Posted 25tth Oct 2001

Nukes Hurt by Terrorism Fallout

LONDON, United Kingdom, October 22, 2001 (ENS) - Europe's nuclear energy
industry is proving to be a victim of September's terrorist attacks in the
United States. A rising fear of massive radioactive releases is galvanizing
the anti-nuclear movement and raising new questions about the sector's long
term future.

First in the firing line are the nuclear fuel reprocessing plants at
Sellafield in Britain and La Hague in France, following alarming estimates
of potential radioactive releases in the case of an aircraft collision
similar to those on September 11. According to a report by consultancy
Wise-Paris released late last month, the potential release of caesium-137
from La Hague's irradiated fuel cooling ponds is 60 times the amount
released in the 1986 Chernobyl accident in Ukraine. This month, Britain's
"New Scientist" magazine reported the potential caesium release from
Sellafield at 44 times that released from Chernobyl.

These dire forecasts were taken up in a debate in the European parliament
today, with Irish Green MEP Nuala Ahern calling for "no fly zones" to be
established around both plants. "Nuclear plants are a ticking time bomb in
our midst and the only logical response is to close them all down and end
this terrible threat," she argued. In a statement September 19, Cogema said
that, "A permanent overflight ban is in force at the site. Considering its
geographical position, the French armed forces would have time to intervene
if any breach of this ban were suspected." Cogema tried to reassure the
public that no plane could deliberately crash into the facility's
irradiated fuel storage pools by explaining, "The structures are partially
built under ground, and the pools occupy a small area in relation to the
total area of the installations around them. It would thus be impossible
for an airplane to crash vertically into a pool."

Even strongly pro-nuclear European states have had their nerve tested by
the realization that reprocessing and other nuclear plants could be
terrorist targets. The French government last week said that anti-aircraft
missile batteries are to be stationed at La Hague. In Germany, the effect
has been to cement or even speed up the ongoing nuclear phase-out program,
culminating in media reports this weekend that Economic Minister Werner
Mueller has called on power firms to phase out their oldest stations ahead
of schedule. This follows a pledge by Environment Minister Juergen Trittin
to order nuclear plant closures in case of a credible threat of attack.

The new sense of insecurity has pervaded protests from the Irish government
and UK environmental groups over the British government's decision to
license a new plutonium fuel manufacturing plant. Austrian protests against
the Temelin nuclear power station in neighboring Czech Republic have also
been given new wings just as the plant is moving towards full power for the
first time.

Only the nuclear industry itself appears oblivious to the sands shifting
under its feet, with European association Foratom continuing to focus its
arguments on nuclear's potential to avoid greenhouse gas emissions at a
conference in Brussels earlier this month. Nuclear power plants are in
operation in eight out of the 15 nations of the European Union and generate
about 35 percent of the EU’s electricity. This nuclear share rises to at
least 50 percent during off-peak periods, as nuclear plants are mainly used
for generating baseload electricity.

A number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, in line for EU
membership, also rely heavily on nuclear generated electricity.