Independent nuclear safety expert Dr. Helmut Hirsh [1] has
reviewed the documents and concluded that the safety violations are
"a clear case of bad practice and an indicator of bad safety
culture", and give "reason for serious concern regarding the
resistance of the reactor building of OL3", increasing the risk
associated with external events like earthquakes, blast waves from
explosions or missile impact.
The technical documents, which include Welding Procedure
Specifications, show that the French builder Areva allowed welding
work to be carried out for more than a year without approved
procedures. The quality of welds has not been verified and test
specimens from each batch of welds were not collected. Given that
there were and still are no qualified personnel supervising the
welding, the lack of standards is even more alarming.
"While nuclear power is inherently unsafe, the unsound safety
culture existing under the French contractor Areva and its
subcontractors threatens to significantly exacerbate the risks
related to this nuclear power plant. This is not a cookie factory
-- building a nuclear installation demands the upmost caution.
Neglect of safety standards can be disastrous," said Lauri
Myllyvirta, nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace Finland.
This is the latest in a series of errors in the construction of
Olkiluoto 3, a French designed EPR. Even though work only began in
2005, the EPR reactor in Finland is more than two years behind
schedule, costs have doubled since the initial estimate and more
than a thousand problems have been reported including poor quality
concrete, defective welding on the containment and key components
not meeting the required criteria [2]. At the end of July, a fire
at the construction site caused extensive damage to the outer and
inner wall structures of the reactor building [3].
Both existing EPRs being built - Olkiluoto 3 and Flamanville 3
in France - are beset with safety problems, delays and spiralling
costs. Despite this, French President Sarkozy and the state owned
companies Areva and Électricité de France (EDF) are trying to sell
French reactors to numerous countries including to Brazil, Canada,
China, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United
States.
Nuclear energy undermines the solutions to climate change by
diverting urgently needed resources away from the true renewable
and energy efficiency solutions. Greenpeace's Energy [R]evolution
blueprint [4] shows that renewable energy, and greater energy
efficiency can deliver half of the world's energy needs by 2050,
without nuclear power.
Greenpeace has been covering the construction of Olkiluoto 3 and
other problems at Areva plants through its dedicated nuclear weblog Nuclear
Reaction.
Other contacts: Jan Beránek, Greenpeace International Nuclear Campaigner, +31 65 110 9558Lauri Myllyvirta, Greenpeace Nordic Nuclear Campaigner, +358 50 3625 981Beth Herzfeld, Greenpeace International press officer, +44 7717 802 891
VVPR info: Pictures available from John Novis, Greenpeace International Picture Desk, +44 (0) 7801 615 889
Notes: [1] Dr. Helmut Hirsch has about 30 years of experience as a nuclear expert. He has worked for the Austrian Federal Government as well as for German State Government and municipal administrations. Since 1990, he has been a member of the Austrian Environment Ministry's Nuclear Advisory Board. Recent work includes technical support for the Austrian monitoring process of the Czech Temelín nuclear power plant. He is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency expert group.[2] Greenpeace Factsheet EPR - European Pressurised Reactor, June 2008, see: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/epr-factsheet[3] More information on the fire see http://weblog.greenpeace.org/nuclear-reaction/2008/08/olkiluoto_finnish_fire_followu.html [4] See http://www.greenpeace.org/climate For further information see the briefing at http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/areva-finland-violations.pdf