Los Alamos National Laboratory lost 250 barrels of nuke waste
The contractor that’s been in charge of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s operations for the past year lost track of 250 barrels of waste, while the company heading the legacy cleanup mislabeled and improperly stored waste containers and took months to remedy some infractions, according to the state’s yearly report on hazardous waste permit violations.
Triad National Security LLC, a consortium of nonprofits that runs the lab’s daily operations, had 19 violations of its permit from the New Mexico Environment Department. Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos, also known as N3B, which is managing a 10-year cleanup of waste generated at the lab, was cited 29 times.
Triad’s most notable violation was shipping 250 barrels of mostly mixed waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad without tracking them. Mixed waste contains low-level radioactive waste and other hazardous materials. Inspectors found records still listed the waste at the national lab. …..
A disastrous “kitty litter” incident happened under Los Alamos National Security, in which a waste barrel was packaged in error with a volatile blend of organic cat litter and nitrate salts, causing the container to burst and leak radiation at the Southern New Mexico storage site. WIPP closed for almost three years, and the cleanup cost about $2 billion.
The National Nuclear Security Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy that oversees the lab, declined to renew LANS’ contract in 2015. Triad took over operations in November 2018. Among Triad’s duties is to dispose of waste at the lab generated from 1999 to the present.
N3B won a $1.4 billion contract in December 2017 to clean up waste produced at the lab before 1999.
The company was cited for a slew of mislabeled waste containers during the year. Inspectors also found some waste barrels, which are stored under tent-like domes, coated with snow or rainwater.
N3B also failed to remedy within 24 hours the flaws that inspectors found in equipment or structures that could present an environmental or human-health hazard, the report said. Inspectors discovered N3B took as long as 18 months to fix cracks in concrete and asphalt surfaces…….. https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/state-report-lanl-lost-track-of-barrels-of-nuke-waste/article_e9de8348-17cc-11ea-bae3-c71a1aadd222.html
Dangers of nuclear crises in the Arctic: countries prepare for emergencies.
Arctic Council creates new expert group on nuclear emergencies https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2019/12/arctic-council-creates-new-expert-group-nuclear-emergencies
The Arctic countries take major steps to prepare strategies and share information to improve preparedness in case of radiological and nuclear incidents. By Thomas Nilsen, December 11, 2019
Two fatal accidents during the summer of 2019 was a wake-up call for radiation emergency authorities monitoring northern waters.
On July 1st, the nuclear-powered special purpose submarine Losharik catches fire when on mission outside the Kola Peninsula. Six weeks later, a nuclear-powered cruise missile explodes while being recovered from the seabed outside Nenoksa naval weapons testing site in the White Sea.
While Russia has been very reluctant to share information about what happened at the two accidents, the country is a team-player when the Arctic Council now has agreed to establish a dedicated expert group on radiation and nuclear incidents.
The formal decision was taken at the meeting of the Arctic Council’s Working Group on Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) in Reykyavik on December 4th.
All eight Arctic states will appoint experts and observer states are encouraged to participate. To strengthen the group’s role, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is invited to join the meetings.
Inside the Arctic Circle, the number of nuclear-powered vessels has increased sharply over the last decade.
Tensions between Russia and NATO have led to more sailings with reactor-powered submarines, especially in the Norwegian, Barents- and White Seas, but also under the ice in the high Arctic. Northern Norway saw a record number of 12 visiting NATO nuclear-powered submarines in 2018. And while the Arctic Council members met in Reykjavik last week, Russia’s Northern Fleet still had a number of attack submarines sailing the Norwegian Sea. So did at least one American nuclear-powered submarine as reported by the Barents Observer.
Secondly, increased shipping and industrial activities along Russia’s Northern Sea Route are supported by more and larger nuclear-powered icebreakers.
Unfortunate, the history of operating reactors and deploying nuclear weapons to the Arctic has a bad record with radioactivity released to the environment and exposure to people; nuclear weapons testing at Novaya Zemlya, the crash of a U.S. bomber with plutonium warheads at Thule airbase on Greenland, sinking submarines like the Komsomolets, Kursk and K-259. Several other submarines have suffered serious reactor accidents and in the Kara Sea, thousands of containers wit radioactive waste is dumped together with 16 reactors.
The Arctic Council, though, can not engage in anything related to military activities.
The list of potential incidents with possible releases of radioactivity exposing people living or working in the Arctic is long. How to share knowledge and information about each countries’ preparedness capacities will certainly be on the agenda when the new expert group’s first formal meeting, likely to take place next spring on the Faroe Islands.
Chair of the expert group in the starting period, Øyvind Aas-Hansen with the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, tells the Barents Observer that one interesting topic that might be brought to table is defining the risk potential for emergencies due to nuclear and radiological material and activities that pose a threat in the Arctic.
«We aim at protecting Arctic inhabitants and their livelihoods and the Arctic environment,» Øyvind Aas-Hansen explains.
He said it is needed to «identify minimal preparedness and response arrangements and capabilities applicable to the Arctic region.»
Aas-Hansen said it could be special needs for coordinating emergency prevention and response that are «specific to the Arctic region.»
Both the United States and Russia have serious experiences from dealing with nuclear accidents in cold climate, like the US clean-up work after the Thule accident in 1968 and Soviet clean-up work after the leakages from Building No. 5 in Andreeva Bay in the early 1980s.
More reactors at sea
The Barents Observer has recently published an overview (pdf) listing the increasing number of reactors in the Russian Arctic. The paper is part of Barents Observer’s analytical popular science studies on developments in the Euro-Arctic Region.
According to the list there are 39 nuclear-powered vessels or installations in the Russian Arctic today with a total of 62 reactors. This includes 31 submarines, one surface warship, five icebreakers, two onshore and one floating nuclear power plants.
Looking 15 years ahead, the number of ships, including submarines, and installations powered by reactors is estimated to increase to 74 with a total of 94 reactors, maybe as many as 114. Additional to new icebreakers and submarines already under construction, Russia is brushing dust of older Soviet ideas of utilizing nuclear-power for different kind of Arctic shelf industrial developments, like oil- and gas exploration, mining and research. “By 2035, the Russian Arctic will be the most nuclearized waters on the planet,” the paper reads.
Also, existing icebreakers and submarines get life-time prolongation. The average age of the Northern Fleet’s nuclear-powered submarines has never been older than today. Several of the submarines built in the 1980s will continue to sail the Barents Sea and under the Arctic ice-cap until the late 2020s.
In August, Russia’s first floating nuclear power plant, “Akademik Lomonosov”, will be towed from Murmansk to Pevek, a port-town on the northeast coast of Siberia.
Other plans to use nuclear reactors in the Russian Arctic in the years to come include many first-of-a-kind technologies like sea-floor power reactors for gas exploration, civilian submarines for seismic surveys and cargo transportation, small-power reactors on ice-strengthen platforms.
In the military sphere, the Arctic could be used as testing sites for both Russia’s new nuclear-powered cruise-missile and nuclear-powered underwater weapons drone. Both weapons were displayed by President Vladimir Putin when he bragged about new nuclear weapons systems in his annual speech to the Federation Council last year.
An Arctic Council summary report, presented to the Ministerial Meeting in Rovaniemi in May as a deliverable by the Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) Working Group highlight the risks: “The presence of radiological and nuclear material in the Arctic poses a risk for serious incidents or accidents that may affect Arctic inhabitants and their communities, the Arctic environment, and Arctic industries, including traditional livelihoods such as fisheries and local food sources.”
For Norway, Russia and Iceland, a nuclear accident in the Barents Sea could be disastrous for sales of seafood. The three countries export of cod and other spices is worth billions of Euros annually.
Flammable hazard stalls LANL’s plutonium operations, waste shipments
Flammable hazard stalls LANL’s plutonium operations, waste shipments, Sante Fe New Mexican , By Scott Wyland , swyland@sfnewmexican.com
-
- Dec 9, 2019 Concerns that a calcium residue might be flammable prompted officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory to curtail plutonium operations and suspend waste shipments in early November, according to a federal report.
The lab suspended most waste generation and certification at its plutonium facility and halted all waste shipments after officials questioned the accuracy of documentation, particularly on how much calcium-and-salt residue remained in transuranic waste after processing, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, an independent oversight panel, said in a Nov. 15 report that was publicly released Friday.
Calcium is used to help reduce oxidation in plutonium. Traces of the substance typically linger after processing, and if they are too high, they can ignite when exposed to open air, the report says…… https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/flammable-hazard-stalls-lanl-s-plutonium-operations-waste-shipments/article_dad5a96c-186c-11ea-ac96-a345865823f1.html
Floating small nuclear reactors bring serious risks
nuclear experts have highlighted crucial negatives that cast doubt on the floating nuclear utopia.Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace Netherlands senior expert nuclear energy and energy policy, sees the three main disadvantages of Akademin Lomonosov to be the big human factors risk, its problematic construction, and the pollution of the Arctic region with nuclear waste.
this project is reintroducing a major pollution risk in an area which functions as a climate regulator for the globe – “the Arctic pristine area, which is a very important natural area for the entire balance on the planet,”
Is floating nuclear power a good idea? Power Technology By Yoana Cholteeva, 9 Dec 19, Floating nuclear power promises to provide a steady source of energy at hard-to-reach locations, but at the same time the dangers inherent in nuclear power make some question whether it’s safe enough for areas where help is hard to find. Is floating nuclear power really a good idea? Yoana Cholteeva investigates.
Russian nuclear company Rosatom announced the arrival of the world’s first floating nuclear power plant, Akademik Lomonosov, in September 2019 when the technology was transported to the port of its permanent location in Russia’s Far East. The 144m-long and 30m-wide vessel has now docked at the port in Pevek, off the coast of Chukotka, where it will stay before its commissioning next year.
Akademik Lomonosov will use small modular reactor technology and is equipped with two KLT-40C reactor systems with 35MW capacity each. It has been designed to access hard-to-reach areas where it can operate for three to five years without the need for refuelling. It also has an overall life cycle of 40 years, which may be extended to 50 years Continue reading
Florida nuclear station gets license for 80 Years
| D |
FPL’s Turkey Point first US nuclear plant to get license out to 80 years, Utility Dive, By Kavya Balaraman Dec. 7 2019,
Dive Brief:
The majority of nuclear power plants in the U.S. are currently on a renewed license — extending their initial 40-year operational lifespan to 60 — but as more reach the 60-year mark, the NRC is gearing up for “subsequent license renewals,” which would authorize the plants to operate for another two decades. …….
Damon Moglen, senior strategic advisor of the Climate and Energy Program at Friends of the Earth, called the development “a licensing disaster waiting to happen.” The Turkey Point facility remains vulnerable to climate change, he said, and the region is expected to experience rising sea levels by the 2050s.
This decision in no way serves the public and the environment, it only serves the interest of a very precise industry looking to protect its profits,” he said. https://www.utilitydive.com/news/fpls-turkey-point-first-us-nuclear-plant-to-get-license-out-to-80-years/568593/
|
|
Another shutdown at French nuclear power station Golfech
France Bleu 2nd Dec 2019. A nuclear reactor again shut down at the Golfech power station after a leak. The production unit number 2 of the Tarn-et-Garonne power plant was stopped this Monday, December 2 in the morning, after the discovery of a steam leak in a non-nuclear part. This reactor had just been restarted just four days ago.
Need for scrutiny of troubled Hunterston nuclear reactor before restarting it
Largs & Millport Weekly News 3rd Dec 2019, A WATCHDOG’S vital scrutiny meeting scheduled to take placed before troubled reactors are switched back on at Hunterston Power Station has been cancelled – because of the general election. The Hunterston Site Stakeholders Group had been due to meet on December 5 where they would have quizzed EDF on the decision to reactivate two reactors blighted by safety concerns. It was revealed this week that reactor four is due to go back online fully from February 15 and reactor three on January 15.Councillor Ian Murdoch believes that it is imperative that a scrutiny
meeting takes place before the reactors are switched back on after cracks
were found in their graphite cores. The acceptable threshold of cracks has
been extended from 350 to 700 by regulators ONR, who recently gave
permission for Hunterston reactor 4 to be brought back online for a four
month spell.
Technical fault shuts down Belgian nuclear reactor
Belgian nuclear reactor shuts down after technical fault https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/81820/nuclear-reactor-at-belgian-power-station-goes-into-automatic-shutdown-after-technical-fault-safely-electricty-doel/ Evie McCullough
The Brussels Times, 04 December 2019 A reactor at the Tihange nuclear power station in the town of Huy went into shut down on Wednesday morning after a technical problem automatically triggered the process, the plant’s operator Engie Electrabel confirms.
Tihange 1 went into shut down because of a problem with a pump in the “non-nuclear” part of the reactor, the operator explained in a Tweet.
The shutdown was carried out safely and procedures were followed throughout, with investigations into the fault still taking place at around 12:50 PM.The reactor is currently scheduled to stay in shut down mode until Thursday evening, although this could change depending on the results of the analysis of the fault that triggered the shutdown, Le Soir explains.
Tihange, which represents about 15% of total electricity production capacity in Belgium, is one of two nuclear energy production sites in the country- the other is located in Doel.
Big risk factors for Middle East countries in adopting nuclear power
  Facing the Nuclear StormCountries across the Middle East are building or have already started operating their nuclear power plants. To assess how “resilient” their nuclear energy systems are, one must look at a number of important risks and factors The Cairo Review By Ali Ahmad, and Benedetta Bonometti 1 Dec 19, Soon enough, countries with nuclear power in the Middle East will have to face a storm when it comes to operating their power plants safely. That is why the focus on introducing resilient energy systems is receiving much attention in developed and developing countries alike.
Across the globe, a variety of natural and human-induced risks and threats have caused substantial disruptions to the delivery of energy services and affected millions of people. From the massive July blackout in New York City that was linked to a sweltering heat wave to the conflicts in Yemen, Libya, and Syria that have caused power outages and severe damage to power generation and transmission, the need for resilient energy infrastructure is becoming more relevant than ever.
Energy resilience remains an evolving concept, but for now, it can be understood as the ability of an energy system to adapt to possible disruptive and challenging environments such as a tsunami or a heat wave, and to resume service provision swiftly. However, studies and experience have demonstrated the pivotal role that preemptive measures play when envisaging a resilient energy system. The link between energy resilience and the proposals to build nuclear energy power plants across the region lies in the scale of the region’s nuclear ambitions. Currently, there are six regional countries, including Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, which are developing nuclear power programs, with varied degrees of commitment. In a global energy landscape that is tilting toward renewable energy and an increased interest in decentralized systems, which combined together make for strong or resilient structures, one important question to ask is how the introduction of nuclear power will affect the resilience of national energy systems in these countries. This is especially important considering the exclusive set of risks associated with having a nuclear power program. Nuclear Vulnerabilities and Disruptions Pre-operation risks Nuclear power plant projects are exposed to numerous threats before they start operating. In fact, lengthy construction times, which are common in such projects, increase the probability of project cancellation before the plants start generating electricity. The years-long lead times, or in other words the time it takes to carry out financial and licensing procedures as well as construction, make nuclear projects vulnerable to financial and political risks and could lead to plant closure. The most common financial problems which arise from escalating costs and construction delays are due to either stringent licensing processes and/or project mismanagement. Moreover, other sources of energy could become cheaper and more competitive, especially as gas or oil discoveries are made more often (such as the discovery of offshore gas fields like Egypt’s Zohr). Nuclear energy programs in turn become highly sensitive political issues to the extent that a change of governments, as in the case of the so-called Arab Spring, might halt the construction of planned nuclear power plants. Fuel supply The main threat to front-end activities regarding fuel supply is the disruption of enriched uranium supply. Uranium fuel disruptions would more likely be linked to the regional political climate given that the global supply chains of uranium fuel face no major impediments. …….. Attacks against critical nuclear facilities The recent drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia’s ARAMCO facilities temporarily crippled its oil production, inflamed regional tensions, and sent shockwaves around the globe. Had the attack been on a nuclear power facility, the consequences could have been much more grave………. Foreign workforce …….. The involvement of foreign workers, which may be necessary when the host country lacks the required human capital to run its own nuclear power program, may raise several issues. …….. Climatic effects When thinking of possible climatic effects on the resilience of the nuclear power plants in the region, heat waves are particularly concerning due to their impact on the temperature of the reactor’s cooling water. …. Spent nuclear fuel considerations Spent nuclear fuel, in other words the irradiated (and radioactive) fuel waste generated by nuclear fission, must first cool down for a number of years in water-filled storage pools before it is ready to be handled and transported. Spent fuel pools will always be full as new spent fuel will continuously replace fuel that is removed. Consequently, various threats to the storage pools are possible. Firstly, like the case with nuclear reactors, natural disasters and extreme weather conditions could threaten the functionality of the storage pools. Secondly, spent fuel pools may also be identified as targets during armed conflicts. …… Major risks exist that show the contradiction between the development of nuclear energy in the Middle East and the emerging narrative of energy resilience. Nuclear power is not only vulnerable to climatic and nature-induced extreme events but also to attacks by state and non-state actors. The recent attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure are reminders that the higher the value of the target, the more critical it becomes. With nuclear power becoming a reality in the region, efforts by governments, academia, and civil society need to focus on promoting its resilient, safe, and secure operation. As a start, we need to invest in risk mitigation strategies and mechanisms as well as better emergency response and preparedness that utilize unhindered and depoliticized technical cooperation between all states in the region. Since the effects of nuclear accidents are often cross-border, even countries that do not have nuclear power programs must be part of these efforts. Ali Ahmad is the director of the Energy Policy and Security Program in the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. Ahmad is the author of numerous journal articles on nuclear energy and security with a focus on the Middle East region. Read More
Benedetta Bonometti is a graduate student in public policy with a specialization in energy, resources, and development at Sciences Po Paris. Her research interests focus on fossil fuel and nuclear energy policies in the Middle East. Read More https://www.thecairoreview.com/essays/facing-the-nuclear-storm/
|
|
Cyber attack targets UK’s nuclear industry
Telegraph UK, Wil Crisp, 30 NOVEMBER 2019 GCHQ cyber experts have been called in after a digital attack on a major player in Britain’s nuclear power industry triggered a security crisis.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), an arm of GCHQ, has been secretly providing assistance to a nuclear power company in the UK that has struggled to recover after being hit by a cyber attack, The Telegraph can reveal.
A Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) report, obtained using freedom of information legislation, said officials are “aware that an important business in the Nuclear Power Generating Sector has been negatively impacted by a cyber attack and has had to rely on expertise from the NCSC to help them with recovery”.
The document,... (subscribers only) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/11/30/cyber-attack-targets-uks-nuclear-industry/
Hungary wants EU to weaken nuclear licensing rules, as it wants to expand Rosatom nuclear project
Hungary makes EU bid to soften nuclear licensing rules to ease Paks expansion, BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary has submitted draft legislation to the European Commission to amend the country’s nuclear safety protocols to custom-fit a 12 billion euro Russian-led nuclear plant expansion project that it wants to speed up, eight sources told Reuters. Marton Dunai, 27 Nov 19,
The EU review was confirmed by an EU official requesting anonymity, as well as several Hungarian government sources. Eight sources, including high-ranking government officials, confirmed the plan.
Hungary wants to expand its 2-gigawatt Paks nuclear power plant with two Russian-made VVER reactors, each with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts.
The project, awarded in 2014 without a tender to nuclear giant Rosatom, an arm of the Russian government, is often cited as a sign of exceptionally warm ties between Hungarian premier Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a connection that has unnerved Western allies.
However, Rosatom struggled to meet EU and Hungarian safety criteria, delaying the project by several years, and the Russian and Hungarian governments now want to accelerate it.
Under the proposed new rules, license applications to build the reactor hole and surrounding insulating slurry wall could be considered before the entire project receives the green light – a break with prior protocol, which only allowed partial licenses to be considered once the construction license was granted.
Hungary’s top official in charge of energy policy, Technology Ministry State Secretary Peter Kaderjak, confirmed to Reuters the government was working with the European Commission to recast nuclear power plant construction rules.
Kaderjak called the Paks 2 project “the cornerstone of Hungary’s energy and climate strategy”.
“We are seeking ways to cut the project execution time as short as possible, fully respecting nuclear safety,” he said. “That explains this draft amendment.”
RISKY MOVE
The modification carries risks and makes the project much more difficult to abandon or modify as the framework, literally, will be set in stone, according to seven sources with knowledge of the matter who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
But the move could help the Hungarian government in its haggling with Moscow to modify the current build-and-finance package. Hungary wants to extend the current payment start date of 2026, which was fixed when the project was first conceived.
Russia wants to avoid paying delay penalties – by putting off the completion deadline to about 2029 and by having Hungary ease regulatory hurdles such as this one, these sources said.
The changes will appear in a government decree called the Nuclear Safety Regulations once the European Commission’s nuclear arm, the Euratom Supply Agency, approves the changes.
An EU source also confirmed the Commission was assessing draft legislation against the EU’s latest Nuclear Safety Directive, adding it had three months to make recommendations, a deadline that is not yet up.
“In this framework, the Hungarian authorities have made several such notifications to the Commission in recent years,” the EU source told Reuters. “The latest of these notifications was received this year and is currently being assessed.”
Asked about the changes, the HAEA told Reuters that reactor hole and slurry wall work, and some equipment that takes a long time to manufacture, may undergo the licensing process parallel with the evaluation of the construction license application.
“Licenses cannot be granted before the construction license is issued – except for work on soil solidification, soil removal, and the water insulation work to section off the work area, especially the slurry wall permits.”
Experts estimate the reactor hole to be several hundred meters wide and several hundred meters long, up to 100 meters deep, surrounded by a concrete slurry wall more than a meter thick. This phase alone could take a year or more to execute.
The changes are designed to save time so once the overall construction license is issued work can begin on the power plant buildings.
But experts warned the slurry wall and reactor hole could cost hundreds of millions of euros, and hastening them carries risk: if the HAEA find faults with the overall design, it may require changes that conflict with the concrete already poured, causing a potential cost spike and long delay.
“Even with these permits Paks 2 carries responsibility for any work it executes, as the ongoing construction licensing process could influence all other licensing,” the HAEA said.
Reporting by Marton Dunai; Editing by Dale Hudson 9full story) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-nuclearpower-exclusive/exclusive-hungary-makes-eu-bid-to-soften-nuclear-licensing-rules-to-ease-paks-expansion-idUSKBN1Y01WQ
For the 8th time this year, a Hanford worker exposed to nuclear radiation
The 324 Building sits over a leak of radioactive cesium and strontium into the soil beneath it at the site about one mile north of Richland and about 300 yards west of the Columbia River.
“Although individually the contamination levels (on workers) have been low and no dose has been assigned to workers, collectively the number of personnel contamination events indicate a negative trend in contamination control that corrective actions taken to date have been inadequate to address,” the Department of Energy wrote in a Nov. 14 letter to its contractor on the project, CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co.
Earlier the same day that DOE sent the letter, CH2M had stopped work at the Hanford nuclear reservation’s 324 Building — one of several temporary halts to at least some of the work there this year.
Joe Franco, the DOE deputy manager at the DOE Richland Operations Office, told CH2M in the letter that he would not allow work to resume in the highly contaminated areas of the 324 Building until the company had developed a plan of correction and DOE had agreed on the path forward……. https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/hanford/article237601614.html?fbclid=IwAR2PEXSoItPKGXYQxV0lOc3NJ2-KFlstPIvbdexqiIgP_i23UgMl9bBqGg4
Safety problems with Holtec’s dry canisters for nuclear wastes
EDF’s misleading and deficient safety report on Hunterston nuclear station
|
1km emergency zone around cracked reactors will do, says nuclear firm, The Ferret, 22 Nov 19, The power company, EDF Energy, has come under fire for advising that the emergency zone to protect people around its cracked nuclear reactors at Hunterston could be shrunk to a kilometre.The current zone – within which evacuation, sheltering and anti-radiation pills are planned in the event of an accident – is a radius of 2.4 kilometres from the nuclear power station on the Ayrshire coast.
……. Campaigners have criticised EDF’s move, warning that an accident could send a plume of radioactive contamination over Glasgow and Edinburgh. They have called for the emergency zone to be expanded, not contracted. EDF stressed that its advice was that one kilometre was the “minimum” recommended distance. North Ayrshire Council is consulting with local residents before it decides what distance to implement. The Ferret revealed in October that the graphite cores of two ageing nuclear reactors at Hunterston B have begun to crumble as cracks spread and widen. According to the UK government’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), at least 58 fragments and pieces of debris have broken off the graphite bricks that make up the reactor cores. The older reactor, three, has an estimated 377 core cracks and has been shut down since 9 March 2018. ONR is assessing the safety case to decide whether it can be allowed to restart in 2020. Reactor four, which has an estimated 209 cracks, was shut down for over ten months before ONR allowed it to restart in August – but only for four months. EDF is currently planning to shut it down again on 10 December……… EDF accepts, however, that food restrictions may be required over a much wider area. “It is recommended that advice be issued within 24 hours to restrict consumption of leafy green vegetables, milk and water from open sources/rain water in all sectors of the detailed emergency planning zone and downwind of the site to a distance of 43km,” it says. …….Campaigners have previously warned that a serious accident at Hunterston could spread a cloud of radioactive contamination over Glasgow, Edinburgh and the central belt, if the wind was blowing in that direction. It could be like the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine in 1986, they claimed. Radiation consultant, Dr Ian Fairlie, described EDF’s report as “deficient” and “misleading”. The suggested emergency zone was “much too small”, he argued, and there was a “lack of openness and clarity” that would leave local people uncertain what to do in the event of a major accident. He added: “The issue of the pre-distribution of prophylactic potassium iodate tablets is not mentioned. This already occurs in most European countries, and should occur here as well in order to avoid the health consequences of breathing in radioactive iodine which is a gas.” Rita Holmes, who chairs Hunterston’s local stakeholder group, pointed out that at the moment only 13 households close to the plant were given iodine tablets in advance. “It would seem a simple precaution and unwise not to pre-distribute within a wider area,” she told The Ferret. “Despite EDF’s assessment, I hope that our local authority, Ayrshire civil contingencies team and ONR will decide to extend the detailed emergency planning zone and pre-distribute stable iodine to people within a wider area. I certainly don’t expect, given the ageing reactor cores, that the zone would be shrunk.” The 50-strong group of nuclear-free local authorities argued it would be “incongruous” if the emergency zone was reduced, given the deterioration of the Hunterston reactors. “Clear question marks remain over their future operation,” said the group’s policy advisor, Peter Roche. In our view the precautionary principle would suggest a much larger emergency planning zone is drawn to provide greater reassurance to the local population.” Friends of the Earth Scotland pointed out that seven years after the explosions at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan in 2011, some areas more than 20 kilometres away were still prohibited zones. “The current Hunterston zone is already very modest in comparison to the very large area which would be affected in the event of a serious accident at the plant,” said the environmental group’s director, Dr Richard Dixon. “With increasing worries about the safety of the reactors at Hunterston now is definitely not the time to reduce the level of protection on offer to the local community,” he argued. “EDF are the last people who should propose what size the exclusion zone should be around their own nuclear sites because it is in their financial and PR interests to make the zone as small as possible.”……..https://theferret.scot/emergency-zone-hunterston-nuclear-reactrors/ |
|
Russian Watchdog Detects ‘Radiation Incident’ in South China Sea
|
Russian Watchdog Detects ‘Radiation Incident’ in South China Sea https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/11/22/russian-watchdog-detects-radiation-incident-in-south-china-sea-a68287
A Rospotrebnadzor statement said radiation levels are not high enough to threaten the Russian population. The Russian government’s consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said Friday it has detected a “radiation incident” in the South China Sea.“Based on data received from the Global Environmental Monitoring System, there’s an increase in background radiation in the South China Sea in connection with a radiation incident,” Rospotrebnadzor said in an online statement. It added that the radiation levels did not “currently threaten the Russian population” and that it “has increased its radiation monitoring in the adjacent border areas.” A website run by far-right U.S. talk show radio host Hal Turner claimed Wednesday that unidentified military sources had allegedly detected an underwater nuclear explosion in the area that caused powerful shockwaves. The U.S. tech news website Gizmodo cited two scientists who dismissed the report as fake. Gizmodo reported that uRADMonitor Global Environmental Monitoring Network data used in the initial report registered “negligible” radiation and noted that two other agencies in the region showed normal radiation readings. Military analysts reported Saturday that an 11,000-ton Chinese nuclear missile submarine had surfaced among Vietnamese fishing boats in the South China Sea in September. |
|
|
1 This Month
of the week – THE ONENESS of HUMANITY
25 June- THE PUKE ON NUKES
Thursday, June 25, 2026
7pm Central Time (8pm ET, 6pm MT, 5pm PT) UTC – 5
From NRC & DOE Deregulation to Techno-Fascist Billionaires Going Nuclear, Plus a Few Songs from Atomic Cabaret REGISTER
26 June – Radiation Trainwreck at the NRC / Join the Protect Better Campaign – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/4ZlZ5_qLSHGiLSCg8FF6Bg#/registration
1st July – Webinar Waste of Space: The Environmental Harm of Military and Civil Space Activity st July, 7 pm
Report Launch Online: We are seeing an increasing exploitation of space for military and commercial purposes. This must change.
Protect Sazan Island from the Trump family! https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/protect_sazan_island_from_the_trump_family_loc/?bqFCVab&v=174511&cl=22707147157&_checksum=5e9dde668860e8231c33699735e16a1fbf22ab2cb01da50c999fe8732b9775ef&utm_source=email&utm_medium=blast_email&utm_campaign=174511
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
-
Archives
- June 2026 (251)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (268)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (376)
- September 2025 (257)
- August 2025 (319)
- July 2025 (230)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 