Leak closes French nuclear plant

[biffvernon]

France's nuclear safety watchdog has ordered a plant in the country's south to temporarily close after a uranium leak polluted the local water supply.

The plant's operator has been told to improve safety procedures at the site.

Waste containing unenriched uranium leaked into two rivers at the Tricastin plant at Bollene, 40km (25 miles) from the popular tourist city of Avignon.

People in nearby towns have been warned not to drink any water or eat fish from the rivers since Monday's leak.

Officials have also cautioned people not to swim in the rivers or use their water to irrigate crops.

more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7502208.stm

[kenneal - lagger]

These nuclear plants are soooooooo safe.

It's people who are the problem. Like the French maintenance man who took a candle into a cable duct so that he could see and burnt through the cabling for the safety circuits .............

Areva are one of the companies tendering to build and run some of Grasping Gordon's new nukes. Shouldn't be a problem in this country as all our new nukes will be beside the ever rising sea side and won't contaminate any rivers. ':roll:'

[RenewableCandy]

Someone once argued that the thing about all the "incidents" we hear about at nuclear power stations is, they're not caused by the technology, they're caused by Human Error.

My riposte was to point out that I hoped the next generation of nukes were to be operated by chimpanzees or, better still, aliens.

[biffvernon]

Whoops, another one:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... ion.france

The French nuclear giant Areva yesterday confirmed there was a radioactive leak from a broken pipe at a nuclear fuel plant in south-eastern France, a week after a uranium spill at another of its plants polluted the local water supply.

The latest incident comes as an embarrassment to the French government as it struggles to contain environmentalists' anger and reassure residents near its nuclear plants that they are safe.

Earlier this week the government ordered safety tests on the water table around all of France's 59 nuclear reactors. Areva is at the forefront of President Nicolas Sarkozy's quest to export French nuclear technology around the world, including to Britain. France is one of the world's biggest atomic energy nations, generating more than 80% of its electricity from nuclear power.

The newly discovered leak at a plant in Romans-sur-Isère in the Drôme region came from a damaged pipe which safety authorities said might have ruptured a number of years ago. Areva, a state-controlled firm which makes nuclear reactors and deals with uranium, said the leak came from a buried pipe transporting liquid uranium and that the crack in the tubing was "several years old".

France's nuclear safety authority, the ASN, said the leak did not reach the ground water and that there was no sign of contamination. It said initial tests showed no impact on the environment because the quantity of uranium was very small, around a few hundred grams.

Areva is also responsible for running the Tricastin power plant, in the nearby Vaucluse area, where a uranium leak occurred last week when a tank was being cleaned. Drinking well water, swimming and water sports in the area were banned, as well as irrigating crops with the potentially contaminated water. Both leaks ranked as a level-one incidents on the seven-point scale of nuclear accidents.

The ASN criticised Areva for the handling of the Tricastin leak, saying it delayed communication of the problem and its security measures were unsatisfactory. After admitting the safety lapse, Areva this week sacked the director responsible for the site and announced an internal audit

[emordnilap]

These are just the known, reported problems.

I have a very strong gut feeling there are going to be more of these incidents.

Nuclear - yet another example of man's ability to solve problems with problems.

[SunnyJim]

France's nuclear safety watchdog has ordered a plant in the country's south to temporarily close after a uranium leak polluted the local water supply.

The plant's operator has been told to improve safety procedures at the site.

Waste containing unenriched uranium leaked into two rivers at the Tricastin plant at Bollene, 40km (25 miles) from the popular tourist city of Avignon.

People in nearby towns have been warned not to drink any water or eat fish from the rivers since Monday's leak.

Officials have also cautioned people not to swim in the rivers or use their water to irrigate crops.

more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7502208.stm

This will be uranium 235? With a half life of 7.038×10^8 years? i.e. a half life greater than the timespan from now to back before life began. This stuff will concentrate via the food supply to those at the top of it. i.e. man. You can see the affects of nuclear polution close by to reactors (here), but that is the tip of the iceberg. When we get leaks of uranium directly into our food chain, it affects all of us. This stuff in effect, never goes away, it disperses throughout our ecosystem concentrating in biological forms such as mankind. The radiation rips through our cells causing damage. It causes genetic mutations in our species. This drive for nuclear is a dreadful thing in my opinion.