Radioactive fluid leaks at French nuclear reactor

The 2 small fires caused the whole plant to be shut down!？!

kurisupisu

It makes sense. If there is an accident, the reactor is stopped until it is ascertained that the situation that led to the accident has been corrected. If the reactor was kept working as there was an emergency going on in the plant, people would protest, and rightly so.

Small things can cause huge costs for NPPs.

Last year during a containment pressure test, a fire in a left behind vacuum cleaner shut down the Swedish "Ringhals" NPP for almost a year. And caused profit loss in the range of USD 250 million.

http://www.thelocal.se/37328/20111113/

Most news sources has it down as "Human Error" (Sounds familiar?). But plant whistle blowers are saying that management actually told the employes to keep the vacuum cleaner inside the containment during a pressure test to save time.

Obviously reporters can't get inside. I like how the plant operators always make us comfortable with press release phrases like "small fire", "easily extinguished", "as planned", etc. But when you look closer, it isn't quite right. .

No connection is suggested between the flaming oil patches and the failed cooling pump. That's weird. Isn't it more likely to be "pump failed and burned, then leaked flaming oil and radioactive water"?

Isn't it more likely to be "pump failed and burned, then leaked flaming oil and radioactive water"?

Yes that is much more likely. In fact so likely, that I think we can call it the truth? (No reason why we cannot use probability theory in the same fashion as the Nuclear industry)

Anyone who saw the French media's famous map of Europe broadcast in the aftermath of Chernobyl (where the radioactive cloud simply whooshed around the French borders) knows not to trust a damned word the ASN says.

lucky they are not expecting a big quake!

Agreed with above posters (badmigraine, SquidBert). Infuriatingly disjointed use of language. Reminds me of TEPCO's indigestible report style.

Every little detail in isolation with no connection or correlation, no interest in possibilities, as if they are looking at each tree and seeing no surrounding wood, as if they are hoping people will just scratch their heads, get bored and move on.

If this is an example of how the nuclear industry works well with the local community in France (as opposed to in Japan, documentary on J TV about exactly this last night) then I don't buy it.

Oh and this sentence raises the eybrows: "The reactor continued to be cooled properly and teams were working to lower the water pressure, the company said."

OK, but erm... water pressure too high? Why? And why does it take teams of people to attempt it?

France is tring hard to sale its old technology and reactors to developing countries.All should know now that 'two small fires' are even cause big problems in surrounding.It is time to avoid ,these technology or to go for green power untill new safe technology for npp is available.