Greenpeace slams 'alarming gaps' in EU nuclear stress tests

Oct 28, 2011
A nuclear power plant operates in eastern France in August 2011. Greenpeace on Friday slammed "alarming gaps" in EU-wide safety checks on nuclear plants, notably for failing to address "the unthinkable" after Fukushima.

Greenpeace on Friday slammed "alarming gaps" in EU-wide safety checks on nuclear plants, notably for failing to address "the unthinkable" after Fukushima.

Seeking to ease following the March earthquake and tsunami that triggered Japan's , the European Commission and national atomic operators struck a deal to launch on the European Union's 143 reactors in June.

But environmental watchdog Greenpeace said in a statement that early analysis of reports issued so far "reveals alarming gaps in results."

"Multiple-reactor failure that struck at was supposed to be examined, but is missing in results. The threat of airplane crashes were also a promised part of tests, but are largely ignored."

In countries where it said national regulators were more independent from operators, such as in France, "tests were more thorough".

But it said Britain, the Czech Republic and Sweden "have failed to publish substantial information", comparing a seven-page Czech report on its six reactors to Slovenia's 177 pages on its single reactor.

In a response, the EU executive retorted that Greenpeace's assessment was based on provisional results that national nuclear operators had been asked to provide by August 15.

"It is by 31 October that nuclear operators have to complete all their investigations and send the final results of the stress tests to the regulators," EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger said in a statement.

"We are still in the process of doing the stress tests. By the end of the year, the regulatory authorities have to submit their final reports," he added.

"If these final reports contain deficiencies then I will not hesitate to intervene and ask for improvements."

Greenpeace nuclear policy advisor Jan Havercamp said reports seen by the group ignored town and city and failed to consider reactor age, as well as glossing over the risk of airplane crashes or multiple reactor collapse.

"Fukushima taught us to think the unthinkable," he said.

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User comments : 3

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kochevnik
not rated yet Oct 28, 2011
Nobody important has even been killed by nuclear energy. That's why it's so safe.
Eikka
1 / 5 (2) Oct 29, 2011
Greenpeace is not an environmental watchdog, but a political organization that deliberately misdirects and lies for the purpose of fear, uncertainty, and doubt against their political opponents.

Like in this case where they took incomplete surveys and pointed out that they're incomplete. Duh? But the point of the statement was to associate negative images to nuclear energy in the public eye. Much later, people will remember there was some problem related to it, but they won't remember what exactly and why it wasn't a problem. They're using media's bias to sensationalism as a tool.

They use the cause of the environment to drive for social change. They're not in the least interested in environmental problems if it doesn't serve as good propaganda.
kochevnik
5 / 5 (1) Oct 29, 2011
@Eikka Greenpeace is not an environmental watchdog...
Ah you poor Corporate Energy Subsided fatcat. That pesky renewable energy is a splinter in your mind. You need to steal taxpayer money elsewhere!

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