Fireball Risk Forces Total to Revamp Site Near Nuclear Plant
Source: Bloomberg
Total SA (FP) was ordered to modify an oil-storage site in the vicinity of a nuclear plant in northern France to avert the risk of an explosive fireball knocking out the reactor’s safety systems.
The move follows in the wake of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in Japan two years ago, which prompted France’s atomic regulator Autorite de Surete Nucleaire, or ASN, to more closely review the country’s 58 sites.
Should crude stored in one of Total’s tanks catch fire, a phenomenon known as a “boilover” could occur, sending a ball of burning oil bursting into the air, IRSN, the technical adviser to ASN, said in a report on nuclear safety published on its website yesterday. The resulting fireball could lead to the malfunction of “important safety equipment” at the nuclear site, its owner Electricite de France SA has determined, according to the report.
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Concerns about the proximity of Gravelines to Total’s crude-storage site haven’t been published in previous reports by the IRSN, a spokesman said. The IRSN has begun publishing more details about its recommendations on safety, he said.
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Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-07/fireball-risk-forces-total-to-revamp-site-near-nuclear-plant.html
They're always finding surprising new ways these things can fail catastrophically.