Ala. Nuke Workers Face Exposure

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Index:



Ala. Nuke Workers Face Exposure

Greenpeace stunt questions Spain's nuclear safety

MOX vessels leave British port for Japan

================================



Ala. Nuke Workers Face Exposure



ATHENS, Ala. (AP) - Fifty-four workers were exposed to gas with low 

levels of radioactive contamination during an incident this week at 

the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, officials said.  



The gas escaped late Wednesday as workers were taking apart the Unit 

2 reactor, plant spokesman Craig Beasley said. They returned to work 

the next day.  



Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Ken Clark said the accident 

appeared minor. ``We do not expect any of the workers who were 

exposed to have any adverse health effects,'' he said.  



Beasley said none of the radioactive gas left the building 

surrounding the reactor. With the top of the reactor already removed,

the gas escaped as the workers took off another part, he said.



Beasley said the workers received less than 50 millirems of radiation

exposure. By comparison, he said, a dental X-ray exposes patients to

about 9 millirems.



The Tennessee Valley Authority, which runs the plant, did not 

publicly disclose the mishap until contacted by the TimesDaily, a 

Florence, Ala., newspaper. Beasley said TVA notified federal 

regulators even though the level of radiation was so low no report 

was required.  



A few weeks ago, four Browns Ferry workers were burned by a high-

voltage electrical arc during a refueling outage of the Unit 3

reactor. 

------------------



Greenpeace stunt questions Spain's nuclear safety



MADRID, April 26 (Reuters) - The storming of a 34-year-old nuclear 

power plant in Spain by Greenpeace activists has opened debate about 

the safety of Spain's ageing reactors and security measures 

supposedly tightened after September 11.  



Six Greenpeace environmentalists scaled the dome of the Jose Cabrera 

nuclear plant at Zorita, 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Madrid on 

Thursday, and hung a banner demanding "Close now!."  



Spain's Nuclear Safety Council has begun a preliminary investigation. 

It intends asking for a formal probe that could lead to a possible 

fine for Union Fenosa (UNF.MC), the power firm that runs the plant.  



"Results from the first emergency inspection show no damage to any of 

the sensitive parts of the plant. Nuclear security was never at 

risk," a spokeswoman for the council told Reuters on Friday.  



"Now we have to conduct further analysis and see what extra physical 

security measures should be taken and who is to blame for this, 

especially after security measures had been increased after the 

attacks of September 11," she said.  



El Mundo newspaper said Greenpeace had exposed poor security at the

plant. "What if Greenpeace were al Qaeda?" it asked.



Greenpeace, which said only one security guard chased the intruders 

and fired a shot into the air in an unsuccessful bid to stop them, 

said the oldest of Spain's nine nuclear plants suffered from rust and 

cracks in some of its key containers.  



Greenpeace said its team needed just 10 minutes to get from the main 

gate to the top of the nuclear plant, which the ecologists claim has 

released radioactive material into the air and toward the nearby Tajo 

River.  



"PROPORTIONATE RESPONSE"



A spokesman for the nuclear plant said the ecologists were able to 

get to the top of the dome because the response from the security 

guard was "proportionate" to the threat.  



"All the security measures were working ... We would rather wait for 

the inquiry from the authorities before we talk about 

responsibilities," he said.  



It was unclear whether any investigation could affect the renewal of 

Union Fenosa's permit for the plant, due in October.  



"Once the technical and legal analysis of the situation is over, we

will ask for a formal probe," the CSN said in a statement.



The Greenpeace protest was timed to roughly coincide with the 16th 

anniversary of Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the fourth 

anniversary of Spain's worst ecological disaster, the Aznalcollar 

spill when a mining reservoir burst and dumped almost seven million 

cubic metres of toxic sludge near a wildlife reserve.  



"We were able to see with our eyes the decrepit state of this old 

plant. They have to close down Zorita before we have a serious 

accident," said Carlos Bravo of Greenpeace.  



The nuclear council disputed that, saying, "If the nuclear plant was

unsafe, we would have taken appropriate measures." 

----------------



MOX vessels leave British port for Japan



LONDON, April 26 (Kyodo) - Two ships which will return a nuclear fuel

shipment from Japan to Britain in June left their English port Friday

morning amid a barrage of protests by Greenpeace.



The two vessels, the Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, departed 

Barrow-in-Furness in northwest England around 9:30 a.m. local time 

and are expected to arrive in Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, in June. 

Both vessels left the port amid a heavy police presence, but there 

were no demonstrations or disruption to the departure.  



One of the ships is loaded with a special container which will hold 

plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel when it returns to Britain 

from Japan.  



It is expected that the Pacific Pintail will carry MOX fuel back to 

Britain while the Pacific Teal will provide security. Both vessels 

will have armed guards aboard.  



The British and Japanese governments agreed that the eight assemblies 

of MOX fuel should be returned to the British manufacturer, British 

Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), after it was discovered in 1999 that quality 

control data on the fuel had been falsified at the company's 

Sellafield plant. The fuel was made for Japanese utility company 

Kansai Electric Power Co.  



Greenpeace attacked the shipping operation, claiming that the ''U.K. 

and Japan have started the countdown to the most controversial 

nuclear shipment in history,'' citing environmental and safety 

concerns.  



The environmental group has written to the British government and to 

BNFL this week to outline its case that the transport from Japan 

would be unlawful and violate international agreements.  



They argue that Britain is breaking a promise it made to the Irish 

government that there will be no transports associated with the 

operation of the Sellafield MOX plant before October this year.  



Greenpeace also claims that approval for the shipment was given by 

the United States on the basis that the plutonium in the tainted 

MOX will be recovered and returned to Japan in the form of fresh MOX. 

However, it claims that no decisions have been made yet by 

BNFL about what to do with the shipment.  



According to Greenpeace, the vessels will arrive in Takahama sometime 

during the second week of June, with the loading process 

taking roughly two weeks, and the shipment will arrive in Barrow 

during the second half of August.  



On Friday, Kansai Electric Power announced it was informed of the 

departure by BNFL earlier in the day.  



Norman Askew, the chief executive of British Nuclear Fuels, said in a 

statement released by the company Friday, ''This is an 

important milestone for BNFL as it begins to draw a line under the 

issue and we now look forward to an increasingly positive 

relationship with our Japanese customers.''  



BNFL said that no date has been finalized for the departure of the

vessels from Japan, although it was the company's intention to return

the fuel during this year.



In the statement, the company said that no decision had been made on

the future use of the fuel, but that it would be in accordance with

the customer's wishes and with the relevant regulatory requirements.



According to Kansai Electric Power, the departure of the two ships 

from Japan needs the approval of the Land, Infrastructure and 

Transport Ministry for design changes of the containers as well as 

for two other procedures, including one to confirm the container 

filled with MOX fuel meets safety standards.  



The MOX fuel is currently being stored at Kansai Electric Power's 

nuclear power plant in Takahama on the Sea of Japan coast.  



***************************************************************

Sandy Perle				Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100  

Director, Technical			Extension 2306 			

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service	Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                

ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.		E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 	

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  	E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com



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