Recently in Nuclear Power Category
On June 4, 2008 at 17:38 local time, an unspecified amount of coolant spilled out of the primary cooling system at Slovenia's Krsko Nuclear Power Plant. The reactor was immediately shut down and no elevated levels of radioactiivity were detected in the immediate environment. Austrian authorities conducted tests at their border and verified no increase in the area's radiation levels. The International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) classified the incident in the least dangerous category.Immediately after discovering the problem, Krsko plant personnel notified the European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange (ECURIE), an early warning system created in 1987 in the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine. This is the first time an alarm has been sent out to ECURIE member states. Some European countries are complaining that the early warning system should not have been activated in this case because there really was no emergency.
Slovenia has been criticized over their handling of the incident. Initial reports from the Krsko authorities indicated Austria was conducting a drill. The report was quickly corrected and the error attributed to the use of an incorrect form for reporting the incident. Austria's Environment Minister Josef Proll noted that even though there was apparently no radiation leak at Krsko, their faith in Slovenia's early warning system has been damaged.
The Krsko facility has been operating for 31 years and provides 20% of Slovenia's electrical needs and 15% of Croatia's. The ECURIE member states include all 27 European Union nations and Switzerland. Turkey has also been invited to join.
Photo: © 2005 Nuklearna elektrarna Krško – All Rights Reserved
At the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in Ukraine, work has begun on a new containment structure that will cover the remains of Reactor 4, which was destroyed in the 1986 accident. Construction of the "New Safe Confinement" (NSC), will occur a short distance from the reactor building and then slid into place on rails when complete. Once the dome-shaped structure is in place, the original Sarcophagus will be dismantled to prevent a possible collapse and subsequent damage to the NSC's interior.
The NSC has been designed to last for 100 years, much more than the 20 year estimate for the existing Sarcophagus (that has now been in place for 21 years). When construction and placement of the NSC is complete, let's not forget about it because in several generations the NSC itself will need to be replaced.
A building already exists on site for NSC workers to change clothes. Interviews are now taking place to screen potential workers for the New Safe Confinement.
You can also see a brief film about the screening process here.
It has now been over a year since I wandered around the beauty and horror that is the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, and still I find it difficult to describe my feelings about what I saw. With all the talk about nuclear power these days, let's see if I can get past some of those issues and put into words what is locked away somewhere in my mind.
