Spain: Ecologists denounce a breakdown in a nuclear plant

Spanish environmental NGO Ecologistas en accion has demanded that the nuclear power station in Almaraz, near Caceres, be fined for insufficient security measures following an accident at the plant on the 4th of November.

It is not the first time that this plant has been under fire for not complying to safety measures. In 1999 the Spanish Council for Nuclear Security (CSN) fined the station following the failure of its cooling system, which caused the death of wildlife in the nearby artificial water basin as the water being released from the plant to the basin was too hot. In October 2003 damage to the electrical system lead to the evacuation of the plant and only a few months earlier, in May, a generator that was meant to solve these types of problems burst into flames. Had these two incidents coincided the consequences would have been catastrophic.

This time round it was the refrigeration system that controls the temperature of the consumed fuel storage pool that broke down. As the auxiliary safety pump was out of order water temperature reached higher levels than usual causing alarm among workers and the evacuation of the plant, as it was feared that the situation was not under control.

?The cooling of the used fuel is fundamental because it loses a great quantity of heat when it is pulled out from the nucleus of the nuclear power station, approximately 1 MW of heat per ton. An insufficient cooling could make the water layer that works as a barrier inadequate, leading to radioactivity leaking outside? said the environmentalists in their press release.

According to the Ecologistàs, it was very lucky that the pump started working in time to avoid a disaster but ?for an indefinite time the fuel was not able to be cooled, meaning that an unacceptable risk of radioactive leakage was taken?. The CSN must investigate with severity if this loss has brought to a situation of insecurity, demanded the environmental NGO.

The managers of the nuclear power station have communicated to the CSN that there were losses of cooling water, but they exclude the idea that this could cause any risk for t heir employees or the local population. But Ecologistas in Accion disagree and are pushing the government to not renew the nuclear power station?s contract when it expires in 2010.

More info:
www.ecologistasenaccion.org