On 12 May 1998 around 8 pm when the reactor no. 1 had been shutdown since 7 May, a water leak estimated at around 30 m3/h was detected in the reactor shutdown coolant circuit. This circuit is used when the reactor is shut down to circulate a minimum amount of water through the primary circuit to cool the fuel present in the reactor core. The system consists of two duplicate circuits. The leak was stopped by isolating one of the circuits at around 5 am on 13 May 1998. The leak resulted in water passing from the primary circuit into the sump of the reactor building. As the water was completely contained in the reactor building, the incident did not have any consequences for the environment. The investigations conducted by the operator on the defective section of the cooling circuit revealed a 180 mm crack on a weld in that section. The reactor is currently shut down. It is being properly cooled by the circuit still intact and there has been no risk to the population. Additional investigations are being conducted at present by the operator to determine the nature and duration of the repairs required and to determine the safety conditions for those undertaking the repair work. The operator's proposals will be scrutinized by the Safety Authority. Because of the occurrence of this serious leak involving a loss of primary coolant, this incident has been classed at level 2 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) which has seven levels.
The Netherlands has agreed to allow Urenco to be used for the British military nuclear program. This clears the way for uranium enriched by Urenco to be used in nuclear weapons. With his decision, Foreign Minister Berendsen (CDA Christen Democrats) is departing from the principle that civilian and military nuclear applications must remain strictly separate. […]
Behnam Raeesian is an internationally recognized visual artist and poster designer from Iran, known for bold political and cultural works. Through exhibitions, workshops, jury roles, and collaborations with cultural institutions worldwide, he has built a strong voice in contemporary political graphic design. His projects confront complex issues such as nuclear risk and technological impact, transforming […]
Everywhere you look, the nuclear industry’s hype machine is in overdrive. Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and the UK government all tout small modular reactors as the silver bullet for climate change and energy security. Tech billionaires are hiring nuclear veterans. Wall Street is whispering about “round-the-clock power” for artificial intelligence data centers. For those old enough […]
Kernenergie en veiligheid: A wargame sought to test if a major radiological release that would prompt the evacuation of millions of civilians in South Korea could distract key US allies from assisting and rebuffing an all-out military invasion of Taiwan. The short answer was yes. The game originally presumed that China, wanting to keep the […]
Big batteries and EVs to the rescue again as faults with new nuclear plant cause chaos on Nordic grids The Finnish nuclear power plant Olkiluoto was finally connected to the grid last year, at an estimated cost of €11 billion compared to the original budget of €3 billion. That cost blowout forced its developer, the […]
