Another Hole in Areva’s Nuclear Cheese

Radioactive leaks from a broken pipe at a nuclear fuel plant in southeast France was discovered Friday, the country’s nuclear safety authorities (ASN) announced.

The leaks at Romans-sur-Isere’s FBFC plant in the Drome region, which were caused by cracks in an underground pipe carrying liquid uranium, were “several years old,” Areva said.

“The defective pipe was shut by our teams,” Areva said. [Well, thanks!]

“Results from initial tests show there has been no impact at all on the environment, because the quantity of uranium was very small, in the order of a few hundred grammes,” said ASN spokeswoman Evangelia Petit.

The FBFC plant processes fuel for some of France’s nuclear fleet of 58 reactors, the world’s second largest network, after the United States.

Meanwhile, France’s Energy and Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo frenetically attempted to reassure the nation about the incident.

“We mustn’t over-exaggerate,” he said, about 115 such “little anomalies” occur in France’s nuclear industry each year. “This is something which poses no environmental or health risk.” [That’s really reassuring, M. Borloo!]

Following an earlier incident on July 7 in which 360 kg of liquid uranium was discharge into the local rivers at Tricastin nuclear plant, the government had ordered safety tests in the country’s 19 nuclear plants Thursday, just a day before the discovery of latest leak.

It’s not known whether France’s 115 nuclear leaks each year is related to young French oysters abnormal mortality rates!

[Note: Areva has since replaced the manager for the Tricastin plant; however, the position of its Chairman of the Executive Board, Anne Lauvergeon, remains sacrosanct.]

Related News Links:

• New uranium leak discovered at French nuclear site
• New uranium leak found in French Areva factory

Related Links:

• French Water!

Death from serious birth defects!

Young People: Causes of Deaths [in New Zealand]

Young people in the 10 to 14-year age group were more likely to die of cancer and a range of diseases which afflict various sites and systems of the body (nervous system, sense organs and endocrine system). In 1994, 62.7 percent of deaths of 10 to 14-year-olds were the result of chronic illnesses or diseases, while 77.9 percent of 15 to 24-year-olds died from external causes, particularly due to accidents, suicide and self-inflicted injury, and non-motor vehicle accidents.

(Source: Statistics New Zealand: Young people: causes of deaths, URL: http://www.stats.govt.nz/analytical-reports/young-new-zealander/cause-of-death.htm; accessed 27 March 2008 ).

See Main Entry >>

Why do New Zealand children suffer serious birth defects?

Thought for the Day: Reoccurrences of Natural Phenomena

“Hurricanes and wildfires are as essential to nature’s ‘housekeeping’ system as blood circulation is to maintaining homeostasis.”

“Nature does what it does best to maintain a livable planet. But she can’t be expected to save you from yourselves every time. If you build your dream cabin in the crater of an active volcano, in a forest prone to wildfires, on a beach in the path of hurricanes and tsunamis … nature may ‘misunderestimate’ your wisdom!” ~ A Member of Creating A Sustainable Future

Map of the cumulative tracks of all tropical cyclones during the 1985–2005 period. Image Author: Nilfanion on 2006-08-05. Background image from Image:Whole_world_-_land_and_oceans.jpg (NASA).

Although cyclones take an enormous toll in lives and personal property, they are important factors in the precipitation system of places they impact because they bring much-needed precipitation to otherwise dry regions. Tropical cyclones also help maintain the global heat balance by moving warm, moist tropical air to the middle latitudes and polar regions. The storm surge and winds of hurricanes may be destructive to human-made structures, but they also stir up the waters of coastal estuaries, which are typically important fish breeding locales. (Source)

Related Links:

• Stop Nature! She Is Ruining Our Lifestyles
• California Fires
• Bertha Revving UP!

• Nature Must Be Punished, Look at the Mess in California!

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