EUROPE « nuclear-news

Huge challenge to decontaminate Dounreay: ‘World’s deepest nuclear clean-up’.

Dounreay: ‘World’s deepest nuclear clean-up’ to begin, The first work in a clean-up of a 1950s-built shaft at a nuclear power research complex is to begin this year. BBC News, 9 Sep 20,

The shaft plunges 65.4m (214.5ft) below ground and poses one of the biggest challenges in the demolition of Dounreay in Caithness.

Radioactive waste was disposed there from 1959 until 1977 when an explosion ended the practice.

Tackling the shaft has been described as the “world’s deepest nuclear clean-up”…….

A £7.5m contract has been awarded for the first steps in this work, due to begin in late autumn, and also to carry out similar engineering work at another site at Dounreay called the silo.

It is described as being like a swimming pool with a concrete roof and was also used for the disposing of radioactive waste.

Engineering firms Nuvia and Graham Construction have been awarded the contract for work that would eventually lead to the waste being removed.

David Hubbard, of Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd, said: “The shaft and silo contain solid waste and sludge which must be retrieved and repackaged for safe above-ground storage…..

Dounreay, near Thurso, was the UK site for the development of fast reactor research from 1955 to 1994.

The facility on the north Caithness coast is in the process of being closed down, demolished and cleaned up. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-54085592

September 10, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decommission reactor, UK | Leave a comment

INJUSTICE in the court? The extradition trial of Julian Assange

UK: Assange extradition hearing will be a key test for UK and US justice https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/09/uk-assange-extradition-hearing-will-be-a-key-test-for-uk-and-us-justice/?fbclid=IwAR2HY0lPIxV4m0h3u7ikxEmtaJ0m5YxUITtTgqmVViX03L6qsd40vHEwq2Y 4 September 2020,

US authorities must drop all charges against Julian Assange relating to his publishing activities, and UK authorities must reject the related US extradition request, said Amnesty International ahead of Julian Assange’s extradition hearing which resumes on Monday and is expected to last several weeks.

The hearing will decide on the Trump administration’s request for Julian Assange’s extradition to the US, where he faces a sentence of up to 175 years for publishing materials that document possible war crimes committed by the US military.

“This hearing is the latest worrying salvo in a full-scale assault on the right to freedom of expression. If Julian Assange is prosecuted it could have a chilling effect on media freedom, leading publishers and journalists to self-censor in fear of retaliation,” said Amnesty International’s Europe Director, Nils Muižnieks.

“If Julian Assange is extradited it will have far reaching human rights implications, setting a chilling precedent for the protection of those who publish classified information in the public interest.”

The US extradition request is based on charges that stem directly from the publication of classified documents as part of Assange’s journalistic work with Wikileaks. Publishing such information is a cornerstone of media freedom and the public’s right to access public interest information, and must be protected rather than criminalized.

n the US, Julian Assange could face trial on 18 charges, 17 of them under the Espionage Act; and one under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He would also face a real risk of serious human rights violations including detention conditions that could amount to torture or other ill-treatment, including prolonged solitary confinement. Julian Assange is the first publisher to face charges under the Espionage Act.

The fact that Assange was the target of a negative public campaign by US officials at the highest levels undermines his right to be presumed innocent and puts him at risk of an unfair trial.

“The UK must abide by its obligations under international human rights law, which forbid the transfer of individuals to another country where they would face serious human rights violations,” said Nils Muižnieks.

The case will begin at the Old Bailey, London, on the morning (9.30am UK time) of 7 September. Stefan Simanowitz will be outside the court with an Amnesty International spokesperson. Follow @StefSimanowitz for updates and analysis

Amnesty will have trial observers monitoring remotely the entire series of hearings. During the first week, Sebastian Elgueta (@sebelgueta), a UK based barrister, will be monitoring.

Background:

Amnesty International also has concerns with regard to Julian Assange’s physical and mental well-being, particularly with the spread of COVID-19.

Conditions in UK prisons and detention centres are substandard. It is imperative that health and safety protocols are put in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection, while ensuring that prisoners’ and detainees’ rights are protected. Bail or release should be considered for any detainee or prisoner who has serious underlying health conditions and is particularly at risk of infection.

See Amnesty International’s statement on prison conditions for Assange here

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | legal, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

Climate activists mourn receding glaciers in the Alps,

Climate activists mourn receding glaciers in the Alps, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/climate-activists-mourn-receding-glaciers-in-the-alps [Video] Climate activists staged a protest near one of the melting glaciers in Europe’s Alps mountain range. Comparing a black and white photograph shot in 1891 to the shrinking Trient Glacier today, the activists urged authorities to take action to reduce CO2 emissions.

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, EUROPE | Leave a comment

EDF made exaggerated and unrealistic claims about local jobs to be provided by Sizewell nuclear power project

Ipswich Star 7th Sept 2020, Independent consultants have challenged the jobs and economic benefits that building a new twin reactor nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast will bring – labelling the claims as “exaggerated” and “unrealistic”.

EDF Energy has said that Sizewell C will give the county’s economy a £125million a year boost and create 25,000 job opportunities during the 10-year construction period and 900 skilled jobs when the power plant is operational. But an independent review of EDF’s Economic Statement, assessing the impacts of Sizewell C on Suffolk’s economy, by research and analysis consultancy Development Economics – commissioned by the Stop Sizewell C campaign – has criticised key aspects of the research and evidence submitted to the Planning Inspectorate.

EDF though insists its project will deliver investment, jobs, skills, education and training for decades to come. And it says its Economic Statement in its planning application is fully compliant with relevant national policy. Development Economics though claimed some aspects were “exaggerated” and “unrealistic”. It questioned EDF’s claim of up to “2,410 jobs for Suffolk residents”, saying this included people travelling from up to 90 minutes away, which covers large population centres in Norfolk and Essex.

It said these local workers will be the overwhelming source of lower skilled roles, expected to fill 90% of jobs in ‘Site Support’ –
cleaners, bus drivers and security guards – compared with only 8% ofroles in professional and management. At peak construction 76% of the workforce will come from further away still and will have to be accommodated in the area.

https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/sizewell-c-independent-economy-report-1-6824930

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | employment, spinbuster, UK | Leave a comment

Petition to Wales Parliament – demands an environmental assessment on Hinkley nuclear mud dumping

Welsh Parliament Petitions (accessed) 7th Sept 2020, Demand an EIA now on the dumping of radioactively contaminated mud in Welsh waters. We, the undersigned, call on the Welsh Government to invoke the
Environment (Wales) Act 2016 in respect of uncertainties, and to ensure
that a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is carried out before any
further sediment from Hinkley Point nuclear power station can be dumped at
Cardiff Grounds. Don’t allow the Welsh government to break their own law!

https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/200157

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Spain’s Asco 1 nuclear plant taken offline for three-day halt

Spain’s Asco 1 nuclear plant taken offline for three-day halt, 7 Sept 20, AuthorGianluca Baratti , EditorManish Parashar

HIGHLIGHTSOutage from Sept. 5 through Sept. 8

Asco 2 planned maintenance in October

Barcelona — Spain’s 1.03 GW Asco 1 nuclear plant was taken offline for an unplanned halt, operator Centrales Nucleares Asco Vandellos 2, or ANAV, said Sept. 5, leaving Spanish nuclear output at around 6 GW on Sept. 7……….

Another one of ANAV’s plants — the 1.09 GW Vandellos 2 — was halted on Sept. 1 for a brief maintenance in the cooling system, coming back online Sept. 3.

The group’s third plant, Asco 2, is due offline on Oct. 3 for a scheduled refueling halt through to Nov. 5.

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/topics/hydrogen

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Spain | Leave a comment

France’s weekly nuclear power generation drops

French nuclear weekly generation falls below 30 GW to 9-week-low, AuthorAndreas Franke , EditorJonathan Dart

HIGHLIGHTS

28.4 GW average some 10 GW below Sept. 2019

Low river levels at Chooz, unplanned outages, delays

France turned net importer for week ending Sept. 6

London — French nuclear generation averaged 28.4 GW in the seven days to Sept. 6, the lowest weekly average in nine weeks, according to data from system operator RTE.

Nuclear output rose to 29.2 GW on Sept. 7, but that was 12 GW lower than a year earlier as the 3-GW Chooz plant remained offline due to low river levels, with a number of reactor returns delayed………

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/electric-power/090720-french-nuclear-weekly-generation-falls-below-30-gw-to-9-week-low

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France | Leave a comment

The biggest nuclear site in Europe is at risk of blowing up

Why nuclear power is always going to be unsustainable

Energy Transition 3rd Sept 2020 The biggest nuclear site in Europe containing the world’s biggest stockpile of nuclear explosives is at risk of blowing up. What does this short-term decay tell us about the very long-term sustainability of a technology whose toxic waste last at least 24,000 years? Dr David Lowry takes a closer look.

by Dr David Lowry

In 1987 the United Nations-sponsored World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), under the chairpersonship of Gro Harlem Brundtland, a former Norwegian Prime Minister, adopted the following now universally acclaimed definition of Sustainable Development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

The Brundtland Commission – as it became to be known – also concluded in its final report, “Our Common Future”, that, because of the important ethical principle of intergenerational equity, (Sustainability 2018, 10, 3836) the people of the present must leave the earth’s resources in as good a condition as in which they found them, to allow future people to use these resources as well.

Or, as the then UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, put it in 2013: “nearly all human traditions recognize that the living are sojourners on Earth and temporary stewards of its resources.”

In this context, is interesting to note the long-running battle on what kind of energy sources should be treated as “sustainable” . EU energy lobbyists from the gas and nuclear industries are waging a lobbying war to have their own energy technology included in climate section of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Taxonomy.

Last month, Reuters reported that “the gas and nuclear industries have ramped up lobbying to secure last-ditch changes to European rules defining which investments are sustainable, fearing that exclusion from a new “green” list could deprive them of billions of dollars of funding.”

With the climate section of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Taxonomy due to be finalised this year, Reuters pointed out this could “could prove crucial as nuclear power and most natural gas plants and pipelines were excluded from a provisional list published in March.”

Reuters also revealed that in the four months since the rules were published, gas and nuclear industry representatives held no less than 52 meetings – in person or virtually – with EU officials, according to EU logs analysed by non-profit Reclaim Finance, adding “Nuclear groups in particular have stepped up their lobbying: of the 36 meetings they’ve held over the past two-and-a-half years, 10 have taken place since March.”

Reuters reported nuclear industry groups as saying using uranium as an energy source “deserves a sustainable label” – based on its low carbon emissions and existing secure waste disposal sites, adding, they fear that if nuclear isn’t deemed sustainable “the cost of capital for power plants will rise – a concern for an industry where flagship projects, such as Britain’s Hinkley Point C reactor, are struggling with spiralling costs”.

The news platform also revealed that to help get the message across, several nuclear lobby groups enlisted the help of the public, tweeting to encourage responses to an EU consultation in April on the proposed rules – and suggesting what to write, resulting in the “fake” generation 126 responses to the EU consultation from concerned citizens asking for nuclear power to be termed sustainable – nearly a third of all the responses received, according to InfluenceMap analysis.

Lobby groups told Reuters they were confident nuclear power would ultimately be considered sustainable, but they want the energy section of the taxonomy delayed until the report is done.

Meanwhile, in the UK, which will not be subject to the new EU rules on sustainability-based energy investment – as it leaves the EU on 31 December this year – a significant recent safety and security development at its flagship atomic waste management and fissile materials storage site at the sprawling Sellafield complex on the West Cumbian coast in England’s north west, demonstrates in microcosm how nuclear can never be sustainable, and cannot meet the intergenerational equity criteria for a sustainable system.

……… CORE recorded that some of Sellafield’s 1400 buildings (operational and legacy) are considered by the independent financial watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO) to fall short of modern standards and, through deterioration, ‘pose a significant risk to people and the environment’.

Identified as amongst Sellafield’s top 10 highest hazards is the site’s plutonium stock and associated management facilities, the NAO report warns specifically of decaying plutonium canisters – a leak from which would add to the growing list of ’intolerable risks’ posed by Sellafield as identified by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the acknowledged risks posed by the volumes of hazardous wastes and materials stored in run-down buildings.

The owner of Sellafield – Europe’s largest nuclear site- on behalf of the taxpayer is the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). In a 164-page draft strategy document released on 17 August, the NDA revealed this alarming situation on its plutonium stored on site. (Sellafield has 140,000 kilogrammes of explosive plutonium in store: for context of the hazard, the atomic bomb that obliterated the centre of the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 75 years ago, killing 70,000 people instantly, contained just 6.4 kilogrammes of plutonium!)

In the report’s section on plutonium storage – at page 60 – it admits alarmingly:

“The NDA considers some of the older plutonium packages and facilities used in early production to be amongst the highest hazards on the Sellafield site. A major programme of asset care has and continues to be undertaken at these facilities to support safe operation until they can be taken out of service and decommissioned.

Some older packages are to be repacked in existing plants to ensure their safe management

in the short to medium term.”

Rickety labs are waiting for accidents to happen

Sellafield’s Analytical Services Laboratory (ASL) is one of the oldest facilities on site (built in 1951) and located in the tight and highly controlled confines of Sellafield’s so called ‘Separation Area’ alongside old reprocessing plant (where nuclear explosives plutonium and uranium are recovered from nuclear waste) and the high hazard legacy radioactive waste ponds and silos.

Around 50 of ASL’s original 150 laboratories are currently operational. They were described by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) in June 2017 as a

“relatively high risk’ facility whose laboratories hold a ‘considerable radiological inventory” that

“has potentially high off-site consequences in the event of a major accident.”

So, when the ‘Bomb Squad’ arrived in late October 2017 to deal with these unstable chemicals with their potential to ignite or explode, they demanded the immediate evacuation of workers and a 100-metre cordon thrown up around ASL should have triggered major alarm bells locally and further afield.

Sellafield’s website quietly published an update of this first alarming incident, and concluded on 1 November 2017 that “our chemical disposal work has concluded and the Analytical Laboratory is preparing to restart’” suggesting that all was well with ASL.

But this was actually fake news, as was later made clear by the findings of Sellafield’s subsequent Board of Inquiry report, finally published on 1st February 2018 .

Sellafield censored the full contents – in a ‘blacked out’ procedure called redaction. They have never released the full unaltered report.

The Sellafield safety campaigners CORE – led by giant former policeman, Martin Forwood, who died nearly a year ago- finally obtained a fuller version of the report after demanding its release from Sellafield in the public interest.

It alarmingly highlighted the current day and past chaos and confusion that has underpinned Sellafield’s management of the hazardous chemical inventory contained within ASL in which radioactive materials are also stored.

The Board of Inquiry report into the event highlights a catalogue of incompetence of which the legendary Homer Simpson himself would have been proud!

It revealed that the initial discovery of the suspect chemicals – a part filled 500ml bottle of potentially unstable Tetrahydrofuran (THF)- unbelievably stored in a flammable vault within ASL, had actually been made on 3rd October, almost three weeks earlier.

Only then did Sellafield declare an Operational Alert and the Army’s Bomb Squad was belatedly called in to detonate the chemicals via a series of controlled explosions made on 21st and 22nd October.

Then, following further inventory check of the laboratories which discovered more suspect THF and vials and bottles of Quickszint, the Bomb Squad had to be recalled and continued to make further disposals until the 1st November 2017.

Last week it happened all over again, with apparently no lessons learned by a dopy Sellafield management!

Highlighting the many failings of Sellafield’s chemicals management, the Board of Investigation’s critical report arrives at the following alarming conclusions:

Now, nearly three years on, we could have another massive explosion on our hands in the north of England, with devastating consequences going beyond imagination.

Because we would not have a grain storage silos spewing out its contents, but the biggest store of nuclear explosives on the planet – bigger than America’s or Russia’s – releasing its deadly toxic contents.

If even extremely small quantities (micro-particles) of this radioactive material – named after Pluto, the God of Hell – were blown into the atmosphere by a chemical explosion, it would threaten the entire north of England.

In particulate form it can cause cancer with just one speck, if the so-called alpha radiation particles from the plutonium got into human lungs.

It could even render Britain’s countryside jewel of the Lake District – located just inland from Sellafield on Cumbria’s coast – out of bounds for many years.

So, the outstanding question remains: What are the UK’s safety and nuclear regulators doing about this terrifying – and utterly unacceptable – threat other lives of millions of British residents? They need to top of their game to face down this home-made threat, arising from incompetence and over weening secrecy! https://energytransition.org/2020/09/why-nuclear-power-is-always-going-to-be-unsustainable/

September 7, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK | Leave a comment

EDF’s Economic Statement on impact of Sizewell nuclear project – gives unproven, misleading evidence

Stop Sizewell C 3rd Sept 2020, An independent review of EDF’s Economic Statement, assessing the impacts of Sizewell C to Suffolk’s local economy, has concluded that the project threatens “profitability and, in some cases, viability” of some local businesses, while others will be “at an immediate disadvantage when bidding for contracts”.

The report, Sizewell Economic Statement – Response, by highly-regarded independent research and analysis consultancy Development Economics, reveals multiple areas where EDF’s claimed benefits are over-optimistic, unproven or misleading, frequently omitting
evidence to support its figures or relying on “erroneous analysis”.

It concludes, critically, that EDF’s Economic Statement “fails to meet the minimum requirements of the legislation”, with no serious attempt to measure the deterrent effect on tourists and their expenditure, traffic congestion or competition for skills and labour.

The National Policy Statement EN-6 requires that applicants for major nuclear energy projects take into account ‘potential pressures on local and regional resources, demographic change and economic benefit’.

https://stopsizewellc.org/economic-impacts/

September 7, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France, politics, secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

KILDARE OPINION SOUGHT ON NEW BRITISH NUCLEAR PLANT

KILDARE OPINION SOUGHT ON NEW BRITISH NUCLEAR PLANT, Kildare Nationalist, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 06, 2020 UNDER provisions made at the United Nations, submissions are invited from interested parties in Kildare to comment on the development of a new nuclear power station planned for the east coast of England.Under the terms of the 1991 United Nations Convention, the Transboundary Environmental Public Consultation allows citizens in neighbouring nations have their say on certain public and private projects likely to have significant effects on the environment.

For this purpose, the member state of the UN in whose territory the project is intended to be carried out is required to send to its neighbours – no later than when informing its own public – a description of the project and any available information on its possible transboundary impact.

In this case, the Department of Environment, Planning and Local Government (DEPLG) was contacted by the British authorites in July about their plans to build a third reactor at the Sizewell nuclear power campus in Suffolk, to afford Irish citizens their chance to offer an opinion.

The letter from the UK’s Planning Inspectorate states that the Secretary of State has received an application to build two reactor units, giving a total site capacity of approximately 3,340MW, along with associated development required for the construction and operation of the Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station. …….

the Secretary of State decided to notify Ireland as if the development is likely to have significant adverse transboundary effects on the environment in this

State, as provided for in the UN Convention.

All documents related to the application are available to view on the Department of Environment’s website, and at the Planning Department, Kildare County Council – but by appointment only.

Submissions made in relation to the potential transboundary environmental effects of Sizewell C may be made in writing to the Planning Department, Kildare County Council, Aras Chill Dara, Naas, Co. Kildare or by e-mail to plandept@kildarecoco.ie by 28 October………….the Secretary of State decided to notify Ireland as if the development is likely to have significant adverse transboundary effects on the environment in this

State, as provided for in the UN Convention.

All documents related to the application are available to view on the Department of Environment’s website, and at the Planning Department, Kildare County Council – but by appointment only.

Submissions made in relation to the potential transboundary environmental effects of Sizewell C may be made in writing to the Planning Department, Kildare County Council, Aras Chill Dara, Naas, Co. Kildare or by e-mail to plandept@kildarecoco.ie by 28 October……..https://kildare-nationalist.ie/2020/09/06/kildare-opinion-sought-on-new-british-nuclear-plant/#.X1ViXHkzbIU

September 7, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | public opinion, UK | Leave a comment

More of Britain’s ageing nuclear power stations are likely to close early

Times 6th Sept 2020, More nuclear power stations could close early as EDF wrestles with problems with patching up its ageing plants. The French power giant owns Britain’s fleet of eight nuclear power stations together with British Gas parent Centrica.
…………. just one new nuclear power station is being built, Hinkley Point C, in Somerset.

EDF said last month that Hunterston B in Ayrshire would close about 15 months earlier than expected, by January 2022, because of cracks in its graphite core. It is also understood to be considering the early closure of at least two more plants — Hinkley Point
B in Somerset and Dungeness B in Kent.

Hinkley Point B is earmarked for closure in early 2023, but EDF is understood to have warned staff in recent days that it may
happen sooner. It is currently not generating while its graphite core is inspected. EDF is due to make a decision on its future in November.

Dungeness B has been offline since 2018, but now there are fears that it may never reopen because of problems with its boilers, which EDF has spent about £100m trying to fix.

Ministers are set to make a decision on whether to fund more nuclear stations within the coming months, with the
publication of a much-delayed energy white paper.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/nuclear-closures-pose-power-puzzle-d6bnnnrcs

September 7, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, politics, safety, UK | Leave a comment

Climate protestors stop Rupert Murdoch’s press in Britain

Rupert Murdoch’s British papers delayed as climate protesters stop the presses, SMH 6 Sept, 20, London: Distribution of several British newspapers was disrupted on Saturday after climate change activists blockaded printworks used by Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, publisher of The Times and The Sun, drawing condemnation from Prime Minister Boris Johnson.Extinction Rebellion said nearly 80 people had blocked roads leading to two printworks, at Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, north east of London, and at Knowsley, near Liverpool. Hertfordshire police said they made 42 arrests and Merseyside police made 30.

The Murdoch-owned Newsprinters works also print the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times. Campaigners said they had taken the action to highlight what they regard as the newspapers’ failure to accurately report on climate change. ……….

The blockade was part of more than a week of protests by Extinction Rebellion, which says an emergency response and mass move away from polluting industries and behaviours is needed to avert a looming climate cataclysm.

On Saturday it also protested in central London, including holding a “die-in” in front of Buckingham Palace, where demonstrators lay under white sheets to represent corpses. …….. https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/rupert-mudoch-s-british-newspapers-delayed-as-extinction-rebellion-protesters-stop-the-presses-20200905-p55sqr.html

September 7, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, media, UK | Leave a comment

The threatening presence of highly radioactive material in Russia’s sunken nuclear submarines

Do Russia’s Sunken Nuclear Submarines Pose Environmental Danger? There’s radioactive fuel hanging at the bottom of the sea. https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a33902569/russia-sunken-nuclear-submarines/ BY KYLE MIZOKAMI, SEP 4, 2020

Two ex-Soviet nuclear submarines, K-27 and K-159, lie at the bottom of the Barents Sea.
The wrecked ships still have their radioactive fuel sources aboard, which experts worry could leak into the environment.
The Russian government has vowed to clean up the wrecks, but the work is not a priority.

Governments and environmental groups are worried a rupture of nuclear fuel supplies could cause a nuclear catastrophe, impacting local fishing areas. The Russian government is working to solve the problem, which some experts are calling a potential “Chernobyl in slow motion on the seabed.

A legacy of the Cold War threatens Russia’s people and environment, potentially irradiating a large portion of the Barents Sea and closing it to commercial fishing. Two Soviet nuclear-powered submarines are sitting on the bottom of the ocean and could unleash their radioactive fuels into the surrounding waters.

The Soviet Union built four hundred nuclear-powered submarines during the Cold War. The vast majority were either scrapped, or still serve with the Russian Navy today. A few subs, however, are trapped in precarious circumstances, lying on the seabed floor with their uranium fuel supplies still intact. The BBC reports on efforts to render two such ships, K-27 and K-159, safe.

The first ship, K-27, was a Soviet Navy submarine prototype equipped with a new liquid metal reactor. In 1968, the six-year-old sub suffered a reactor accident so serious, nine Soviet sailors received fatal doses of radiation. The submarine was scuttled off the Russian island of Novaya Zemlya in 1982 with its reactor still on board.

The second ship, K-159 (shown above before sinking, on original), was a November-class submarine that served a fairly typical career with the Soviet Northern Fleet before retirement in 1989. In 2003, however, the K-159 sank while in the process of being dismantled, killing nine sailors. The ship still resides where it was lost, again with its reactor on board.

Environmentalists in Norway and Russia are concerned that eventually the reactors on both submarines will break down, releasing huge amounts of radiation.

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The effects of these leaks could range from increasing local background radiation to declaring local fish and animals off limits, particularly Barents Sea fishing stocks of cod and haddock, costing local fishermen an estimated $1.5 billion a year.

While Russia’s state nuclear agency, Rosatom, has been tasked with cleaning up the ships, the effort is underfunded, resulting in a race against time (and saltwater corrosion).

September 5, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ARCTIC, oceans, Russia, wastes | Leave a comment

Global heating – low water rate affecting France’s Saint-Alban nuclear plant

Low water flow may halve output at France’s Saint-Alban nuclear plant https://www.reuters.com/article/france-nuclear/low-water-flow-may-halve-output-at-frances-saint-alban-nuclear-plant-idUSL8N2G04V7 PARIS, Sept 3 (Reuters) – A low flow rate on the Rhone River will likely restrict output from Saturday to Monday at EDF’s Saint-Alban nuclear plant in southeastern France, French grid operator RTE said on Thursday.The two Saint-Alban reactors produce 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of power each and RTE said the reduction in output could be equivalent to the production of one unit.

The Saint-Alban 2 reactor is currently scheduled to go offline for routine maintenance on Sept. 19.

EDF’s use of water is regulated by law to protect plant and animal life. The company is obliged to reduce output during hot weather when water temperatures rise, or when river levels and the flow rate are low.

August was the third hottest in France on records going back to 1900, with the summer months between June and August entering the top 10 hottest summers on record, Meteo France data showed.

Low flow rates were already an issue at the Saint-Alban plant last month, as RTE warned on Aug. 20 that the equivalent of one reactor could be taken offline for that reason.

French nuclear availability is currently at 52.4% of total capacity, with 29.7 GW offline. (Reporting by Forrest Crellin; Editing by Susan Fenton)

September 5, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, France | Leave a comment

Radiation from Chernobyl spreads far away, as global heating exacerbates widfires

Climate change is spreading radiation from Chernobyl over 2,000 miles away, Boing Boing, 3 Sep 20, One of the more difficult parts of trying to convince people about the seriousness of climate change is explaining how so many disparate elements and factors can collude and compound* and make everything worse. And it’s even harder to predict how long those complications will take to manifest, whenever they do what they do…….

. As The Atlantic reports:

Monitors in Norway, 2,000 miles away, detected increased levels of cesium in the atmosphere. Kyiv was smothered in smoke [from forest fires]. Press reports estimated that the level of radiation near the fires was 16 times higher than normal, but we may never know how much was actually released: Yoschenko, Zibtsev, and others impatient to take on-the-ground measurements were confined to their homes by the coronavirus pandemic. August is typically the worst month of the Chernobyl fire season, and this year, public anxiety is mounting. The devastation left by the world’s worst nuclear disaster is colliding with the disaster of climate change, and the consequences reach far and deep.

The unexpected result is an immense, long-term ecological laboratory. Within the exclusion zone, scientists are analyzing everything, including the health of the wolves and moose that have wandered back and the effects of radiation on barn swallows, voles, and the microorganisms that decompose forest litter. Now, as wildfires worsen, scientists are trying to determine how these hard-hit ecosystems will respond to yet another unparalleled disruption. ……

when something nuclear does go wrong — which is still likely, because nothing’s perfect — more nuclear power production will result in more radiation damage. And, if this situation with Chernobyl’s forest fires is any indication, then the ultimate fallout of that combined with our existing climate change problems could be even more insurmountably devastating……. https://boingboing.net/2020/09/04/climate-change-is-spreading-ra.html

September 5, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, environment, Ukraine | Leave a comment

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