Serious safety problems in Swedish nuclear power plants
Ian Fiddies | 04.08.2006 11:35 | Ecology | Technology
On Tuesday the 25th of July an incident occurred at Forsmark nuclear power station in Sweden that left one of the reactors without power for its safety systems. It took 20 minutes before the reserve generators could be started. Under those 20 minutes anything could have happened. Luckily it didn’t but a reliance on luck when it comes to safety in nuclear power is to say the least disturbing. What happened to the power supply to the reactor at Forsmark was something that supposedly couldn’t happen even in the worst disaster scenario. This impossibility has been waiting to happen for more than 20 years, Forsmark has been running since 1980.
After this near disaster four reactors have been shut down, two at Forsmark and two at Oskarshamn. If this had happened in winter it would, in all probability have resulted in a series of power cuts. As it is the electricity price is rocketing. Basing energy security on nuclear production is foolish. The slightest technical problem can necessitate the shutting down of reactors. The four reactors that are out of order now in Sweden cause the same reduction in electricity production that would ensue if 9000 wind turbines all broke down at the same time.
Sweden prides itself on the safety of its nuclear power stations. So much so that the possibility of a disaster happening on Swedish soil has been far from the limelight in the nuclear debate. Sweden like the UK is considering expanding its nuclear power production. Hopefully this kind of near miss disaster will show the world’s decision makers that accidents do happen no matter how careful you are. There is only one way to guaranty that another Chernobyl never happens and that is to stop producing nuclear power. Otherwise it is only a question of time.
After this near disaster four reactors have been shut down, two at Forsmark and two at Oskarshamn. If this had happened in winter it would, in all probability have resulted in a series of power cuts. As it is the electricity price is rocketing. Basing energy security on nuclear production is foolish. The slightest technical problem can necessitate the shutting down of reactors. The four reactors that are out of order now in Sweden cause the same reduction in electricity production that would ensue if 9000 wind turbines all broke down at the same time.
Sweden prides itself on the safety of its nuclear power stations. So much so that the possibility of a disaster happening on Swedish soil has been far from the limelight in the nuclear debate. Sweden like the UK is considering expanding its nuclear power production. Hopefully this kind of near miss disaster will show the world’s decision makers that accidents do happen no matter how careful you are. There is only one way to guaranty that another Chernobyl never happens and that is to stop producing nuclear power. Otherwise it is only a question of time.
Ian Fiddies
e-mail:
ian.fiddies @ mjv.se
Comments
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Just picking up a few errors
28.09.2006 16:03
Now I'm not saying nuclear power's brilliant. But this guy's got a couple of important things wrong.
" On Tuesday the 25th of July an incident occurred at Forsmark nuclear power station in Sweden that left one of the reactors without power for its safety systems. "
-- No it didn't: they always had enough power for safety systems. There are four identical systems and two failed. Two were running perfectly. One is enough. Even with none, nobody would have been hurt.
" It took 20 minutes before the reserve generators could be started. Under those 20 minutes anything could have happened. "
-- No it couldn't: What you mean to say is that _you_ don't know what could have happened. The plant designers knew what would happen; the plant operators knew what would happen; the regulators knew what would happen and they were confident that under those circumstances the plant would remain safe. Otherwise it wouldn't have ever been built. And hey, guess what? It happened and it _was_ safe.
" There is only one way to guaranty that another Chernobyl never happens and that is to stop producing nuclear power. Otherwise it is only a question of time. "
When people bring up Chernobyl in the nuclear debate it's a clear signal they're talking rubbish. It's just like bringing up Hitler and the Nazis - resorting to extremes to make your points means you don't have any that stand up to reason.
Would you stop driving your BMW because your neighbour drove their tractor into a tree?
After all, it's only a matter of time before you hit something, right?
I don't think we should put a stop to the only large scale carbon-free generation technology we've got just because, one day, once, the Soviets managed to made a giant mess out of it.
Joey
JOE B