation exposure is also measured by the deaths it causes years and decades later.
BBC1 science show ‘downplayed impact’ of Chernobyl nuclear disaster
“The BBC Trust’s editorial standards committee (ESC) received a complaint on behalf of more than 50 co-signatories that the show was “extremely selective” in the figures it quoted about the impact of radiation released following the Chernobyl disaster and minimised the “more significant and contentious issue” of the secondary effects of health problems such as thyroid cancer.”
Bang Goes the Theory was ‘extremely selective’ in figures used about deaths resulting from Ukraine accident, trust rules
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 December 2012 15.45 GMT
BBC1 science show Bang Goes the Theory misleadingly downplayed the likely impact of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster by stating it has only claimed about 100 lives, the BBC Trust has ruled.
The trust’s editorial standards committee has ruled that a show broadcast on 3 October last year looking at the issue of nuclear power and the impact of radiation gave a “misleading impression” by failing to include research suggesting there could eventually be up to 16,000 premature deaths from the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine.
The trust ruled Bang Goes the Theory failed audiences by not looking at the wider impact of radiation, particularly given its mission to reveal “the truth about the effects of radiation”.
More “no news” from the BBC -Fordo enrichment facility (nearly a week late)
I am bringing you this “breaking report” of reassurance and confirmation (again) of something the IAEA is “reported” to have said (You can read the article for that bit though) .. This is pure propaganda design to reach all the people currently clicking on confirmation of this “breaking” story NOT mentioned by the media and NOT taken seriously in Isreal by any one with a brain or an internet connection.. I believe Christina gave a good balanced account of the “non story”on this website.. this BBC article/propoganda piece does at least give a reason as to why the story might have come out!
“……..Reports in Israeli and Western media……”
“…behaving like capricious little children….”
“…The false news of an explosion at Fordo is Western propaganda ahead of nuclear negotiations to influence their process and outcome,” Saeed Shamseddin Bar Broudi, deputy of the AEOI, was quoted as saying by the state news agency, Irna.
The head of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign affairs committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, was also quoted by Irna as strongly denying the reports.
Since Friday, various Western and Israeli media have been quoting Iranian sources as saying that the Fordo enrichment facility was rocked by a massive explosion a few days ago – shortly before Israel’s general elections on 22 January….””
(For “Iranian sources” look at someone from Iran or descended from the Shah of Iran or something like that.. Press TV would have covered it but the staff at the BBC and other mainstream outlets are not aloud to watch Press TV because of the Iranian “TV” embargo imposed by the EU, so the journalists have to kind of … talk to the Iranian neighbor or guess! Funny thing sanctions?)
I really dont know why I pay my TV license???
Heres an interesting video on how the BBC treats proper investigative reporters..
Note
1 week late is good for the BBC, theres alot of red tape to get through before an article is released, so well done the BBC, you are getting quicker!.. but they were 3 months late nearly reporting on Fukushima Daichi Meltdowns.. And lied too the British public all the way along!! Even the press standards commision complained about there coverage of Fukushima.. Now I am not bitter…… but i will be returning to the BBC.. and hoping that some arrests will be made by these liars and tv license pimps sometime in the near future.. imo
The BBC have ignored the plight of nearly 500,000 children in Japan living in contaminated areas!
who would have thought!!??
It has been noticed! It will be avenged! Peacefully….. but painfully i hope!
oh and heres tthe restt of the article!! I nearly forgot..
Issues of Radioactive Exposure are Considered Taboo on Japanese Media
WorldNetworkChildren
Published on Feb 13, 2013
On December 20, 2012, a multi-professional symposium was held in Tokyo. The specialty of the speakers ranged from freelance journalist, politician to comedian. The symposium was organised by Free Press Association of Japan, a non-profit organisation.
Free Press Association of Japan
http://fpaj.jp/english/
World Network for Saving Children from Radiation
http://www.save-children-from-radiation.org/
The Fukushima Collective Evacuation Trial Team
http://fukushima-evacuation-e.blogspot.jp/2011/06/about-fukushima-collective-evacuation.html
Obama pledges to protect Japan against any potential nuclear attacks
Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:39AM GMT
Press TV
US President Barack Obama has vowed his ‘firm commitment’ to protect Japan against a potential nuclear attack in light of the fact that his nation is the only one that has ever used atomic bombs, which leveled two Japanese cities in 1945 and killed nearly 180,000 people.
In a telephone conversation with new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday, Obama pledged the US military’s “steadfast” resolve to offer Japan protection against threats, including a nuclear one, according to a White House statement.
Obama further “reaffirmed that the United States remains steadfast in its defense commitments to Japan, including the extended deterrence offered by the US nuclear umbrella,” says the official statement, also released on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Japanese prime minister is due to pay a visit to Washington later this month for major talks with the US president and other top officials and lawmakers.
During the telephone call, Obama and Abe also discussed ways to respond to what the White House statement referred to as “highly provocative violation of North Korea’s international obligations,” according to press reports.
The development comes following a reported underground nuclear test conducted by North Korea on Tuesday, triggering the usual strong reaction by the US and its major allies in the region, namely South Korea and Japan.
American and South Korean monitors claimed that the underground nuclear test was much more powerful than previous tests by North Korea in 2006 and 2009.
This is while the US, along with Russia, possesses the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world and persistently seeks to upgrade existing supplies and develop newer ones.
Obama and Abe further agreed to collaborate at the United Nations to impose stronger UN sanctions against North Korea.
MFB/MFB
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/14/288879/obama-vows-nuclear-protection-of-japan/
UN declares humanitarian disaster in Mali as violence grip tightens
Published: 13 February, 2013
The UN plans to deploy about 6,000 peacekeepers in Mali to avoid ‘a catastrophic spiral of violence’. The international peacemaking organization has admitted a humanitarian disaster in the country.
The UN Security Council should reach an agreement in two or three weeks to ground the troops, according to Reuters citing an unnamed, senior UN official.
“As the situation evolves, attacks and reprisals risk driving Mali into a catastrophic spiral of violence,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the UN Security Council meeting on protecting civilians in conflict on Tuesday.
She also called on all sides of the ongoing armed conflict in the West African nation to “abide by international human rights and humanitarian law, and to prevent retaliation”.
The French invasion of Mali took a troubling turn, as Islamists started a campaign of guerrilla fighting using suicide attacks and landmines.
Local journalist Gonzalo Wancha, who is in the thick of things in Mali, told RT that some of the key areas in this conflict are still off-limits to international journalists, with the French army “denying us passage saying it was for our own security”.
The Islamists have been accused of brutal abuses during their 10 month-old rule over northern Mali, but Malian forces have also been accused of reprisal killings.
“The insurgency in Mali is aggravated by ethnic clashes. An RT camera crew saw evidence of executions and brutalities perpetrated by the Malian army in Sevare. The military are not the only ones engaged in hunting down people of Arab or Tuareg origin, who are believed to be part of the insurgency. The locals are going after them as well, and for some time it has been difficult to find people from either of those ethnic groups anywhere in Mali. This brings us back to the fact that more than 330,000 people have been forced to flee from their homes because of the crisis,” Wancha told RT.
Meanwhile Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has reportedly called for jihad in Mali. The call to holy war from AQAP, the global network’s Yemen-based branch, which was labeled by US officials as Al-Qaeda’s most dangerous franchise, came as troops sought to tighten a security lock-down in Gao, which is the largest city in northern Mali and the target of a string of Islamist attacks.
“Supporting the Muslims in Mali is a duty for every capable Muslim with life and money, everyone according to their ability,” AQAP’s Sharia Committee said in a statement reported by a US-based site, which monitors extremist Internet forums.
“The last straw for all those refugees, and indeed for all of Mali, has been a statement by Al Qaeda coming out of the Arabian Peninsula, which calls upon every Muslim to join the “holy war” against France – a war that is being fought in Mali, against the will of its people,” Wancha added.
France’s military intervention of Mali against Islamist groups started four weeks ago, after the interim government asked for help against Islamist insurgents who had captured the north for 10 months and were advancing into southern territory.
Paris sent in 4,000 troops backed by fighter jets and helicopters, racking up a string of early successes as the rebels were forced into desert and mountain hideouts by French and Malian forces in the north of the country.
Link to video here
Roof collapses at Chernobyl nuclear power plant -Video
Published on Feb 13, 2013
http://www.euronews.com/ A roof at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has collapsed under the weight of snow.
There are no immediate radiation concerns.
The Emergencies Ministry said “there were no safety breaches” and no one was injured when the roof of an engine room caved in.
The accident affected an area covering 600 square metres close to the concrete sarcophagus that seals the reactor from the outside world.
The contaminated land around the plant is designated a depopulated “exclusion zone” following the April 1986 explosion, the worst nuclear power disaster in history.
Find us on:
Youtube http://bit.ly/zr3upY
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/euronews.fans
Twitter http://twitter.com/euronews
NOTE:
600 SQUARE METERS ONLY? Hmmm?
No Danger but what about the structure?
No safety breaches?? roof caves in and no safety breaches??
i think that euronews is a bit pro nuke but thanks for the video footage [Arclight 🙂 ]
Huge section of roof covering Chernobyl nuclear reactor which exploded collapses under the weight of snow
A huge section of roofing covering part of the defunct nuclear power plant at Chernobyl has collapsed under the weight of snow.
Officials immediately denied any threat of radiation even though the accident involved a cover on part of the workings of Reactor Number 4 which exploded in 1986 in the world’s worst atomic disaster.
‘There are no safety hazards. The radiation situation at the plant and in the exclusion zone is normal. No one was hurt,’ said the administration at the former Soviet plant.
‘It cannot affect the radiation background. The situation is not even classified as an emergency,’ said Dmitry Bobro, the first deputy director of the state agency for the management of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, a no-man’s land surrounding the power station.
The sarcophagus structure covering the reactor, which is in the process of being replaced, was not hit by the roof collapse…
Greenpeace expresses concern about a meltdown in Chernobyl
“Even if they have not increased the levels of radiation it is very worrying,” said Churov, who warned of the danger that represents the radioactive dust caused by the collapse.
February 14, 2013 4:26 am
The Delta World
The environmental organization Greenpeace expressed concern on Wednesday by a landslide in the engine room of the closed nuclear power station at Chernobyl, scene in 1986 of the greatest catastrophe in the history of the peaceful use of the power of the atom.
“It is a bad sign: If a few panels fell in the engine room, there is no guarantee that it could not start to collapse the built sarcophagus (over the damaged reactor) in 1986, told the Agency Interfax Vladímir Chuprov, leader of Greenpeace-Russia.
The Ukrainian authorities reported that Eve was the partial fall of a wall and the roof of the engine room, which did not have any impact in radiation levels recorded plant.
According to the inspection of Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine, the roof, a lightweight construction, not part of the “sarcophagus” that contains the damaged reactor.
The engine room is located between the fourth and the third reactor of the plant.
“Even if they have not increased the levels of radiation it is very worrying,” said Churov, who warned of the danger that represents the radioactive dust caused by the collapse.
He added that the useful life of the “sarcophagus”, bucket of concrete covering the fourth reactor of the plant, comes to an end and that, precisely for this reason began the construction of a new, designed for a period of one hundred years.
Russian health Chief, Guennadi Onischenko, said for his part that the fall of concrete panels in the engine room “is not cause for alarm”.
http://www.deltaworld.org/international/Greenpeace-expresses-concern-about-a-meltdown-in-Chernobyl/
THE CHERNOBYL SARCOPHAGUS PROJECT OF THE FRENCH-GERMAN INITIATIVE
San Diego, California, U.S.A., July 8-12, 2002, paper 658
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THE CHERNOBYL SARCOPHAGUS PROJECT |
 Chornobyl Center for Nuclear Safety, Radioactive Waste and Radioecology |
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ABSTRACT
At the Vienna Chernobyl Conference in April 1996 Germany and France declared to support the international cooperation in view of a solution of the Chernobyl related issues.
In 1998 the multinational Sarcophagus Project was launched in the frame of this initiative.
The aim of the project was the collection, analysis, selection and verification of all safety relevant data concerning building constructions, systems and equipment, radiological situation, nuclear fuel, radioactive waste and environmental impact in a comprehensive data base.
ArcView® GIS, ArcView® Spatial AnalystT and ArcView® 3D AnalystT serve as a navigation system to retrieve the information from the data base using different cross sections of the Sarcophagus.
1. INTRODUCTION
After the declaration of Germany and France at the Vienna Chernobyl Conference in April 1996 to support the international cooperation of institutions of the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia in view of a solution of the Chernobyl related issues, three projects were identified, i.e. the safety state of the Chernobyl Sarcophagus, the radioecological consequences due to the radioactive contaminated areas and the health consequences to the liquidators and the population in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia after the Chernobyl accident. The projects have been funded by the governments and by the electricity utilities of Germany and France, respectively. In this paper the Sarcophagus project will be presented.
Figure 2: General view of the object Shelter and the industrial site from the west
Sixteen years after the accident of unit 4 of the Chernobyl NPP the Sarcophagus still remains one of the most dangerous nuclear facilities in the world. The ruin of the destroyed unit 4 and its surrounding Sarcophagus together are termed object Shelter.
The Sarcophagus was erected in a relatively short time period of several months on the basements of old structures of unknown stability of the former unit 4. Inside the Shelter remained about 96 % of the irradiated nuclear fuel inventory of the reactor of unit 4 before the accident, i.e. 180 t of Uranium of total radioactivity 7 x 1017 Bq. The radioactive releases to the industrial site of 500 m radius around the Chernobyl NPP during the first ten days after the accident were estimated to amount 0,5 – 1,0 % of the fuel inventory.
The spent fuel inside the Shelter and the radioactive contamination at the industrial site have an essential impact on all human activities concerned with investigation work, maintenance and stabilization measures which are presently under progress e.g. in the framework of the Shelter Implementation Plan because of the radiation exposure.
For planning of any actions towards a stabilization of the unstable building constructions of the Shelter and of measures to retain the radioactive materials inside the Sarcophagus a unified and comprehensive data base of all safety relevant technical data describing the present safety state of the Shelter is required.
Hence, the main aim of the Shelter project was the collection, analysis and selection as well as verification of all existing safety relevant data of the Shelter and the creation of an appropriate data base.
2. PROJECT ORGANISATION
The project management is being carried out by GRS and IRSN on behalf of the German and French governments and utilities, respectively. The local project coordination in Ukraine is carried out by the Chornobyl Centre which will also be the beneficiary of the work. The work is being performed by local contractors in Ukraine and Russia. The progress of work is being frequently estimated and ruled by the project review group from the above mentioned organizations together with the contractors.
During a preparation phase after the declaration of the initiative in 1996 the main tasks of the project were identified and the terms of references including detailed technical specifications of the work were elaborated. These main tasks are Building Constructions, Systems and Equipment, Radiological Situation, Fuel Containing Materials and Radioactive Waste and Environmental Impact. In May 1998 the first sub-projects with the local contractors were launched.
The project duration was three years, the total budget amounts to 2 Million Euro. The technical organization of the project is the following. For each technical task, in a first step, the main sources of information, i.e. technical documents, publications etc., were identified and described in a bibliography. In the next steps the technical quantities of interest were extracted from theses documents and input into the data base. The input of data is being performed by the contractors using especially designed interfaces, which address the kind and the total amount of data for the given task. The development of interfaces, the structure and the configuration of the data base as well as the data integration are subject to a separate contract. This work is being performed by ECOMM, which is the main Esri distributor for Ukraine.
Besides internal quality control of the technical data, performed by each of the contractors, additionally an independent expert team of Atomaudit (AA), Kiev, Ukraine, was involved in external quality control of the work. The configuration of the data base and data integration was also subject to independent control by a GRS supervisor.
3. CONTENTS OF WORK
1 This Month
26 April – Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown airs on National Geographic on Sunday 26th April from 4pm
29 April – Nuclear Expert Webinar #1 – Radiation Impacts on Families with Mary Olson and Cindy Folkers
- 12:15 PM MT – 1:45 PM MT
- Location: Virtual – REGISTER TODAY
4 May -West Suburban Peace Coalition to discuss Iran war at May Educational Forum
Monday, May 4, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
Title: : How Trump’s Narrative Tries to Shape the Reality of the War on Iran.
Contact Walt Zlotow, zlotow@hotmail.com 630 442 3045 for further information
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
Pine Ridge Uranium is the real threat, not Tehran- Tell Burgum: Stop the Extraction.
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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