Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

EdF documents show new nuclear safety risk

Jim Duffy | 30.09.2010 20:17 | Ecology | Technology

Leaked documents passed on to a French campaign group show that the design and mechanics of the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) could lead to a Chernobyl-type accident.

The EPR is the reactor design proposed by EdF at Hinkley Point. The news breaks just as the second stage of the EdF consultation is about to close (on Monday).

The documents reveal that a combination of eighty-nine penetrations to the reactor pressure vessel and the type of metal used could produce leaks in the crucial component and lead to a devastating nuclear accident.

The revelations will cause more headaches for EdF. The reactor design has been criticised by UK, US, French and Finnish safety regulators over the complex control and instrumentation system which if impaired, could result in the failure of the shut-down system. EdF has also been slammed for its safety failures leading in one case to the contamination of a hundred nuclear workers.
 http://www.stophinkley.org/PressReleases/pr091127.htm
100 Tricastin EdF workers contaminated, 15 at Saint Alban, another leak at Romans-sur-Iseres (most detailed report):
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/2454654/French-nuclear-leak-prompts-urgent-security-review.html

As the reactor would use high burn up fuel, the results of a serious accident could lead to the release of eleven times more radioactivity than from a standard Pressurised Water Reactor such as Sizewell B with obvious implications for public health.
 http://www.stophinkley.org/NewsPages/news090208Ind.htm

Jim Duffy, Stop Hinkley Coordinator said: "EdF keep repeating their mantra about safety being their priority but actually these documents reveal they are prepared to allow a potentially dangerous reactor to be built. They were criticised two years ago for safety shortcomings that led to a hundred French workers being contaminated, leading to industrial unrest. I'm worried we'll see a repeat of these safety breaches over here."


Jim Duffy
www.stophinkley.org
07798 666756


Réseau "Sortir du nucléaire" - Network phasing out the nuclear age
 http://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/

Press release 30 September 2010

EXCLUSIVE: Confidential EDF documents show serious accident risks with the EPR reactor
On Monday 27 September, the French Nuclear Phase out Network "Sortir du nucléaire" received
internal EDF documents, showing that the design and manufacture of the vessel closure head for the EPR in Flamanville could lead to a Tchernobyl-type accident.

Worse still, according to a memo written by the Head of nuclear fuel from EDF in 2001 (1), a
Tchernobyl-type accident is possible on all French nuclear reactors. The EPR is also concerned.

Several EDF documents show that the number of welds and the type of steel used in some parts of
the reactor vessel at Flamanville EPR may cause leaks. EDF considers that the leaks may, in turn,
degenerate into a Tchernobyl-type accident. This type of steel and welds are part of the emergency
shutdown system of the EPR and cover 89 points of entry into the reactor vessel.

EDF documents received by the network "Sortir du nucléaire" demonstrate that EDF engineers have
designed parts of the vessel closure head for the EPR that not only endanger safety but also
knowingly violate French law (2) relating to nuclear facilities under pressure.

For the Network "Sortir du nucléaire", the conclusion is obvious: in spite of all these issues, EDF
persists in a policy that sacrifices security for profits! In view of the catastrophic consequences of
an accident, this attitude is unimaginable and unforgivable.

Design flaws, increased toxicity of waste, untested technology, vulnerability to attacks (or even
cyber-terrorism) ... Before the submission by EDF of a safety report for Flamanville the network
"Sortir du nucléaire" wishes to remind everyone about all the problems with this reactor. In France,
Finland and elsewhere, it is urgent to put an end to the EPR program and initiate the transition
towards a future without nuclear power.

Link to EDF documentation and our detailed analysis (all in french):
 http://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/dossiers/EPR-revelations2.html
More information about all the problems of the EPR (in french):
 http://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/dossiers/EPR.html
Press Contact : Steven Mitchell: +33 952 495 022
[1] Management Activities of Hearts Physics and Fuels, SEPTEN, Andre Berthet (20.12.2001).
[2] violations of the decree of 12 December 2005 on nuclear pressure equipment.

Jim Duffy
- e-mail: stophinkley@aol.com
- Homepage: http://www.stophinkley.org

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech