nuclear-news

Explosion at oldest French nuclear plant http://www.beyondnuclear.org/france-whats-new/2012/9/11/explosion-at-oldest-french-nuclear-plant.html The oldest operating French nuclear power plant, at Fessenheim near the German border, suffered a chemical explosion on September 5 that sent 8 workers to the hospital, two of them with steam burns.

This was just the latest set-back for the French nuclear sector which is struggling to maintain a presence overseas but saw its Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) all but canceled at the Calvert Cliffs, MD site on August 30. Fessenheim sits on the banks of a river and on an active fault line and has been the object of consistent and large opposition
to its continued operation . At first alarm, it was believed a fire had broken out as 50 firefighters were dispatched to the site, operated by EDF. Later, it was described as a
chemical explosion that released “non-radioactive” steam.

The newly-elected French president, François Hollande, said he would shut the Fessenheim plant during his five-year term which most observers believe means at the end of it, in 2017. Furthermore, his energy minister, Dauphine Batho, has been quoted recently describing nuclear energy as “necessary” and the “energy of the future” causing a flurry
of critical and often derisory articles and commentaries in the French media.

September 15, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, incidents | Leave a comment

French losing faith in nuclear industry following latest incident

confidence is taking a further hit because on 5 September Electricite de France, denied reports of a fire at the Fessenheim nuclear power plant (NPP) in eastern France

Not quite what France’s BFM television reported,…that local authorities said the incident was “the beginning of a fire.”

 the “incident” at Fessenheim NPP in fact raises troubling issues about aging French NPPs.

French Nuclear “Incident” Raises Concerns By John Daly | Wed, 05 September 2012 In the 1960s, as the U.S. “Atoms for Peace” program got into full swing, promoting civilian nuclear electricity propagation, no European country bought into the concept more deeply than France.

Seduced by the concept of electricity “too cheap to measure,” France began developing a massive nuclear energy program with minimal public debate after the first oil crisis in 1974 and continued to support nuclear power even after the 1986 Soviet Chernobyl disaster.

The March 2011 debacle at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex heightened the French public’s concerns, but France abandoning nuclear power is an order of magnitude more difficult than neighbouring Germany. Continue reading →

September 6, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, incidents | Leave a comment

Incident at France’s old Fessenheim nuclear power plant

Accident at France’s oldest nuclear plant. THE AUSTRALIAN, AFP ,September 06, 2012  A STEAM leak due to an accidental chemical reaction at France’s oldest nuclear plant led to two people being slightly burnt and renewed calls to reduce the country’s heavy reliance on atomic energy.

The accident occurred at the Fessenheim nuclear power plant in northeastern France within 1.5km of the border with Germany and about 40km from Switzerland.

“It was not a fire,” the local prefecture said, adding that oxygenated steam had escaped after hydrogen peroxide reacted with water in a reservoir.

About 50 firefighters were deployed, an official from the service said……

France is the world’s most nuclear-dependent country, operates 58 reactors and has been a leading international proponent of atomic energy.

But in a deal with the Greens before this year’s parliamentary and presidential elections, President Francois Hollande’s Socialist party promised to reduce reliance on nuclear energy from more than 75 percent to 50 per cent by shutting 24 reactors by 2025.

France’s reliance on nuclear power has been increasingly called into question since the Fukushima disaster in Japan, which prompted Germany to announce plans to shut all of its reactors by the end of 2022…..

France’s ecology ministry said there was no safety threat. Ecology Minister Delphine Batho termed it a “workplace accident” and promised that “a complete report on this incident will be made public.”

On stream since 1977, Fessenheim has two water reactors. It is built along a huge canal and draws water for cooling from the Rhine river.

Due to its location, it is considered vulnerable to seismic activity and flooding and is provisionally scheduled to close in 2017.

After the scare, former Green presidential candidate Noel Mamere said: “This incident proves that we must close Fessenheim as soon as possible,” adding that it would be better to spend “billions of euros” on developing renewable energy.  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/accident-at-frances-oldest-nuclear-plant/story-e6frg6so-1226466141232

September 6, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, incidents | Leave a comment