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Leak closes French nuclear plant

Treyfish

Moderator
French town in nuclear emergency
<HR style="COLOR: #000066" align=left width="50%">
<SMALL> <SMALL>Wednesday 9th July, 2008</SMALL>

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=bnnstory vAlign=top width="60%">The town of Avignon in the south of France has suffered a bad radioactive spill.

Radioactive fluid has accidentally leaked from a tank in a nuclear power plant.

Some of the fluid has spilled into three rivers nearby and warnings have gone out to local residents.

The authorities have urged people not to drink any water or catch fish from the Gaffi?re, Lauzon and Rh?ne rivers.

Authorities say the level of radioactivity is a hundred percent higher than the amount permitted in an entire year. :tiphat:

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=380258</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></SMALL>
 
Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Re: French town in nuclear emergency


TricastinL'uranium s'est ?chapp? dans les eaux rhodaniennes


tricasweb.jpg

Hier apr?s-midi, un communiqu? laconique des pr?fectures du Dr?me et du Vaucluse indiquait qu'un incident nucl?aire s'?tait produit sur le site de Tricastin la nuit pr?c?dente . De l'uranium pur s'est en effet d?vers? dans les eaux voisines.

Les anti-nucl?aire ont compt? : 30 m 3 d'effluents et 12 gr d'uranium par litre, cela donne 360 kilos en partie d?vers?s dans la nature. Socatri, soci?t? responsable du sinistre, minimise et rassure en parlant d'un impact ? limit? ?.

Quel impact r?el pour l'environnement et pour l'homme ? Beaucoup se posaient l?gitimement la question hier, apr?s que les pr?fectures du Vaucluse et de la Dr?me ont annonc? qu'un incident s'?tait produit quelques heures auparavant sur le site nucl?aire de Tricastin,
? c?t? de Boll?ne (Vaucluse).

Selon les sources officielles, ? un rejet accidentel d'effluents uranif?res ?, dont une partie s'est d?vers?e dans les rivi?res de la Gaffi?re et de Lauzon, petits affluents du Rh?ne.

C'est au sein de l'usine Socatri, filiale d'Areva notamment sp?cialis?e dans la gestion de d?chets nucl?aires avant ?limination, que l'incident a eu lieu. ? C'est la station d'?puration de Tricastin, image Gilles Salgas, responsable de la communication. L'usine collecte les eaux us?es de l'ensemble du site, sauf celles de la centrale nucl?aire, afin de r?cup?rer l'uranium et rejeter ces eaux selon les normes autoris?es. Mais dans la nuit, un bassin de r?tention a d?bord? et une partie de la solution uranif?re s'est r?pandue sur le sol ; le reste s'est d?vers? dans les cours d'eau, via le r?seau des eaux fluviales ?.

Difficile hier soir encore de conna?tre les causes de l'incident. Les techniciens de l'usine penchaient pour une vanne d?faillante, plus qu'une erreur humaine. Difficile aussi de savoir quelles quantit?s exactes d'uranium se sont ?vanouies dans la nature. Officiellement, ce sont 30 m 3 d'effluents qui se sont ?coul?s dans les rivi?res, et ceux-ci contenaient environ 12 grammes d'uranium (pur) par litre. Inutile toutefois de sortir les calculettes, selon Gilles Salgas : ? L'uranium se dilue facilement. Notre d?marche a donc ?t? de faire de nombreuses analyses afin de d?terminer son niveau de concentration. Celui-ci ?tant plus important que la norme requise (il n'indique pas dans quelle mesure, Ndlr), des mesures de pr?caution ont ?t? prises, m?me si rien d'anormal n'a ?t? relev? sur les nappes phr?atiques ?.

La pr?fecture du Vaucluse, tout en refusant de qualifier l'incident puisque c'est du ressort de l'agence de s?ret? nucl?aire, confirme. Dans le milieu de l'apr?s-midi, le pr?fet signait un arr?t? interdisant la consommation d'eau potable issue de captages priv?s dans trois communes du Vaucluse (Boll?ne, Lapalud et Lamotte-du-Rh?ne).

L'irrigation agricole, les activit?s nautiques, la baignade et la p?che ?taient ?galement interdites sur les rivi?res concern?es mais aussi les plans d'eau dans lesquels elles se d?versent. ? D'autres analyses seront r?alis?es, afin de lever les interdictions au plus vite ?, compl?te-t-on dans la maison de l'?tat.

Dans la journ?e, la soci?t? Socatri a effectu? une d?contamination des sols et des canalisations concern?s, en attendant de reprendre son activit?. Et assure que l'impact sur l'environnement ? est limit? et d?croissant ?. Les autochtones l'esp?rent...

Ludovic TRABUCHET
Trad

Yesterday afternoon, a laconic news release of the prefectures of Drome and Vaucluse indicated a nuclear incident was produced on the site of Tricastin the night before. Pure uranium is indeed poured in close water.

The antinuclear one counted: 30 m3 d' effluents and 12 gr. d' uranium per liter, that gives 360 kilos partly poured in nature. Socatri, company responsible for the disaster, minimizes and reassures by speaking of a ?limited? impact.

Which real impact for environment and for man? Much raised the question legitimately yesterday, after the prefectures of Vaucluse and Drome announced than an incident was produced a few hours before on the nuclear site of Tricastin, beside Boll?ne (Vaucluse).

According to the official sources, ?an accidental rejection d' uranium-bearing effluents?, of which a part; is poured in the rivers of Gaffi?re and Lauzon, small affluents of the Rhon

It is within the machine Socatri, subsidiary of Areva in particular specialized in the management of nuclear waste before elimination, that incident took place. ?It is the station of purification of Tricastin, image Gilles Salgas, person in charge of the communication. The machine collection the waste water of the together site, except those of the nuclear plant, in order to recover the uranium and to reject this water according to the authorized standards. But in the night, a retaining tank overflowed and part of the uranium-bearing solution is widespread on the ground; the remainder is poured in the courses of water, via the network of river water?.

Difficult yesterday evening still to know the causes of the incident. Technicians of the factory leaned for a faulty valve, more qof an human error. Difficult also to know which exact quantities d' uranium disappeared in nature. Officially, they are 30 m3 d' effluents which ran out in the rivers, and those contained approximately 12 grams d' uranium (pure) per liter. Useless however to leave the calculators, according to Gilles Salgas: ?The uranium is diluted easily. Our step thus was to make many analyses in order to determine its level of concentration. This one being more important than the necessary standard (it up to what point indicate, note), measures of precaution were taken, even if nothing of abnormal no was raised on the ground water?.

Prefecture of Vaucluse, while refusing to qualify the incident since it is spring of the arranges nuclear safety, confirms. In the medium of the afternoon, the prefect signed a decree prohibiting consumption of drinking water resulting from collectings deprived in three communes of Vaucluse (Boll?ne, Lapalud and the Lamotte-of-Rhone).

L' agricultural irrigation, the nautical activities, the bathe and fishing were also prohibited on the rivers concerned but also the plans; water in which they flow. ?Other analyses will be carried out, in order to raise prohibitions as fast as possible?, supplements one in the house of the State.

In the course of the day, the Socatri company carried out a decontamination of the grounds and drains concerned, while waiting to take again its activity. And ensures that the impact on the environment ?is limited and decreasing?. The autochtones hope this?

http://www.midilibre.com/articles/2...9-est-echappe-dans-les-eaux-rhodaniennes.php5
 
Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Les autorit?s nucl?aires se veulent rassurantes face au rejet d'uranium sur le site de Tricastin
LE MONDE | 09.07.08 | 05h46 ? Mis ? jour le 09.07.08 | 17h44

uelque 360 kg d'uranium se sont d?vers?s dans l'environnement du site nucl?aire du Tricastin, sur la commune de Boll?ne (Vaucluse), dans la nuit du 7 au 8 juillet. L'accident est survenu dans une installation de la soci?t? Socatri, filiale d'Areva, qui assure la d?contamination de mat?riels et la r?cup?ration de l'uranium trait? par l'usine d'enrichissement d'Eurodif, install?e sur le m?me site. Les circonstances du d?versement accidentel de 30 m3 de solution contenant 12 grammes d'uranium par litre restent encore ? ?lucider.

Les pr?fets du Vaucluse et de la Dr?me ont interdit, jusqu'? nouvel ordre, la consommation d'eau potable issue de captages priv?s sur trois communes, mais aussi la baignade et la p?che dans les cours et plans d'eau avoisinants. L'irrigation agricole est stopp?e. Les effluents radioactifs se sont en effet infiltr?s pour partie dans le sol ? l'int?rieur m?me de l'?tablissement. Mais une quantit? mal ?valu?e a rejoint par le r?seau des eaux pluviales les rivi?res de la Gaffi?re, puis du Lauzon qui se d?verse dans le Rh?ne. La soci?t? Socatri, qui a imm?diatement effectu? des mesures, "a constat? un d?passement de la valeur pr?conis?e par l'Organisation mondiale de la sant? (OMS) pour les eaux destin?es ? la consommation humaine d'un facteur 1000 pendant une courte p?riode correspondant au passage du pic de pollution", indique l'Institut de radioprotection et de s?ret? nucl?aire (IRSN). Charg? de l'expertise en cas d'accident, cet organisme estime cependant que les "cons?quences radiologiques pour les populations devraient ?tre n?gligeables".

100 FOIS LE REJET ANNUEL

"Dans la mesure o? les gens ne consomment pas l'eau de la nappe phr?atique, les risques de contamination sont inexistants", estime Thierry Charles, directeur de la s?ret? des usines ? l'IRSN. Un plan de surveillance sur 12 points de pr?l?vement d'eau va ?tre mis en place pour v?rifier l'?volution des teneurs dans les semaines et les mois ? venir. Ces analyses permettront de d?terminer ? quelle ?ch?ance les mesures de restrictions pourront ?tre lev?es. Elles pourraient l'?tre ? plus faible d?lai dans les cours d'eau, qui assurent une dilution plus rapide, "lorsque nous serons assur?s que l'uranium ne s'est pas fix? sur les s?diments", pr?cise Charles-Antoine Louet, chef de division de l'Autorit? de s?ret? nucl?aire (ASN) ? Lyon.

Si les autorit?s se veulent rassurantes, les associations de d?fense de l'environnement s'inqui?tent de l'ampleur de la pollution. Sortir du nucl?aire ?voque le risque de cancer li? aux contaminations de ce type. Bruno Chareyron, responsable du laboratoire de la Commission de recherche et d'information ind?pendantes sur la radioactivit? (Criirad), note que "la radioactivit? contenue dans ce rejet a ?t? plus de 100 fois sup?rieure ? la limite annuelle fix?e pour cet ?tablissement". Il ne veut pas encore se prononcer sur l'impact environnemental et sanitaire de l'accident, "attendant plus de donn?es pour l'?valuer". Il y a quelques jours, la Criirad s'?tait inqui?t?e de l'entreposage sous un tumulus de terre de 770tonnes de d?chets radioactifs d'origine militaire au Tricastin. "Cela fait beaucoup pour un site qui est la deuxi?me plate-forme nucl?aire fran?aise, apr?s La Hague", note-t-il.

Herv? Morin
http://www.lemonde.fr/archives/arti...anium-sur-le-site-de-tricastin_1067895_0.html
 
Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Re: French town in nuclear emergency

I find it so ironic that the government takes extreme precautions in situations like this because they know there’d be a political firestorm if they didn’t and it was found out later. Yet when they do go public and take these precautions they get the firestorm anyway even if nobody’s been harmed in any way. As near as I can tell from reading several articles about this, the uranium was NOT enriched, so even if it contained as much uranium 235 as normal ore (0.7%), the total amount that could possibly have made it into the river would have been about half a pound. That’s about the same amount that a typical coal-fired power plant dumps into the environment every 2 days, every day of the year. And unlike in this case, where the uranium was quickly diluted and washed downstream, the coal ash heaps are mounded all over and leaching steadily into their surroundings, every day of the year. The vast majority of the uranium would have been U238, which would be essentially harmless. They use the stuff in sailboat keels, airplanes. This is another classic case of anti-nuke hysteria, the ignorant leading the blind. The German environment minister said that it’s no small matter when “active uranium” is released into the environment. As opposed to passive uranium? Just look at these headlines on this post: French town in nuclear emergency! ...a bad radioactive spill. This is irresponsible journalism.
 
Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Any unintended release of nuclear materials is an emergency.Fortunatly not as bad as first thought.Stories you read here are posted before most places on the net.The report was a rather small story and still has merit.This is a disease site and I think the story is as important as a major disease outbreak or terrorist attack and was posted for interest.I'm proud to see others had further information..."The authorities have urged people not to drink any water or catch fish from the Gaffi?re, Lauzon and Rh?ne rivers.

Authorities say the level of radioactivity is a hundred percent higher than the amount permitted in an entire year"....This statement constitutes a warning to the people of the area and was posted because of it.:tiphat:
 
Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Post #4:
This is another classic case of anti-nuke hysteria, the ignorant leading the blind.

We can't control the journalists and their choice of the headlines. I will admit some are not accurate at all. But, I agree that this needed to be brought to the attention of our readers, whether it pans out or not.
 
Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Knowing how big pompes was trumpeted by the EU few weeks ago when in the Slovenian nuclear plant was officialy published the same day an internal leakage in the secondary loop, without any speels outside, or in the near river, these cautious postings of "it's not radioactive", for an atomic plant liquid which entered the chain of water distribution, is highly disproported.

I remember at the time, how many cover ups was from Chernobyl.
If the Norway/Sweden institutes don't alarm the population, and if no sat pictures exists, nobody will know about.
All the firemans, and first savers from there died.
We can see now the consequences in the cancer plagued local population.

That time also, existed some folks who eat contaminated vegetables as "it's unharmful". I even saw a TV report doc, where an local plant white-suited worker from there take a glass of water from the control-bars pot area, to assure the audience of "no radiation here".

If some harmfull spill/strain of any kind is released, who cover such things when aknowledged, act as a deliberate spreader of illness through the population.
 
Ignorance of the bellicose.

Ignorance of the bellicose.

Nearly all of coal radioactivity (in the US, a few ppm concentration, often lower) produced by coal-fired power plants is captured by electroprecipitators and is retained in coal fly ash.

Fly ash is disposed of, according to tight USEPA environmental regulations, but rising disposal costs and liability have encouraged a thriving market in fly ash separation technologies and fly ash reuse, including carbon reburn (secondary energy capture) and metals recovery (including aluminum). The historical use for fly ash has historically (last 4 decades) been concrete production. The 'diluted', concrete matrix-bound flyash residues produce no more radioactivity than background levels in unamended concrete and soils.

Even China and India have made significant progress in fly ash processing for materials and energy recapture, as advanced recovery process costs fall and disposal and liability costs rise and alternative land use (driven by escalating land value in the past decade).

I don't believe you are going to see many fly ash pits with spent material just lying about, in the US, Canada or in the EU (which has been working diligently to promote regulatory uniformity with its newest members with the immediate goal of improved coal fly ash residue management and disposal).

In this time of rapidly diminishing natural resources, especially heavy metals, it's become a source of recoverable materials - even in developing nations.
 
Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Leak closes French nuclear plant.
BBC News Service, Friday, 11 July 2008


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.

Late notice
Approximately 30 cubic metres of liquid containing unenriched uranium spilled from an overflowing reservoir at the Tricastin facility, which handles liquids contaminated by uranium, into the ground and into the Gaffiere and Lauzon rivers. The site has a nuclear reactor as well as a radioactive treatment plant.

The leak happened late on Monday night, but people in the affected areas were not informed until 1000 GMT on Tuesday. The French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) inspected the Tricastin plant on Thursday and found that existing prevention measures were deficient and that its operator, Societe Auxiliaire de Tricastin (Socatri), had been too slow to inform authorities about the leak.

The ASN is to submit a report to the state prosecutor for possible legal action against Socatri. The company is a subsidiary of the French nuclear giant, Areva.

The safety inspection found that "security steps aimed at preventing any further pollution were not completely satisfactory", the ASN said. The inspectors also found "irregularities" at the site's operations at the time of the leak. Socatri has been ordered to implement "a reinforced surveillance plan, including analysis of the surrounding rivers and ground water".

French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said on Thursday that there was "no imminent danger" to the local population.

Socatri has said tests of the groundwater, local wells and the rivers show they have not been contaminated. One anti-nuclear organisation has said it will take legal action against ASN, saying it had delayed sounding the alarm.

France is one of the world's most nuclear-dependent countries, with 80% of its electricity coming from nuclear power.

_44816915_france_bollene_0708.cmp.gif
 
Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Re: French town in nuclear emergency

little disturbing : I really don't understand if it was U 235 or U238.
but about the plant :

http://www.leparisien.fr/home/info/...U-TRAITEMENT-DE-DECHETS-RADIOACTIFS_298622170
The company Socatri, which led to an accidental release of uranium into the night Monday to Tuesday on the site of Tricastin, is a subsidiary of public nuclear group Areva, which specialises in sanitation and recovery of nuclear waste.

Located in Tricastin, Socatri (Society auxiliary Tricastin) was founded in 1974 to Boll?ne (Vaucluse).

Built initially to carry out surface treatment and assembly of parts chaudronn?es ( no translation for this word ) used in the manufacture of columns uranium enrichment plant of Eurodif (Areva), the Tricastin, its facilities have been gradually converted.

Today, its activities cover four areas, according to the website of the group Areva: dismantling and sanitation materials and facilities, maintenance, renovation and construction materials; treatment of nuclear waste and industrial processing and packaging of nuclear waste .


How could it be U 235...
??

http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/depe...iirad_denonce_lopacite_de_la_socatri_et_.html
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</td><td id="gap"> </td><td class="almost_half_cell">Tricastin: CRIIRAD denounced the opacity of the Socatri and ASN
AP | 11.07.2008 | 18:11

The Research Commission and independent information on Radioactivity (CRIIRAD) has once again denounced Friday the opacity of society Socatri, the source of the leak of uranium in Tricastin, and the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN).

"We still have no information this Friday, that we had requested Tuesday, the day after the incident, about what actually contained tanks that have overflowed. We want to becquerels figures and not in grams," said to Associated Press Corinne Castanier, director of the CRIIRAD.

"Today, there is a total opacity on the radiological and chemical composition of the contents of the tank, an opacity on pollution or not the water alluvial, and delays in the publication of results do not bode well" , Said Castanier. According to calculations by the CRIIRAD, Socatri dismissed at once during the incident 27 times the maximum allowable on the year.

"The information which are issued raised more questions they do answers. Socatri give the figures it wants, but proves nothing. Ago including inconsistencies in the data provided on the pollution of streams around" , Takes Corinne Castanier. The CRIIRAD it also takes the ASN, accused of "lax". "What is the rule? ASN waited two days after the incident to conduct an inspection, gave its requirements Friday and left even 24 hours at Socatri to comply," said the CRIIRAD.

"If the Socatri must wait for an inspection and notification of the ASN to empty the tanks that leak or that are not associated with tanks holding prescribed by the decree of 2005 is a suspension of the authorization of exercise is needed, and as soon as possible! "wrote the association in a statement.

The CRIIRAD also calls into question the classification of the incident at Level 1 (simple anomaly) on a European scale which has INES September The ASN has ranked this serious malfunction at 0 (...) Such a decision creates a climate of permissiveness, even impunity, extremely detrimental to the protection of the environment and especially the health of surrounding populations: all the radioactive and chemical pollutants released into the atmosphere are inhaled directly by the people ", denounced the independent body. AP
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Tricastin: la CRIIRAD d?nonce l'opacit? de la Socatri et de l'ASN

AP | 11.07.2008 | 18:11
La Commission de recherche et d'information ind?pendante sur la radioactivit? (CRIIRAD) a une nouvelle fois d?nonc? vendredi l'opacit? de la soci?t? Socatri, ? l'origine de la fuite d'uranium au Tricastin, et de l'Autorit? de s?ret? nucl?aire (ASN).
"Nous ne disposons toujours pas vendredi des informations que nous avions demand?es mardi, le lendemain de l'incident, sur ce que contenait r?ellement les cuves qui ont d?bord?. Nous voulons des chiffres en becquerels et non en grammes", a indiqu? ? l'Associated Press Corinne Castanier, directrice de la CRIIRAD.
"Aujourd'hui, il y a une opacit? totale sur la composition chimique et radiologique du contenu de la cuve, une opacit? sur la pollution ou non de la nappe alluviale, et les retards pris dans la publication des r?sultats ne sont pas de bon augure", a ajout? Mme Castanier. Selon les calculs de la CRIIRAD, la Socatri a rejet? en une seule fois lors de l'incident 27 fois la limite maximale autoris?e sur l'ann?e.
"Les informations qui sont d?livr?es posent plus de questions qu'elles n'apportent de r?ponses. La Socatri donnent les chiffres qu'elle veut, mais ne prouve rien. Il y a notamment des incoh?rences dans les donn?es fournies sur la pollution des ruisseaux alentours", reprend Corinne Castanier. La CRIIRAD s'en prend ?galement ? l'ASN, accus? de "laxisme". "Que fait l'Etat? L'ASN a attendu deux jours apr?s l'incident pour mener une inspection, a donn? ses prescriptions vendredi et a laiss? encore 24 heures ? la Socatri pour se mettre en conformit?", estime la CRIIRAD.
"Si la Socatri doit attendre une inspection et une notification de l'ASN pour vider les cuves qui fuient ou qui ne sont pas associ?es aux cuves de r?tention prescrites par l'arr?t? de 2005, c'est une suspension de l'autorisation d'exercer qui s'impose, et dans les plus brefs d?lais!", ?crit l'association dans un communiqu?.
La CRIIRAD remet ?galement en cause le classement de l'incident au niveau 1 (simple anomalie) sur l'?chelle europ?enne INES qui en compte sept. L'ASN "a class? ce dysfonctionnement grave au niveau 0 (...) Ce type de d?cision cr?e un climat de permissivit?, voire d'impunit?, extr?mement pr?judiciable ? la protection de l'environnement et surtout de la sant? des populations environnantes: tous les polluants radioactifs et chimiques rejet?s dans l'atmosph?re sont directement respir?s par la population", d?nonce l'organisme ind?pendant. AP
 
Re: Ignorance of the bellicose.

Re: Ignorance of the bellicose.

My second comment (since banished from this thread) was not meant to say how dangerous the uranium is in fly ash, but how NON-dangerous was this minor release of this mainly depleted uranium. The fact that they make concrete out of it and it's no worse than background radioactivity is indicative of the lack of urgency about this issue. To compare it to terrorist attacks and major disease outbreaks is ridiculous.
 
Re: Ignorance of the bellicose.

Re: Ignorance of the bellicose.

Just a note about the fly ash issue from Scientific American last December:

"Fly ash uranium sometimes leaches into the soil and water surrounding a coal plant, affecting cropland and, in turn, food. People living within a "stack shadow"?the area within a half- to one-mile (0.8- to 1.6-kilometer) radius of a coal plant's smokestacks?might then ingest small amounts of radiation. Fly ash is also disposed of in landfills and abandoned mines and quarries, posing a potential risk to people living around those areas."

While this is in line with what I was saying about coal fly ash being sometimes rather casually disposed of (landfills, after all, do leach their contents into soil), the article also goes on to say just how minute is the chance that anybody is going to be negatively impacted by it. Yet the amount is WAY more than was released in this minor mishap.
 
Re: Ignorance of the bellicose.

Re: Ignorance of the bellicose.

My second comment (since banished from this thread) was not meant to say how dangerous the uranium is in fly ash, but how NON-dangerous was this minor release of this mainly depleted uranium. The fact that they make concrete out of it and it's no worse than background radioactivity is indicative of the lack of urgency about this issue. To compare it to terrorist attacks and major disease outbreaks is ridiculous.

We insist on non-insulting tone and comments. Any points you would like to make on the merits of the subjects are welcomed.

:yinyang:
 
Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Coals range widely in their radionuclide content/concentration, and it also varies within coal deposits, processing and emission capture and recovery technology.

Very-low radionuclide coal fly ash is routinely recycled into cement. However, higher content, such as that occurring in China and Russian Federation, is a potential unconventional source (as are phosphate deposits). China currently has three coal-fired power plants from which is recovers uranium in fly-ash.

Why this thread merits attention.
We do not want another Chernobyl. Most readers are unaware of the long term costs to Central Europe. Those costs include emergency relocation of thousands of former Ukrainians affected by the release. Some of them were moved here to the US, given homes, cars and a living stipend. I personally doubt that Russia or the Ukraine pay their medical and other expenses.

The US was not the only recipient of medical refugees from Chernobyl.

These repatriated people represent a very small percentage of the enormous economic and social costs of the Chernobyl reactor containment failure. Many, many workers who were sent in for emergency shutdown and capping operation later died from extreme exposure. It is a very unpleasant way to die, as are the cancers generated within the general population exposed after the accident and downwind (including distant Lapland natives, who lost their livelihood when their contaminated reindeer herds were culled, historical pasturage ceased by the government, and the Laps relocated to small drab concrete huts).

The recent surge in crude oil pricing / futures value has had quite an effect in 'rejuvenating' interest in nuclear energy. Europe and the UK, for example, has increased investment in nuclear power plants. This is despite the exceptional long-term costs of waste disposal - a cost born for perpetuity by the nations receiving and storing this waste. Nuclear power production nations are not the only ones who store wastes - some nations make a pretty penny by provision of waste processing and storage.

So when we see a release attributed to human error - one found to be avoidable and due to lack of adequate safeguards/lax procedures - there is a reason for concern, if for no other reason, the nuclear plant authority's slowness in notifying national regulators and emergency management officials.

That is the real rub here.
 
Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Re: French town in nuclear emergency

Apparently wild hyperbole and antinuclear hysteria are perfectly acceptable, while pointing out the nature of such exaggeration is taboo. What, pray tell, does Chernobyl have to do with a small spill of depleted uranium? Why is it fine to tie that straw man to this minor and harmless accident but unacceptable to call to account those who would equate it with terrorism and major disease outbreaks? And nuclear waste is hardly the problem that people make it out to be, since many countries will soon be building reactors (some already are) that can burn nuclear "waste" as fuel. If we make the right choices we can benefit from fission and have no need of reprocessing plants like the one that spilled the uranium. But until people get over the idea that anything with the word "nuclear" in it is bad and scary, we'll continue to suffer the consequences of increasing global warming, for renewables are not going to have a prayer of bringing anthropogenic emissions to a halt.
 
Re: Leak closes French nuclear plant

from post #15 above - "Apparently wild hyperbole and antinuclear hysteria are perfectly acceptable.."

This is not an example of positive communication. It is accusatory in its tone. It targets everyone who is participating on this thread. I know that on other sites on the internet this kind of bash is acceptable.

Here it is not.

We have a peaceful and accepting culture here. A more appropriate wording for your point would have been: "I feel that the title of this thread is sensational in nature and I would like to see the title changed to XXX for the following reason...." or "I disagree with member X, I feel that XXX is the true problem (or lack thereof...) here for the following reason(s)...." This kind of exchange can result in a thoughtful search for the truth of the issue.

Remember that behind every moniker is a real person. Please act as though you are in their physical presence.

Thanks.
 
Re: Leak closes French nuclear plant

Thank you Florida.



I'd like to have good informations on what happened in my country, and I haven't.
It is a principle.
Moreover, misinformation is the cause of unfounded rumours.
Tchernobyl :
In the south of france, especially in an island called Corsican, the rate of cancer and problems of the thyroid has increased several years after Tchernobyl 's accident .
There are mountains which have retained clouds coming from tchernobyl , rain fell on the ground and the local radioactivity has increased.
As the Corsican nor French was warned of the potential danger : people have continued to eat what grew in the gardens, and drink milk. I remember a professor, who moved to the TV, telling us that there was absolutely no danger.
Our German neighbours were fully warned.

Of course, this is not as serious as what happened in Ukraine where poor people were literally sacrificed at the plant, in order to avoid a Chinese syndrome.
They died within a few days, in horrible suffering to save the planet from an even greater disaster.
For me, they were heroes.
The survivors are very sick, and there are many children distorted
<table id="texttable"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td id="gap">
</td><td class="almost_half_cell">
</td></tr></tbody></table>. it's a pity to see this childrens.

my english is badly and I use a translator, but I hope that my thoughts are a little understood.
 
Re: Leak closes French nuclear plant

Merci Anne.

Votre traducteur anglais est bon.

Il est important de suivre tous les événements nucléaires parce que le matériel est si dévastatrice pour la vie biologique.

Dans une pandémie, comme une société mondiale, nous serons beaucoup plus vulnérables à diverses maladies infectieuses et le fait de l'homme des agents en raison de notre affaiblissement physique et naturel de défense. Plus nous comprenons à présent sur le rayonnement - les plus aisés, nous serons dans le cas d'un accident nucléaire au cours d'une pandémie.



Your translator English is good.

It is important to follow all nuclear events because the material is so devastating to biological life.

In a pandemic, as a world society, we will be much more vulnerable to various infectious and man-made agents due to our weakened natural and physical defenses. The more we understand now about radiation - the better off we will be in the event of a nuclear accident during a pandemic.
 
Re: Leak closes French nuclear plant

thank you Florida
( I try to help my translator :) )
We have a lot of information and many details, but not the right information, which is perhaps another way of not telling the truth.
This is just one incident, but the management has not been good : many errors.
5 days after, we still do not know the amount that went into rivers (70 or 300 kg) and there is always a leak.

We're not in pandemic, all people are to their work in the plant ( recovery of waste : it s not a nuclear central )

imagine what could happen during a pandemic with reduced and tired staff.
but we have plan for that.



http://www.letelegramme.com/gratuit...on-de-traitement-20080712-3438956_1393321.php

leak uranium. Closing the treatment station
The Nuclear Safety Authority has imposed yesterday the temporary closure of one of two stations processing Tricastin.
In a damning report, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) reported a "series of failures and human negligence" in the management of a leak of uranium at the site of Tricastin (Vaucluse).
A tank still leaking
ASN imposed the Socatri, a subsidiary of Areva, to suspend the activity of one of its two treatment stations on this site. During an inspection, the Authority has found that in one of two stations, a leaking tank always in a retention pond leaking. The canal where some of the effluents were discharged uranium has been drained, but if it rains, water can again lead to contaminated sediments into the nearby river. The Socatri said that it cease immediately to use the most dilapidated of its two facilities, which it planned to close "in the coming weeks" as part of a modernization plan.
L?Autorit? de s?ret? nucl?aire a impos? hier la fermeture temporaire d?une des deux stations de traitement de Tricastin.<!--/TITRE--> <!--/TEXTE-->

<!--TEXTE--> Dans un rapport accablant, l?A utorit? de s?ret? nucl?aire (ASN) fait ?tat d?une ? s?rie de dysfonctionnements et de n?gligences humaines ? dans la gestion d?une fuite d?uranium sur le site du Tricastin (Vaucluse). Une cuve qui fuit toujours
Elle a ainsi impos? ? la Socatri, filiale d?Areva, de suspendre l?activit? d?une de ses deux stations de traitement sur ce site. Lors d?une inspection, l?Autorit? a en effet constat? que dans une des deux stations, une cuve fuyait toujours dans un bassin de r?tention non ?tanche. Le canal o? une partie des effluents d?uranium se sont d?vers?s a ?t? ass?ch?, mais en cas de pluie, l?eau peut ? nouveau entra?ner des s?diments contamin?s vers la rivi?re voisine. La Socatri a indiqu? qu ? elle cessait imm?diatement d ? utiliser la plus v?tuste de ses deux installations, qu ? elle pr?voyait de fermer ? dans les prochaines semaines ? dans le cadre d ? un plan de modernisation. <!--/TEXTE-->
 
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