news from the world of nuke plants

[ensho]

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/?area=&lang=eng


Slovenia began shutting down Wednesday its only nuclear power plant in Krsko following a leak in the cooling system that authorities said does not represent a danger for people or the environment. In Brussels, the European Commission issued an EU-wide radiation alert following the incident in the central European state that currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency. "A loss of coolant has occurred in the primary cooling system of the Krsko nuclear power plant," in Slovenia's southwest, the commission said in a statement. "The nuclear power plant is proceeding to the safe shut-down procedure," it added. "There is no danger for the people or the environment," said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for the EU's Slovenian presidency. There was a leak of water but "no radioactive material," she added. A spokeswoman at the Krsko nuclear plant said experts would analyse the leak and determine the procedure for repairing it. "So far we can say that it has not produced any effects on the environment," said Ida Novak. "We can't forecast how much time the plant will be shut down. We'll first have to locate the leak and then determine the procedure for repairing it," she added. The EU's executive arm activated its European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange (ECURIE) system, immediately transmitting the information to all 27 member states. "At this point in time, no discharge to the environment has been identified," the commission said, adding that the power of the reactor was at 22 percent and "the safe shutdown is still in progress."

The ECURIE system requires early notification and exchange of information "in the event of a radiological or nuclear emergency." All member states are required to inform the commission "at appropriate intervals" about the measures they are taking and the radioactivity levels they have measured. The radiation alert system was introduced in 1987 after the Chernobyl disaster. EU spokesman on energy issues Ferran Tarradellas said the system was used "all the time" but added that it was rare for Brussels to judge that an incident warranted being made public. Austrian Environment Minister Josef Proll, however, said later that Slovenia had not alerted his officials to the leak, instead indicating that a safety "exercise" was being undertaken. "That places a serious question mark over our confidence in the Slovenian alarm system," he said. German Environment Secretary Michael Mueller said that the federal government in Berlin had asked its experts to evaluate the site. "The federal government has asked its pertinent services to examine the incident," Mueller said. Mueller's spokesman, Michael Schroeren, later added that the centre appeared to be "under control." "There is no evidence for now indicating a serious incident," he said.

But Jan Beranek, Greenpeace International's nuclear campaigner, said: "Any situation which results in the European Commission alerting all 27 member states about the possible consequences of a nuclear accident cannot readily be dismissed as something not to worry about. "In this case we hope that independent confirmation can be gained to confirm that the situation is under control and there was no offsite contamination. "However, it stands as a testament to the threat that all of Europe's nuclear facilities pose to its population and environment and beyond. Those who are planning to build more nuclear reactors must heed this warning and reject nuclear technology." The plant, east of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, was reopened last November after being shut down for a month for maintenance work, when insulation was added to the reactor building and 53 of the plant's 121 fuel elements were replaced. Improvements were also made to the plant's equipment and technological systems to increase security. The Krsko nuclear power plant, which is jointly owned by Slovenia and neighbouring Croatia, was built by American-Japanese company Westinghouse and became operational in 1983.)
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no new nuke plants, period.

[Systematic Chaos]

1. And how many people are going to die of cancer or respiratory failure today

from fossil fuel waste? How many more millionths of a degree will the planet irreversibly heat up?

There's a crowd in the Environment/Energy forum who will just love you. Be sure to stop in and say hello.