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Safety concerns by Austria mean delay in Slovakia’s nuclear station expansion

Slovakia delays nuclear plant expansion under pressure from Austria, DW, 8 May 19, Amid complaints from Austria, Slovakia has decided to push back the long-awaited opening of two new nuclear reactors. Activists claim to have evidence that the reactors’ safety structures are damaged and could fail……..

The plant is located some 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Austria’s border. For decades, Austria’s politicians and activists have been trying to cancel the plans to add two more nuclear reactors to the facility, citing safety concerns. In April this year, environmental watchdog Global 2000 said construction had major flaws. They also cited photos and testimonies which allegedly showed the reactors’ protective containment structure was damaged and could fail in case of an earthquake or a serious accident.

Another reason for concern is that the reactors were originally built to Soviet-style designs, and then modified with Western elements. The two new reactors were originally projected to start work in 2012 and 2013, but the project was repeatedly delayed……..

Austria has been urging the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEO) to send its experts to inspect the site. However, this will only happen if Slovakia invites the inspectors to the Mochovce plant.

Following the announcement on Monday, Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said it was a “step in the right direction.”

“We will not let up until all our safety concerns have been answered,” he was quoted by the Krone newspaper as saying……https://www.dw.com/en/slovakia-delays-nuclear-plant-expansion-under-pressure-from-austria/a-48628715

May 9, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, politics international, safety | Leave a comment

Four decades later, the Russian nuclear disaster—now the subject of an HBO miniseries—is still reverberating

Chernobyl (2019) | What Is Chernobyl? | HBO

Chernobyl Isn’t a Story About an Accident—It’s a Story About Endless Impact

Four decades later, the Russian nuclear disaster—now the subject of an HBO miniseries—is still reverberating, The Ringer, By Michael Baumann  May 6, 2019  “……….. an immense tradition of fiction about nuclear war or radiological mayhem. But somewhat paradoxically, a nuclear disaster, in and of itself, doesn’t make for particularly interesting television or film. You can’t fight radiation the way you can fire, or hide from it like you can a tornado. In the trailer for HBO’s Chernobyl miniseries, which premieres Monday night, Jared Harris’s Valery Legasov compares a radioactive atom to a bullet. Indeed, radiation kills instantly, though the process of dying from radiation poisoning can take anywhere from days to decades. By the time a nuclear accident happens, there’s nothing to do but limit the damage it causes.

A nuclear meltdown is not only more alien and irresistible than a natural disaster, it’s entirely anthropogenic. Fires, storms, and earthquakes occurred before industrialized society and will continue to occur after it ends. They can be written off on some level as acts of God, even when they’re caused, intensified, or exacerbated by human carelessness or malfeasance. Not so with a nuclear meltdown; nothing like it exists in nature. It doesn’t matter that nuclear power plants have a better safety record than fossil fuel power plants for the same reason it doesn’t matter that air travel is safer than driving: The deaths in those accidents are caused by something we all know humans weren’t designed to do. ………
even as the international cleanup effort enters its fourth decade, and even after the Ukrainian government opened the 30-kilometer quarantine zone to tourists, the legacy of the initial cover-up continues. Legasov, the chemist who led the Chernobyl investigation, took his own life on the second anniversary of the accident, leaving behind more questions than answers. In 1999, Belarusian physician Yury Bandazhevsky was sentenced to eight years in prison, supposedly for taking bribes from parents of prospective students—he says the Belarusian government was trying to stop and discredit his research into the health effects of the Chernobyl disaster. …….. https://www.theringer.com/tv/2019/5/6/18530653/chernobyl-hbo-miniseries-nuclear-accident

A grim ‘Chernobyl’ shows what happens when lying is standard and authority is abused

HBO’s miniseries about the 1986 nuclear disaster resonates with a crucial warning. (subscribers only) Washington Post 6 May 19

 

Chernobyl Disaster – growing up in the fallout zone, Business Insider, 6 May 19

Janina Scarlet was just under 3 years old when the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant blew up.

  • Chernobyl was the worst nuclear-reactor disaster in history. The explosion spread toxic radiation over large swaths of Ukraine, including Scarlet’s hometown.

  • Scarlet said she was often sick as a child, with a weak immune system and frequent nose bleeds. She still has migraines and occasional seizures……..

Although it’s been 33 years since the Chernobyl explosion, the health consequences of that radiation exposure still plague people who lived near the plant. The Chernobyl disaster has been directly blamed for fewer than 50 deaths from radiation poisoning, but many researchers say the full death tally from the Chernobyl explosion and its lingering effects may never be known. The World Health Organization estimates that eventually, the disaster may become responsible for some 5,000 cancer deaths. …….

Kids who lived near the Chernobyl site have increased instances of thyroid cancer, and adults who helped with the reactor cleanup are more at risk of developing leukemia.

May 7, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | incidents, politics, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Report: Islamic Jihad threatens to strike nuclear reactor, airport

  https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5503570,00.html

Ynet  05.04.19, The military wing of Islamic Jihad threatens to strike sensitive Israeli sites, Israel public broadcaster Kan reports.

The targets mentioned in a video released by the Gaza-based terror group include the nuclear reactor in Dimona in the south, Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv and oil refineries in the northern city of Haifa.

May 6, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, safety | Leave a comment

Highland Green MSP John Finnie points out the danger of transporting nuclear material across the Atlantic

Press and Journal 4th May 2019  Highland Green MSP John Finnie has expressed concern after three quartersof a ton of highly enriched uranium was transported from Dounreay in
Caithness to America. He said: “The appropriate place for dangerous
material is secure storage and supervision by highly trained staff where it
was created, not transportation.

“Whilst pleased that this risky has been completed without incident, that we know of. “But before the authorities on both sides of the Atlantic pat themselves on the back, they need to
reflect on the dangers they put communities in. “As was evidenced when a
ship which was transporting nuclear material in the Moray Firth went on
fire. As with oil and gas reserves, the message regarding nuclear waste has
to be ‘keep it in the ground’.”

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/1740397/700kilos-of-uranium-transported-from-dounreay-to-us/

May 6, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, safety, UK | Leave a comment

Risk of catastrophic Hanford tunnel collapse prevented as tunnel is stabilised

Radioactive waste tunnel at Hanford stabilized after fears of a possible ‘catastrophic’ collapse, Tri City Herald, BY ANNETTE CARY, APRIL 29, 2019  The second Hanford PUREX plant tunnel storing highly radioactive waste has been stabilized to prevent a collapse.

Work to fill the tunnel with concrete-like grout began in early October and was completed at the end of last week.

Local government officials are relieved.

“We experienced a horrible winter with a massive amount of snow,” said Pam Larsen, executive director of Hanford Communities, a coalition of local governments, at a recent meeting of the Hanford Advisory Board.

“The tunnel could have collapsed,” she said. “It would have been catastrophic for our regional economy.”

Concerns about the second PUREX tunnel were raised after the first tunnel partially collapsed in spring 2017. An unusually wet winter may have contributed to the collapse.

Filling the second tunnel with grout is a temporary measure to prevent a possible collapse and release of radioactive particles into the air, with plans to clean up the waste in the tunnel to be made in the future……

About 40,000 cubic yards of grout, or 4,000 truckloads, were needed to fill the tunnel, which is 1,700 feet long.

It holds 28 rail cars loaded with obsolete and failed equipment that is contaminated with highly radioactive waste from the past production of plutonium at Hanford for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.

When the first tunnel partially collapsed, thousands of Hanford workers were ordered to take cover and the Tri-Cities-area anxiously waited for information until it was determined that there had been no release of radioactive particles.

The soil topping the tunnel fell into the breach, covering the waste…….

Hanford watchdogs were concerned that grouting might become a permanent solution, with the radioactive waste left in the ground permanently.

“Opponents raised legitimate concerns, but in the end those concerns did not outweigh the potential environmental and safety threats that could have been posed had the tunnel collapsed and exposed its highly radioactive contents,” Ecology officials said in a statement Monday…..

In both tunnels, grout was added in layers, with each layer allowed to set before the next layer was added.

But the second tunnel was five times longer, requiring changes to procedures and equipment as grout was added every 100 feet along the tunnel…….https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/hanford/article229789389.html

May 2, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

All Japan’s nuclear reactors may shutdown, as regulator is firm on safety measures

Japan’s nuclear reactors face new near-total shutdown, Regulator refuses to extend deadlines for installing antiterrorism measures Ft.com, Robin Harding in Tokyo APRIL 25, 2019 Japan is heading towards another near-total shutdown of its nuclear reactors after regulators refused to extend deadlines for completing antiterrorism measures. The Nuclear Regulation Authority said it would enforce deadlines that expired next summer for many operating reactors. Electricity companies have said there was almost no chance they would be ready on time. The regulator’s stance is a fresh blow to a nuclear power sector that has never recovered from the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011, when three reactors melted down after a tsunami knocked out their cooling systems. …….Each restarting reactor has its own deadline and a number of them expire next year — but none of the operators are likely to be ready in time. They will therefore have to shut the reactors down. For example, anti-terror work at the Sendai No 1 and No 2 reactors, run by Kyushu Electric, and the Takahama No 3 and No 4 reactors, run by Kansai Electric, must be completed next year.

……. Japan has struggled to restart its reactors in the face of strong public opposition and many are still offline. As of March 15, nine out of Japan’s 57 reactors had restarted. Several others have restarted only to shut down again because of injunctions issued by local courts.

……. the national government has not pushed for restarts, leaving it in the hands of regulators, utilities, courts and local politicians. The long-term future of the sector is therefore in doubt. https://www.ft.com/content/1b2c395e-6724-11e9-9adc-98bf1d35a056

April 27, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Japan now has 9 operating nuclear reactors, all may close, due to inadequate safety measures

Japan nuclear plants threatened with closure over antiterrorism measures, Jakarta Post, The Japan News/Asia News Network, Tokyo, Japan   /   Fri, April 26, 2019  The Nuclear Regulation Authority has decided to order power companies to shut down nuclear reactors if they have not had certain facilities, legally required as antiterrorism measures, completed by specified deadlines.

Nine reactors are currently online at five nuclear plants across the nation, and these are unlikely to have the necessary facilities completed before their deadlines. Consequently, it is possible that, one by one, these reactors will have to suspend operations.

NRA Chairman Toyoshi Fuketa emphasized the nuclear watchdog’s tough stance at a press conference Wednesday.

Reactors will be considered “nonconforming with required standards at the point the deadline passes,” Fuketa said.

“Overlooking any state of incompatibility would, in light of the authority’s position, be totally unacceptable,” he said.

The operators are required to build facilities from which nuclear reactors can be remotely controlled in the event of an emergency, such as an aircraft being deliberately flown into the plants. Installing such a facility became mandatory under new regulations introduced after the March 2011 accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The Nuclear Reactor Regulation Law stipulates nuclear plants that do not meet certain conditions can be suspended from operating, but no decision had been made on how authorities would handle reactors currently online if the deadline for completing the emergency facility passes…….

Fuketa lobbed some stinging criticism at the utilities for the current situation.

“Not only were they overly optimistic about the construction work schedules, but they also were too optimistic about the reaction from the regulatory authorities,” Fuketa said. “They were grossly mistaken if they thought they might find a way through by asking for an extension when the deadline is drawing close.”

n a comment issued the same day, Kyushu Electric, Kansai Electric and Shikoku Electric said they would “continue making maximum efforts” to complete the facilities as soon as possible.

Profits could be hit

Halting the operation of nuclear reactors, which generate electricity at relatively low cost, could harm the earnings of power utilities and strike a major blow to their business performance.

Kyushu Electric is the utility facing the shortest deadline until it might have to switch off a reactor. Kyushu Electric’s No. 1 unit at the Sendai nuclear power plant was restarted in October 2015, which returned the company to profitability. Unplugging this reactor again would significantly affect the utility’s business performance……..https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/04/26/japan-nuclear-plants-threatened-with-closure-over-antiterrorism-measures-.html

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April 27, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Europe’s oldest nuclear reactors: safety problem at Hunterston B

Cracks found in nuclear reactor that could lead to the full evacuation of Edinburgh and Glasgow, edinburgh live, 26 Apr 19,The Hunterston B reactors in Ayrshire are the oldest in Europe, and dangerous cracks have been found, The two reactors at Hunterston B nuclear power plant near Ardrossan are 43 years old – the oldest in Europe.They’re already well beyond their operating lifetimes, which have twice been extended by EDF Energy, and they’re scheduled to close down for good in 2023.

However, there’s a serious safety fault in the reactors. The fault is known as keyway root-cracking: where the graphite moderator cores in the reactors develop cracks leading to instabilities that could lead to a major nuclear accident: which would lead to a large swathe of Scotland’s central belt having to be evacuated. 

“In the very worst case the hot graphite core could become exposed to air and ignite leading to radioactive contamination of…the metropolitan areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh.”

The reactors have been closed since October 2018 as a result, but owners EDF Energy are currently making a case for turning them back on, with help from trade union GMB.

Although the probability of a meltdown is still low, the consequences could be incredibly severe. In such an event, both Glasgow and Edinburgh would need to be entirely evacuated due to radioactive contamination.

According to Dr Ian Fairlie, an independent consultant on radioactivity in the environment, and Dr David Toke, Reader in Energy Policy at the University of Aberdeen, the two reactors definitely should not be restarted. Speaking about the cracks in the barrels, they say:

“This is a serious matter because if an untoward incident were to occur – for example an earth tremor, gas excursion, steam surge, sudden outage, or sudden depressurisation, the barrels could become dislodged and/or misaligned.

“These events could in turn lead to large emissions of radioactive gases. Further, if hot spots were to occur and if nuclear fuel were to react with the graphite moderator they could lead to explosions inside the reactor core.

“In the very worst case the hot graphite core could become exposed to air and ignite leading to radioactive contamination of large areas of central Scotland, including the metropolitan areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh.” …..

The operational limit for the latest period of operation was 350 cracks but an inspection found that allowance had been exceeded.https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/cracks-found-nuclear-reactor-could-15944122?fbclid=IwAR02Y5JATa8g9RAlmeuO1dLy2XInrIKdtKP7lbb4DBkYmls_AjMjJMkniWs

April 27, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | Leave a comment

Japan’s nuclear regulators not impressed by nuclear facilities’ flimsy excuses about safety

VOX POPULI: Flimsy excuses by nuclear plant operators are unacceptable, Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun., April 26, 2019   …………. three operators of nuclear power plants, seeking an extension of a very different kind of deadline, found the Nuclear Regulation Authority to be quite unforgiving.Kansai Electric Power Co., Shikoku Electric Power Co. and Kyushu Electric Power Co. were initially required to install anti-terror facilities against airborne attacks at their nuclear power plants by July 2018.

Having already failed to meet that deadline, the utilities on April 17 asked the government’s nuclear watchdog to extend it by another 12 to 30 months, but the plea was rejected on April 24.

The utilities have insisted in unison that installing facilities to remotely cool nuclear reactors would require the time-consuming work of drilling through mountains.

They probably thought this “excuse” was good enough to sway the government into extending the deadline.

No such luck.

The Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture will likely be shut down as a result, according to the NRA.

The utilities must be underestimating the odds of any of their nuclear power plants being targeted for a terrorist attack.

Have they already forgotten that North Korea was repeatedly test-launching its missiles until recently? And what about the Fukushima disaster of 2011, which occurred because virtually nobody wanted to consider the possibility of a mega-quake triggering a tsunami?

The “deadline” book mentioned above also contains an anecdote about author Akira Yoshimura (1927-2006), a stickler for punctuality who always handed in his manuscripts early, claiming he had a tendency to start panicking as the deadline approached. And he always attached a note to his editor, apologizing, in effect, for jumping the gun.

I guess it’s useless to expect the three utilities to emulate Yoshimura.   http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201904260032.html

April 27, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety | 1 Comment

Japan’s nuclear regular demands safety steps, or reactors must close down

Japan to shut down nuclear plants if counterterror steps not taken in time, Japan Times, KYODO, AFP-JIJI, REUTERS, APR 24, 2019

Japan’s nuclear regulator decided Wednesday not to let power companies operate reactors if they fail to install sufficient counterterrorism measures by specified deadlines.

The decision by the Nuclear Regulation Authority came after three utilities that operate five nuclear plants in western and southwestern Japan requested that their deadlines be extended as they expect delays in completing counterterrorism steps required under stricter regulations introduced in 2013 following the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

Kyushu Electric Power Co., Kansai Electric Power Co. and Shikoku Electric Power Co. had sought to postpone their five-year deadlines by one to three years, citing reasons such as the need to carry out massive construction work.

The three companies told the NRA that the measures would not be on time at 10 of their reactors, according to documents published on the regulator’s website.

But the regulator has declined their requests for extensions.

The power plant operators are required to build facilities that can keep reactors cool via remote control and prevent the massive release of radioactive materials if the units are the target of a terrorist attack, such as from planes being flown into them.

Nuclear plant operators need to set up such facilities within five years of the nuclear safety watchdog approving detailed construction plans for the plants.

But several firms have warned they will not meet these criteria. The NRA said after a meeting earlier Wednesday it would no longer push back the deadline as it has done in the past.

“There is no need to extend the deadline, and nuclear facilities have to stop operations if the operators fail to meet it,” an NRA official said.

He added that several other reactors were also at risk of being shut down………  https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/04/24/business/corporate-business/japan-halt-nuclear-plants-operations-anti-terrorism-steps-not-taken-time/#.XMDXGDAzbGg

April 25, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

A dangerous mix – LSD drugs and sailors on nuclear aircraft carriers

Here’s Why You Don’t Mix LSD and Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carriers   https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/heres-why-you-dont-mix-lsd-and-nuclear-powered-aircraft-carriers-54002

This can’t be good.

by Task and Purpose, 24 Apr 19, But the fact that these LSD rings popped up in the first place isn’t surprising at all. As I previously wrote, the middle of nowhere is the same kind of boring and awful whether it’s patrolling the Pacific or guarding nuclear silos in America’s heartland.

A sailor assigned to the nuclear reactor department aboard the USS Ronald Reagan admitted to bringing LSD aboard the aircraft carrier, Navy Times reports.

In a copy of a plea deal obtained by Navy Times, Machinist’s Mate (Nuclear Power) 3rd Class Philip S. Colegrove said he “wrongfully” brought the powerful hallucinogen aboard the Reagan while docked at various ports across Japan, as though there’s a right way to bring acid into the heart of a nuclear-powered warship.

The recent guilty pleas from Colegove and Electrician’s Mate (Nuclear Power) 2nd Class Sean M. Gevero bring the total number of Reagan nuclear reactor sailors disciplined in connection to “LSD abuse” aboard the Reagan to four, per Navy Times. A fifth is currently awaiting an Article 32 hearing

Ten other sailors, all from the same department, already faced administrative discipline last year for possessing and distributing LSD in connection to a drug ring aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier

The prevalence of LSD in a critical nuclear-related facility is surprisingly not confined to the Navy: In May 2018, 14 airmen from the Air Force security units at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming tasked with safeguarding nuclear missile silos were disciplined for dropping acid between shifts.

But the fact that these LSD rings popped up in the first place isn’t surprising at all. As I previously wrote, the middle of nowhere is the same kind of boring and awful whether it’s patrolling the Pacific or guarding nuclear silos in America’s heartland.

Anyway, if anyone has any insights into the right way to bring LSD into your (potentially radioactive) place of work, give me a shout — for, uh, science.

This article originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter.

April 25, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

in the 1980s entrepreneurs jumped on the nuclear bunker selling campaign

  • From the archive: nuclear shelter buildings boom, July 1982   https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/21/from-the-archive-nuclear-shelter-buildings-boom-july-1982

    Entrepreneurs turn their hand to armageddon  the cover story of the Observer Magazine of 4 July 1982 (‘This man thinks you should buy a fall-out shelter’) says that Switzerland has large nuclear shelters under virtually every new building and claims that the Swiss are ‘leaders in domestic shelter technology’. Perhaps this is finally something to add to Harry Lime’s list of Swiss achievements, to go with brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace and the cuckoo clock.

    The piece is like something torn from a surrealist catalogue. You can almost hear Ted Rogers from 3-2-1 reading out the star prize credentials to the winners: ‘The Crabtree Subterrain shelters are prefabricated galvanised corrugated steel cylinders with unusually long access ways, enabling burial up to a depth of 20ft. All the shelters in the range hold five to seven people in varying degrees of comfort, and prices range from £1,000 for the 7ft model to £9,660 for the 20ft model, plus installation.’ That ‘varying degrees of comfort’ is given the lie by the pictures of the shelters, whose interior aesthetics are all ship’s cabin meets office stationery cupboard.

    ‘Renewed anxiety about the prospect of nuclear war at the start of 1980 sparked off a boom in the shelter-building industry,’ the article continues, ‘but public response has been considerably less enthusiastic.’ Presumably it was less enthusiastic still after the harrowing TV series Threads aired two years later, which left viewers wondering, who’d want to survive?

    Just as in Dr Strangelove, there are always people willing to monetise nuclear armageddon. ‘A growing band of entrepreneurs have eagerly turned their hands to designing shelters. However, enterprise is no substitute for expertise, and many are structures of questionable effectiveness.’ Good luck trying to get your money back after the apocalypse.

April 22, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | history, safety, weapons and war | Leave a comment

China gambles on untested “Hualong One” nuclear reactor, and plans for international sales

China goes all-in on home grown tech in push for nuclear dominance, David Stanway, SHANGHAI (Reuters)17 Apr 19 – China plans to gamble on the bulk deployment of its untested “Hualong One” nuclear reactor, squeezing out foreign designs, as it resumes a long-delayed nuclear program aimed at meeting its clean energy goals, government and industry officials said.

China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, was once seen as a “shop window” for big nuclear developers to show off new technologies, with Beijing embarking on a program to build plants based on designs from France, the United States, Russia and Canada.

But after years of construction delays, overseas models such as Westinghouse’s AP1000 and France’s “Evolutionary Pressurised Reactor” (EPR) are now set to lose out in favor of new localized technologies, industry experts and officials said.

……….Though China has yet to complete its first Hualong One, officials are confident it will not encounter the delays suffered by rivals, and say it can compete on safety and cost.

Beijing has already decided to use the Hualong One for its first newly commissioned nuclear project in three years, set to begin construction later this year at Zhangzhou, a site originally earmarked for the AP1000. [nL3N2152KM]

……… EDF, France’s state-run utility, which helped build the EPR project at Taishan in Guangdong province, declined to comment. Westinghouse, now owned by Brookfield after entering bankruptcy restructuring, also did not respond to a request for comment.

INTERNATIONAL AMBITIONS

China’s ambitions for the Hualong One extend overseas as well. The first foreign project using the reactor is under construction in Pakistan and the model is in the running for projects in Argentina and Britain……..https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-nuclearpower-hualong/china-goes-all-in-on-home-grown-tech-in-push-for-nuclear-dominance-idUSKCN1RT0C0

April 18, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, China, marketing, politics, safety | Leave a comment

EDF’s Belleville nuclear power plant to continue to have increased monitoring by France’s nuclear regulator

France’s ASN regulator keeps enhanced monitoring of EDF’s Belleville nuclear power plant  https://uk.reuters.com/article/france-nuclearpower-safety/frances-asn-regulator-keeps-enhanced-monitoring-of-edfs-belleville-nuclear-power-plant-idUKL5N21Z2CQ,  PARIS, April 17 (Reuters) – France’s ASN nuclear regulator said on Wednesday it was maintaining its close supervision of utility EDF’s 2,600 MW Belleville nuclear power plant, due to the need to continue to monitor safety practices despite some improvements.

The regulator placed the plant under enhanced supervision in September 2017, citing failures in safety standards.

It noted that the state of the plant’s installations and safety practices had generally improved in 2018, but there was still work to do.

“However… the progress noted remains to be consolidated and that the performance of the facilities must still improve,” the ASN said in a statement.

The ASN also said it will carry out additional inspections and checks to documentation, while keeping track of EDF’s action plan to fix the issues. (Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

April 18, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, safety | Leave a comment

Protect and Survive – 1970’s UK Public infommercials On Nuclear War Preparation

RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT & FALLOUT IN THE AFFECTED AREA BRITISH CIVIL DEFENSE FILM 72592  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xjX_aoRUTQ

WW3 fears: How Britons were warned ‘NO ONE is safe’ during nuclear announcementBRITONS were told to “stay indoors” as “no place in the United Kingdom is safe” from the deadly threat of a nuclear bomb striking the nation during a broadcast intended to educate the population.

Express UK, By CALLUM HOARE Apr 12, 2019   Chilling video footage reveals how the UK was seriously preparing for a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union more than 40 years ago. It came as part of the “Protect and Survive” guide that was handed out during Margaret Thatcher’s Government during the Cold War in the late Seventies and early Eighties. Its purpose was to advise the public on how to act in the event of an imminent nuclear threat.

BRITONS were told to “stay indoors” as “no place in the United Kingdom is safe” from the deadly threat of a nuclear bomb striking the nation during a broadcast intended to educate the population.

Chilling video footage reveals how the UK was seriously preparing for a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union more than 40 years ago. It came as part of the “Protect and Survive” guide that was handed out during Margaret Thatcher’s Government during the Cold War in the late Seventies and early Eighties. Its purpose was to advise the public on how to act in the event of an imminent nuclear threat.

The information series, which was released to the public, was issued through pamphlets, radio broadcasts and films.

One part of a video, which was broadcasted on state TV, discussed nuclear fallout – the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast. It explained how this toxic dust and ash can be carried by the wind and therefore poses a threat to everyone in the UK.  The narrator says: “Fallout is dust that is sucked up from the ground by the explosion

Fallout can kill and since it can be carried for great distances by the wind, it can settle anywhere – so no place in the United Kingdom is safe.

“The risk is as great in the countryside as in the towns, nobody can tell where the safest place will be.”

The documentary went on to reveal the Government’s safest advice of “stay at home” in the event of an attack.

It added: “You are just as safe in your own home as anywhere else.

“In fact, you are far better off in your home because it is the place you know and are known. So stay where you are – if you leave, your local authority may take it over for homeless families.

“And if you move, the authorities in the new place will not help you with food, accommodation or other essentials.”

The “Protect and Survive” campaign was released at a time when tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western Bloc were at an all-time high.

US President Ronald Reagan’s election victory in 1980 brought the world the closest it had been to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, as his “evil empire” narrative proved to be particularly antagonising to the Soviet Politburo.

The Soviets racked up their defence and placed SS-30 missiles across eastern Europe as a show of force.

However, the US retaliated by convincing its allies in Europe to host its Pershing 2 ballistic missiles and ground-launched cruise missiles.

The fate of the world hung in the balance and Mrs Thatcher’s determination to make sure Britons were prepared for the worst is a testament to how seriously the situation was taken at the time.

The guide also taught families how to create a fallout room and, within that, an inner refuge.

It said families may have to stay inside there for at least two weeks, so stocking up on food and supplies was essential. Britons were urged to store three-and-a-half gallons of water each, keeping it in the bath or basins.

They were also given advice should they not be at home when a nuclear bomb struck.

The public was advised to “lie flat in a ditch and cover exposed skin”.

In the event of someone dying in a fallout room, their family should “place the body in another room and cover it as securely as possible”.

April 13, 2019 Posted by Christina Macpherson | history, safety, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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1 This Month

of the week – THE ONENESS of HUMANITY

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

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