If you want an example of the spin, cover-up and pure self-denial of the nuclear industry, you could do worse than take a look at this little self-congratulatory announcement from the operators of the Kozloduy nuclear plant in Bulgaria:
According to the yearly report of atomic plant "Kozloduy" for 2008, for a 12th consecutive year the plant ends without an unplanned activation of emergency protection of sixth block.
Few are the atomic plants in the world, for which such an accomplishment can be reported.
It is, needless to say, complete rubbish. Back in 2006…
On March 1, block 5 of the Kozloduy NPP in North Bulgaria experienced what is arguably its largest incident to date. Out of the 60 regulation (or control) rods in the reactor, 22 did not appear to be functioning. This means that in the case of an emergency shutdown with loss of cooling water, it would not have been possible to stop the reactor quickly, which could have led to a meltdown.
The incident only became public knowledge almost two months later, after whistleblowers released information to Austria and Germany and the incident's subsequent upgrade from (International Nuclear Event Scale) INES 0 to INES 2.
The Kozloduy director, Ivan Ivanov, was fired from his position four months after the incident and Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Ovcharov has also come under attack from environmental groups that accuse him of exaggerating international support for the Belene nuclear power plant project.
Alas, many are the atomic plants in the world, for which such an accomplishment can be reported.