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French Doubts Up After Nuke Mishaps
Friday, Jul. 18, 2008 By BRUCE CRUMLEY
PARIS Tricastin nuclear plant
Security breaches at nuclear power plants are never a laughing matter. But with oil prices at near-record levels and the rush on to find safe, clean sources of energy, news of leaks at two different French nuclear sites could not have come at a worse time. Concern over the incidents is rekindling questions about the safety of France's giant nuclear power grid and could complicate the country's quest to become the world's leading purveyor of nuclear technology.
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On Friday France's Nuclear Safety Agency (ASN) revealed that damage to an underground conduit at the Romans-sur-Isère plant in southwestern France had allowed radioactive waste to leak, though in quantities so small, it said, to have "not at all affected the environment." But it was not the first such incident. The ASN announced July 7 that uranium-tainted waste liquids from the Tricastin nuclear plant, in southern France 30 miles northwest of Avignon, had leaked into surrounding rivers and topsoil. Inhabitants of the Vaucluse department were ordered to refrain from drinking water, eating locally caught fish, and irrigating crops with potentially contaminated water. The water prohibition remains in effect for thousands of parched locals as inspections lumber on. "We're being treated like sub-citizens," protested Yves Beck, mayor of neighboring town Bollène to the AFP. Qualifying what he called slow and unsympathetic response of authorities to the situation "unacceptable," Beck warns legal action for hardship and losses suffered may be taken. "We've told residents of Bollène, 'Don't sign anything unless you've sought the help of a lawyer.'"
Fighting words indeed — and over much more than simply safe drinking water. Nearly 80% of France's electricity is nuclear-generated, and French giant Areva has made a massive international business of constructing and managing nuclear facilities. France has made nuclear power a national priority since the early 1970s as French governments of all political stripes sought to lessen the nation's dependence on foreign oil. The French public embraced nukes as the rest of Europe and the world said "no thanks." The result is France today has the second-largest nuclear network behind the U.S., and is the world's largest net exporter of electricity — a business expected to net around $4.5 billion in profit this year.
All that has helped Areva become a world leader in the nuclear field, providing one-stop shopping with construction, management, maintenance, waste and storage solutions. Under president Anne Lauvergeon, the firm has been an aggressive player everywhere from China to Britain and a formidable rival to American companies General Electric and Westinghouse even on American turf. However, news of nuclear incidents anywhere on the planet — particularly in Areva's own backyard — tends to squelch the appeal of nuclear power, record oil prices or not.
What is troubling about both recent French accidents is that they involved nuclear waste, the disposal of which is perhaps the major curb to nuclear power's appeal. Areva cited human error in the Tricastin incident and said it had fired the responsible director after an internal investigation found "evident lack of coordination" between administrative and working units had allowed contaminated waste to seep through the plant's theoretically impenetrable safety lining. Areva also faulted local operators for significant delays in alerting authorities once the breach had been identified.
The ASN's said the Romans-sur-Isère incident involved smaller quantities of radioactive matter and was caused by an entirely different problem than the Tricastin case. But the agency also noted the leak discovered Friday may have first occurred "several years back." Environmental groups have cited the breaches as more evidence of nuclear power's spotty safety record, and anti-nuke organization Greenpeace noted the government's "belated concern" reflected its unquestioning confidence in the technology's reliability.
Though both cases have been assigned the lowest rating on the seven-point scale of nuclear accidents, officials are moving to protect France's nuclear reputation. Even before news of Friday's incident broke, French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo ordered inspections of all 58 French nuclear installations and checks on radiation levels in the underground aquifers surrounding them. Borloo stressed there was no grounds to anticipate additional breaches. "I don't want people feeling we're hiding anything from them," Borloo told the daily Le Parisien.
Barring any further revelation of French breaches, this month's twin mishaps won't alter France's official policy on the technology — nor are they alone likely to undermine the French public's approval of it as a clean, cheap energy source. But should Borloo's inspections turn up additional failings, France's long-term bet on nuclear power could face shakier odds.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/07/19/ap5232189.html
Nuclear inspectors to visit Iran
United Nations nuclear inspectors will arrive in Iran on Friday to visit sites including the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, a top Iranian official has said.
BBC News, Last Updated: Tuesday, 4 April 2006, 16:08 GMT 17:08 UK
Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Aliasghar Soltanieh, said the inspectors would mainly be looking at the Natanz site.
The UN Security Council last week gave Iran 30 days to suspend uranium enrichment or face isolation.
Tehran insists its nuclear work is peaceful and has rejected the demand.
The non-binding statement on Iran was approved unanimously by the Security Council on 29 March and came after weeks of wrangling.
The IAEA agency will report back later this month on whether Iran has complied with the demand.
'Ready to negotiate'
Iran insists it has the right to civilian nuclear technology and denies Western claims that it is seeking atomic weapons.
"Iran will not suspend its research activities in the field of enrichment. These activities will go on under the supervision of the IAEA," Mr Soltanieh said.
Iran resumed small-scale uranium enrichment in January, citing research purposes.
It then scrapped snap inspections of its nuclear sites in February after the issue was referred to the UN Security Council. However it has said it is continuing to co-operate with the IAEA.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters Iran was prepared to negotiate on the issue of large-scale enrichment, but would never abandon its right to enrich uranium.
"The enrichment of uranium... is Iran's right as defined as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," Mr Mottaki said.
"For industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel, which is the next stage, we are ready for negotiations."
It is no surprise that Iran has offered negotiations at this stage, as it often does so when it is under pressure, the BBC News website's Paul Reynolds suggests.
Given Iran's refusal to give up enrichment, the offer is unlikely to have any immediate effect, our correspondent adds - but it could open up lines of negotiation for the future.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4876708.stm
Trinity Test Nuclear Explosions New Mexico, July 16, 1945 http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm126.html
Trinity Atomic Website http://www.abomb1.org/index.html
Trinity--the first nuclear explosion
The Atomic Age dawned at 5:29:45am on July 16, 1945, at Trinity Site in New Mexico, U.S.A. The first atomic explosion came less than 50 years after the discovery of radioactivity in 1896 and brought many threads of physics, technology and politics to a dramatic culmination. The man-made thunder that echoed off the Oscuro Mountains continues to reverbrate through the modern world.
The purpose of Trinity Atomic Web Site is to tell the story of nuclear weapons through historical documents, photos, and videos. In the spirit of Project Gutenberg, the intent is to create an online archive from the large body of U.S. government information about nuclear weapons. For the most part the original documents will be allowed to speak for themselves, with an occasional thread of narrative or clarification if it is helpful.
A Guide to Nuclear Weapons http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/
United States Naval Support Activity, Bahrain http://www.nsa.bahrain.navy.mil/
The Kingdom of Bahrain, or Bahrain (formerly spelled Bahrein), is a borderless island nation in the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway, and Qatar is to the south across the Persian Gulf. The Qatar–Bahrain Friendship Bridge will link Bahrain to Qatar.
Bahrain is the fastest growing economy in the Arab world in January 2006. Petroleum production and processing account for about 60% of export receipts, 60% of government revenues, and 30% of GDP. Bahrain is home to numerous multinational firms with business in the Persian Gulf. A large share of exports consists of petroleum products made from imported crude. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain
Bahrain - CIA Factbook http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ba.html
5th Fleet Mission http://www.cusnc.navy.mil/Pages/Mission%20page.htm
Sea Lanes of Communication. Coalition maritime forces operate under international maritime conventions to ensure security and safety in international waters so that all commercial shipping can operate freely while transiting the region.
Area of Responsibility http://www.cusnc.navy.mil/Pages/AOR%20page.htm
Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/ Commander, 5th Fleet's area of responsibility encompasses about 7.5 million square miles and includes the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean. This expanse, comprised of 27 countries, includes three critical chokepoints at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab al Mandeb at the southern tip of Yemen.
The Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Persian Gulf from the Indian Ocean, has been a strategic focus in world affairs for thousands of years. In the last few decades some 25% of the worlds oil production has passed through it. This web site is about the islands and the coastal regions on either side of the strait. http://www.dataxinfo.com/index.htm
Strait of Hormuz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_of_Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow, strategically important stretch of ocean between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf in the southwest. On the north coast is Iran (Persia) and on the south coast is the United Arab Emirates and an exclave of Oman.
The strait at its narrowest is 21 miles wide [1], having two 1 mile wide channels for marine traffic separated by a 2 mile wide buffer zone [2], and is the only sea passage to the open ocean for large areas of the petroleum exporting Persian Gulf States.
Straight of Hormuz - Satellite View
Uranium Enrichment
Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper 33
March 2006
Most of the 470 commercial nuclear power reactors operating or under construction in the world today require uranium 'enriched' in the U-235 isotope for their fuel.
Two commercial processes are employed for this enrichment. Another process based on laser excitation is under development in Australia.
Uranium found in nature consists largely of two isotopes, U-235 and U-238. The production of energy in nuclear reactors is from the `fission' or splitting of the U-235 atoms, a process which releases energy in the form of heat. U-235 is the main fissile isotope of uranium.
Natural uranium contains 0.7% of the U-235 isotope. The remaining 99.3% is mostly the U-238 isotope which does not contribute directly to the fission process (though it does so indirectly by the formation of fissile isotopes of plutonium).
Uranium-235 and U-238 are chemically identical, but differ in their physical properties, particularly their mass. The nucleus of the U-235 atom contains 92 protons and 143 neutrons, giving an atomic mass of 235 units. The U-238 nucleus also has 92 protons but has 146 neutrons - three more than U-235, and therefore has a mass of 238 units.
The difference in mass between U-235 and U-238 allows the isotopes to be separated and makes it possible to increase or "enrich" the percentage of U-235. All present enrichment processes, directly or indirectly, make use of this small mass difference.
Some reactors, for example the Canadian-designed Candu and the British Magnox reactors, use natural uranium as their fuel. Most present day reactors (Light Water Reactors or LWRs) use enriched uranium where the proportion of the U-235 isotope has been increased from 0.7% to about 3 or up to 5%. (For comparison, uranium used for nuclear weapons would have to be enriched in plants specially designed to produce at least 90% U-235.)
CONVERSION
Uranium leaves the mine as the concentrate of a stable oxide known as U3O8 or as a peroxide. It still contains some impurities and prior to enrichment has to be further refined before being converted to uranium hexafluoride (UF6), commonly referred to as `hex'.
Conversion plants are operating commercially in USA, Canada, France, UK and Russia.
After initial refining, which may involve the production of uranyl nitrate, uranium trioxide is reduced in a kiln by hydrogen to uranium dioxide (UO2). This is then reacted in another kiln with hydrogen fluoride (HF) to form uranium tetrafluoride (UF4). The tetrafluoride is then fed into a fluidised bed reactor with gaseous fluorine to produce UF6. Removal of impurities takes place at each step.
An alternative wet process involves making the UF4 from UO2 by a wet process, using aqueous HF.
The UF6, particularly if moist, is highly corrosive. When warm it is a gas, suitable for use in the enrichment process. At lower temperature and under moderate pressure, the UF6 can be liquefied. The liquid is run into specially designed steel shipping cylinders which are thick walled and weigh over 15 tonnes when full. As it cools, the liquid UF6 within the cylinder becomes a white crystalline solid and is shipped in this form.
The siting, environmental and security management of a conversion plant is subject to the regulations that are in effect for any chemical processing plant involving fluorine-based chemicals.
ENRICHMENT
A number of enrichment processes have been demonstrated in the laboratory but only two, the gaseous diffusion process and the centrifuge process, are operating on a commercial scale. In both of these, UF6 gas is used as the feed material. Molecules of UF6 with U-235 atoms are about one percent lighter than the rest, and this difference in mass is the basis of both processes.
Large commercial enrichment plants are in operation in France, Germany, Netherlands, UK, USA, and Russia, with smaller plants elsewhere.
Country Method Capacity in 2002 x 1000 kg SWU/yr
France diffusion 10,800
Germany-Netherlands-UK centrifuge 5,850
Japan centrifuge 900
USA diffusion 8,000
Russia centrifuge 20,000
China mostly centrifuge 1,000-1,300
Pakistan centrifuge 5
total 47,000 approx
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