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Home Articles Flashpoints GETTING BETTER….GETTING BETTER….OOPS, WE THINK WE JUST HAD A MELTDOWN…

GETTING BETTER….GETTING BETTER….OOPS, WE THINK WE JUST HAD A MELTDOWN…

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IMMEDIATE USE MONDAY 28 MARCH
PEOPLE FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT NUCLEAR FLASHPOINTS PROJECT

 GETTING BETTER….GETTING BETTER….OOPS, WE THINK WE JUST HAD A MELTDOWN…

 SERIOUSNESS OF FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR DISASTER CONTINUES TO BE DOWNPLAYED

 The seriousness of the Fukushima nuclear accident continues to be down-played, with consequences both for public safety, and for the long-term credibility of the nuclear power industry.

 


 We keep hearing that things are getting better, that the situation is coming under control – and then, there is a revelation that plant workers have been exposed to high levels of radiation, and that there may be not only a core melt at Reactor number three, but an actual breach of containment.

 

We hear that there are extremely high levels of radiation in seawater off the coast from the plant.

 

We hear that the thousands of tonnes of water dumped onto the plant by everything from military helicopters to fire trucks to police water-cannon, are ‘going somewhere’ and nobody is quite sure where the water is in fact going.

 It is clear however by now, that this is the most serious accident at a nuclear power plant since Chernobyl.

 


 

 

Whereas the Three Mile Island accident was bought under control in 3-4 days, there are no signs yet that the Fukushima accident is anywhere near being under control in spite of attempts to bring power back to the control rooms of the crippled reactors, and in spite of the undoubted heroism of the plant operators.

 

We also hear that the fundamental design flaws that led to the accident were known about as far back as 1972, while the plants operator, TEPCO, hid structural problems with the plants reactor pressure vessel for decades.

 

 

Fukushima was, it is clear, an accident waiting to happen.

 How many other nuclear power plants are accidents waiting to happen?

 

All technologies pose risks. It is clear that the risks posed by nuclear power are simply too big to be acceptable within a reasonable cost framework, and this should rule it out as an acceptable solution to global warming.

 


 

 

It is time to phase out this future technology whose time should have passed decades ago.

 


 Contact

 John Hallam

 

 61-2-9810-2598 m0416-500-793

 

 


Last Updated on Sunday, 08 February 2015 22:26