Trouble in Nuclear Disneyland
Apr. 4th, 2008 10:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
webfarmerFrom the "What, Me Worry?" department. Maybe Spencer Abraham can do for Areva what he did as the Senator from the Auto Lobby and Big Energy. Keep the buggy whip industries on the tax and/or ratepayer-paid artificial respirator. Funny, in a makes-me-want-to-puke kind of way. You can't make stuff like this up.
Problems at French Nuclear Construction Site for Company Seeking Ontario Contract - CBC News - 03 Apr 08
"The French nuclear safety watchdog says there are a number of serious infractions in the Areva construction of a reactor in northern France - the same type of reactor it wants to sell to Ontario."
"... in March the French Nuclear Energy Agency cited the company for shortcomings in the reactor's construction. The agency says there was inadequate preparatory work before pouring concrete; the concrete base was smaller than promised; and reinforcing rods weren't up to standard."
"Ontario Energy Minister Gerry Philips says the criticism won't change things."
France's Nuclear Push Transforms Energy Equation - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via WSJ) - 28 Mar 08
"The French government hatched and coddled a nuclear industry that has cost an estimated $120 billion. In doing so, the country has accepted risks. French plants have been hit by sporadic radiation leaks. Officials are now preoccupied by the possibility of terrorist attacks. Still unresolved is how to safely dispose of waste that will remain radioactive for millennia."
"In 1981, a serious fire at the Beaumont-Hague plant released a radioactive element into the air. After the fire, the government created local committees to monitor the operations of French energy sites.
Sixteen years later, activists including Greenpeace's Mr. Rousselet said they found radiation levels higher than typical for the region at an exposed portion of pipe carrying treated waste water from the Beaumont-Hague plant to the sea. Coming into contact with radiation in certain doses can cause cancer and other serious health problems. Normally, the pipe would be covered by the sea, which would shield the radiation. At particularly low tides, it was exposed for short periods."
"Cogema (now Areva NC) sent in workers to remove calcium buildups it concluded were causing the higher readings. The cleanup dislodged this material into the water, prompting Cogema to scrub the sea floor. The same year, a researcher at a French university issued a study that found 'some convincing evidence' that children who used beaches near the plant were more likely to get leukemia than those who didn't."
"The grandest part of France's nuclear vision -- to run plants using left over uranium instead of the fresh kind -- flamed out in the late 1990s. France had built three fast breeders for that purpose, including one called the "Super Phoenix," (aka Superphénix) which cost several billion dollars."
"Areva recently hired as chairman of its U.S. unit the Bush administration's newly retired energy secretary, Spencer Abraham."
Problems at French Nuclear Construction Site for Company Seeking Ontario Contract - CBC News - 03 Apr 08
"The French nuclear safety watchdog says there are a number of serious infractions in the Areva construction of a reactor in northern France - the same type of reactor it wants to sell to Ontario."
"... in March the French Nuclear Energy Agency cited the company for shortcomings in the reactor's construction. The agency says there was inadequate preparatory work before pouring concrete; the concrete base was smaller than promised; and reinforcing rods weren't up to standard."
"Ontario Energy Minister Gerry Philips says the criticism won't change things."
France's Nuclear Push Transforms Energy Equation - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via WSJ) - 28 Mar 08
"The French government hatched and coddled a nuclear industry that has cost an estimated $120 billion. In doing so, the country has accepted risks. French plants have been hit by sporadic radiation leaks. Officials are now preoccupied by the possibility of terrorist attacks. Still unresolved is how to safely dispose of waste that will remain radioactive for millennia."
"In 1981, a serious fire at the Beaumont-Hague plant released a radioactive element into the air. After the fire, the government created local committees to monitor the operations of French energy sites.
Sixteen years later, activists including Greenpeace's Mr. Rousselet said they found radiation levels higher than typical for the region at an exposed portion of pipe carrying treated waste water from the Beaumont-Hague plant to the sea. Coming into contact with radiation in certain doses can cause cancer and other serious health problems. Normally, the pipe would be covered by the sea, which would shield the radiation. At particularly low tides, it was exposed for short periods."
"Cogema (now Areva NC) sent in workers to remove calcium buildups it concluded were causing the higher readings. The cleanup dislodged this material into the water, prompting Cogema to scrub the sea floor. The same year, a researcher at a French university issued a study that found 'some convincing evidence' that children who used beaches near the plant were more likely to get leukemia than those who didn't."
"The grandest part of France's nuclear vision -- to run plants using left over uranium instead of the fresh kind -- flamed out in the late 1990s. France had built three fast breeders for that purpose, including one called the "Super Phoenix," (aka Superphénix) which cost several billion dollars."
"Areva recently hired as chairman of its U.S. unit the Bush administration's newly retired energy secretary, Spencer Abraham."
