Nuclear reactors are unsafe no matter where they are built.
It seems that global governments are suffering from mass amnesia
and are doing a good job of spreading it around. But the
reality of nuclear power is not different in the 21st Century than
it was in the 20th - it is inherently dangerous. Time and
time again the industry has demonstrated that safety and nuclear
power is a contradiction in terms.
Safe reactors are a myth. An accident can occur in any nuclear
reactor, causing the release of large quantities of deadly
radiation into the environment. Even during normal operation,
radioactive materials are regularly discharged into the air and
water. The policy of secrecy, which surrounded the development of
the bomb, was transferred to civil nuclear power projects after
World War II and lives on today.
The nuclear industry was suffering serious nuclear accidents
long before the catastrophic Chernobyl accident in 1986. Twenty
years later the industry is plagued with incidents, accidents and
near-misses. Aging of nuclear reactors, in particular the effect of
prolonged operation on materials and large components become more
an more critical - embrittlement of metals, corrosion and fatigue
are all endemic throughout the world's nuclear industry. At the
same time nuclear operators are continually trying to reduce costs
due to both greater competition in the electricity market and the
need to meet shareholder expectations.
Just a few examples from the many highlight that the world is
never far away from the next nuclear catastrophe.
- Japan, as one of the largest operators of nuclear power had its
worst nuclear accident in 1999 at the Tokai-mura nuclear fuel plant
when two workers received lethal doses of radiation; one year
later, it was revealed that vital safety data and inspections had
been manipulated at tens of reactors to avoid 'expensive' repairs
and lengthy closure;
- Despite claims that the nuclear industry and government had
adopted higher safety standards, in 2004, a steam explosion at the
Mihama reactor killed five workers; in 2006 a district court
ordered the shut down of a nuclear reactor as it could not
withstand severe earthquakes - all of Japan's reactors are sitting
on top of one of the world's most active geological faults.
- The United States, with the world's largest fleet of nuclear
power plants, only just avoided a catastrophic accident at the
David-Besse reactor in 2002, when it was discovered that corrosion
had come very close to penetrating the vital pressure vessel - an
accident scenario that can lead to a complete reactor core
meltdown. Greenpeace ten years before had filed a complaint to the
U.S. nuclear regulator warning of the risk of corrosion at all U.S.
nuclear power plants. The warning was ignored; following the
discovery at David-Besse, it was shut down for two years (costing
US$600 million), but then given a license to operate until
2017;
- French nuclear safety agency activated its emergency response
center in December 2003 in response to torrential rainfall along
the lower Rhone River, following the the emergency shut down of two
reactors (Cruas-3 and -4) due to flood affected damage.
- In 2000, the UK Sellafield nuclear fuel processing site was
found to have a fundamental failure of safety culture by Government
inspectors - but only after public disclosure of violations of
quality control and safety standards at its newest nuclear plant
(Sellafield MOX Plant). This helped convince the Government of
Ireland to launch a legal challenge against the UK government at
the United Nations International Court in Hamburg on the issue of
nuclear safety at Sellafield.
These are just a few examples of what is a global problem. In
2005, Greenpeace updated its international reactor hazards study.
One conclusion reached was that the standard western design nuclear
reactors (light water), the most common type operating today
worldwide, in an addident could release up to 10 times more
radioactivity than the Chernobyl disaster.
In addition to the risk of accident, nuclear plants are highly
vulnerable to deliberate acts of sabotage and terrorist attack.
Even the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which
promotes the use of nuclear power, admitted that in the light of
the September 11th 2001 attacks in New York that:
"Most nuclear power plants were built during the 1960s and
1970s, and like the World Trade Center, they were designed to
withstand only accidental impacts from the small'Cessna' type
sports aircraft. If you postulate the risk of a jumbo jet full of
fuel, it is clear that their design was not conceived to withstand
such an impact."