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Le jour 431 de Sarko

ANOTHER NUCLEAR LEAK IN FRANCE

PARIS July 18, 2008 (IHT) - Uranium-bearing liquid has leaked from a broken underground pipe at a nuclear plant in southeastern France, the national nuclear safety authority said Friday. It was the second leak discovered at a French site this month.

The Nuclear Safety Authority said experts were trying to determine how much leaked uranium was present at the plant, which is owned by the electricity company Areva.

Areva, which is owned by the French government, is at the forefront of President Nicolas Sarkozy's effort to sell home-grown nuclear energy technology to the rest of the world.*

... An Areva spokesman, Charles Hufnagel, said the leak of lightly enriched uranium did not spread outside the site in Romans-sur-Isère and had "absolutely no impact on the environment." He said the factory hoped the problem would be classified as Level 1, the most minor of seven possible.

« IL N'Y A PAS DU TOUT D'IMPACT SUR L'ENVIRONNEMENT »
Quoi ?

Thank God! Another leak at a French nuclear facility with "absolutely no impact on the environment". How reliable is French containment at its nuclear plants? Apparently impeccable. Leaks can go years before discovery, yet still have "absolutely no impact on the environment".

The Nuclear Safety Authority said the pipe was believed to have ruptured several years ago. It added that the pipe "was not in line with the applicable regulations, which require shock resistance ability sufficient to avoid rupture."

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* The latest Eurobarometer Report (February 2007), "Europeans and Nuclear Safety", finds that 53% of citizens of the EU25 consider nuclear power a risk to their persons and families (p.23). More disturbing, in France -- with the most nuclear power plants in Europe, 58 -- that number kicks up to 65% of French who think nuclear energy poses a risk (p.21).

PFFT (What is this?): Pas de soucis 0 | Trust the French government 0 | Rayonnement français 0