W orld Information Service on Energy founded in 1978 NUCLEAR MONITO R A Publication of World Information Ser vice on Ener gy (WISE) and the Nuclear Information & Resource Ser vice (NIRS), incorporating the former WISE News Communique

#568 Nor th America Edition May 17, 2002 LARGE NUMBERS OF UNDETECTED CRACKS IN THE WORLD’S PWRS Documents of the Davis-Besse incident r eveal a str ong possibility that ther e ar e large numbers of undetected cracks in the world’ s pr essurized water r eactors, par ticularly in the US. This suspicion has been confirmed by the discovery of an additional crack at Davis-Besse itself.

(568.5402) NIRS/WISE Amsterdam – words, cracks form because the alloy water, the boric acid being used to The cracks are nothing new: they is under stress and in contact with control the rate of nuclear fission in were first discovered in Bugey-3, hot, corrosive primary coolant under the reactor. When a leak occurs, the France in 1991 (1). Soon afterwards, high pressure. water turns into steam, leaving similar cracks were found in 10 other behind crystals of boric acid. Up until reactors in France, 5 in Germany and The phenomenon is so widespread recently, these crystals were seen as at least one in Switzerland. As time that Nuclear Regulatory Commission a useful indicator that a leak has went by, cracks were discovered (NRC) has a special section on its web occurred rather than a major problem elsewhere, including Japan (2) and site devoted to Alloy-600 cracking (6). in itself. Spain (3). In 2001, similar cracks were found in the US, first in Cracks can occur in various parts of However, this changed after a large Oconee-3 (4) and subsequently in a these reactor vessel head hole was found in the lid of the total of 13 reactors (5). penetrations. They can occur in the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) at the tubes themselves (“nozzles”), the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station The cracks in question are located in control rod drive mechanism casing, near Toledo, Ohio (8). reactor vessel head penetrations: the or at welded joints (7). tubes where control rods and other At Davis-Besse, so much reactor equipment (such as thermocouples) The cracks grow until they go right water had leaked from the cracks that enter the top of the reactor vessel. through the metal, at which point piles of boric acid crystals, weighing These are often made of an alloy – primary coolant starts to leak out of as much as 900 pounds (400kg), had Alloy 600 – which is susceptible to the crack. The primary coolant built up on the reactor vessel head “stress corrosion cracking”: in other consists of a solution of boric acid in itself. The borated primary coolant water released through cracks then flashed to steam before cooling and IN THIS ISSUE: dripping down onto the 605 degree Fahrenheit (317 degree Celsius) vessel head. Upon contact with the Large numbers of undetected cracks in the world's PWRs 1 hot vessel head the water content again flashed to steam leaving the House says yes to Y ucca 3 growing accumulation of boric acid U.S. nuclear waste: Utahns say "enough is enough" 4 crystals. With a melting point of 340 degrees Fahrenheit (171 degrees UK neglects its "serious and urgent" nuclear waste problem 6 Celsius), some of the crystals became molten and the concentrated acid Hanau, the particles mystery and illegal dumping in Sweden 7 aggressively ate a hole through more Taiwan: no nukes, no waste! 8 than 6 inches (15 cm) of carbon steel making up the vessel head, leaving W eakening of nuclear transport regulations 9 only the corrosion-resistant stainless steel liner intact. This liner bulged In brief 1 0 under the high pressure in the reactor, which it was not designed to These extra cracks remain April 2002 meeting with NRC’s resist. undetected because they are very Advisory Committee on Reactor small. As such, they are generally less Safeguards (ACRS). John Grobe, NRC All PWR operators around the world dangerous than the larger cracks director of Region III Division of must be concerned that there are no already found. However, as the Reactor Safety told the committee more incidents like the hole at Davis- reactor vessel heads age, the small that liquid boric acid had been found Besse. Now, however, there is a new cracks grow into larger cracks, which pooled in the corrosion cavity of the question: are reactors being checked can eventually cause leaks. reactor head (12). for cracks thoroughly enough, or are many cracks going undetected? New crack discovered at Davis-Besse According to Grobe, UT examinations as new corrosion problem looms have also revealed what is described 4 out of 5 cracks undetected? On 7 May 2002, FirstEnergy as “debonding”: an extremely narrow The evidence that the cracking engineers met with staff at NRC gap between the thin stainless steel problem may be far more widespread Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland inner liner and the thicker outer began with a curious statement to review the Davis-Besse Root Cause layer of carbon steel that make up buried in FirstEnergy’s Root Cause Analysis of the RPV Head the reactor vessel. The gap extends Analysis Report for the Davis-Besse Degradation. As reported by the beyond the known damage around incident. The statement (9) indicated Ohio-based Cleveland Plain Dealer, the #3 vessel head control rod drive that more than 5 times as many “NRC officials were startled mechanism penetration (identified cracks had been found in French yesterday when FirstEnergy revealed as a 5” wide by 7” long by 6 ¾” deep reactors as in the rest of the world. that for the first time that there was cavity.) Grobe told the ACRS that the one more crack in one of the control “debonding” extends into the vicinity Curious as to why this may be, WISE rod sleeves than previously been of vessel head penetration #11. After Amsterdam forwarded the statement reported, prompting them to conversations with NRC staff, NIRS to French contacts, asking if they had question the integrity of the entire suspects this “debonding” to be more any idea why the problem seemed to FirstEnergy report”(11). extensive corrosion undercutting of be much worse in France. They in the ferritic iron resulting from turn contacted the French nuclear In fact, FirstEnergy had just been capillary action of the molten boric safety authority, who said that they informed by Framatome a few days acid. FirstEnergy’s Root Cause thought this was because French earlier that Nozzle #2 had an Analysis dated 15 April 2002 does not reactors were inspected more additional vertical crack that was address this yet-to-be-explained thoroughly, using eddy current originally missed in the deterioration of the vessel integrity. testing (10). interpretation of an Ultrasonic Testing (UT) exam. FE said they In the meantime, FirstEnergy has If the French authorities are correct, would be issuing a corrective action enlarged its original 13” plug repair this means that for every crack document and going back to review concept to a 17" diameter repair that detected in reactors outside France the UT data to see if additional cracks will now cut into the vessel and there could be another 4 which were also missed. In addition, remove the adjacent area to include remain undetected because of Electric Power Research Institute Nozzle 11 along with Nozzle 3 while deficiencies in the testing methods identified a significant uncertainty plugging Nozzle 2. Under the utility’s used. factor for sizing crack length in these unprecedented repair option, which components. FE officials is not covered by any code or acknowledged that industry does not standard under the American Society have good models to test the of Mechanical Engineers, a forged WISE Amsterdam/NIRS accuracy of crack measurements for plate of Inconel 690 would then be ISSN: 0889-3411 vessel head nozzle penetration welded in to plug the cut hole. The Reproduction of this material is cracking as has come with three affected control rod drive encouraged. Please give credit when significantly more experience in the mechanisms would be relocated to reprinting. pressurized water reactor steam spare penetrations in the vessel generator tube cracking. In both head. Editorial team: Stuart Field, Robert cases, crack growth rate remains Jan van den Berg (WISE Amsterdam), largely an unknown. Alternately, First Energy revealed on Michael Mariotte (NIRS) With 10 May that the company had signed contributions from Families Against As company officials and regulators a letter of intent with the owners of Incinerator Risk and Green Party scramble to analyze and bound the the unfinished Midland nuclear Taiwan. many uncertainities associated with power station in Michigan for The next issue of the WISE/NIRS the cracking phenomenon and the purchase of their unused Babcock Nuclear Monitor (569) will be mailed very aggressive boron corrosion, still and Wilcox reactor pressure vessel out on 31 May 2002. more questions were raised at an 11 head as a possible replacement

2 WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 568, 17 May 2002 option. To accomplish the and possible deferment of other replacement, a hole must be cut in plant modifications and corrective (6) www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops- both containment buildings to action programs. experience/alloy600.html remove the replacement component (7) www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops- before installing it at Davis-Besse. And it’s not just cracks experience/alloy600/overview.html The replacement option still requires At Davis-Besse, it was not just the regulatory approval and a safety cracks which caused the leakage: the (8) WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 565.5385: evaluation on possibly challenging flanges of the control rod drive “Millimeters from disaster”. modifications necessary to adapt the mechanism also caused leakage, replacement component to the which collected on the vessel head (9) “As of February 2000, about 6.5% of all reactor. In December, 2001 and masked the nozzle leakage. EdF nozzles inspected had been found to FirstEnergy additionally ordered Other U.S. plants use canopy seals contain cracks and about 1.25% of fabrication of a new reactor vessel instead of flange seals, but these too inspected nozzles in other plants worldwide had been found to contain head from a Japanese company have been reported to leak (13). cracks greater than the minimum which will take an estimated 2 years measurable depth of about 2mm (0.08 to complete. In France, the vessel head at inches)”. Tricastin-4 was replaced in 1996, but Root Cause Analysis Report, FirstEnergy By a letter dated 29 April, NRC two years later, boric acid from a Nuclear Operating Company, 18 April convened a NRC special Oversight leaking canopy seal caused 2002, 3.0 Data Analysis p.9. Panel under Inspection Manual superficial corrosion of the new Chapter (IMC) 0350, “Oversight of vessel head (14). So even replacing (10) Matthieu Schuler, e-mail to Bella Operating Reactor Facilities in a the vessel head will not eliminate Belbéoch,, 29 April 2002 Shutdown Condition with the problem entirely. (11) John Funk, “NRC wants reactor top Performance Problems” for Davis- replaced,” The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Besse to evaluate restart issues and References: 8 May 2002. schedules for the stricken reactor. (1) WISE News Communique 385.3770: On 24 April, NIRS along with the “Alarm over faulty design in European (12) Daniel Horner, “Davis-Besse Union of Concerned Scientists and PWRs”. Proposes RPV Head Repair Concept As thirteen other regional New Promblems Emerge”, Inside NRC, (2) WISE News Communique 461.4583: 22 April 2002. environmental and consumer groups “Japan: Radioactive water leak in Sendai- petitioned NRC to order a 1” (13) E-mail from Dave Lochbaum, Union Verification by Independent Party of Concerned Scientists, 14 May 2002 (VIP) of FirstEnergy’s Root Cause (3) WISE News Communique 408.4043: Analysis for apparent problem “New cracks found at Zorita NPP” (14) Rapport d’activité 1998, Autorité de identification and resolution issues, Sûret Nucléaire. possible damage to additional (4) WISE News Communique 553.5309: components in containment from “US: NRC ignores widespread safety flaw for decade”. Contact: WISE Amsterdam; Paul aerosolized boric acid, competency of Gunter at NIRS FirstEnergy actions in response to (5) WISE News Communique 560: “In other NRC generic communications Brief”. HOUSE SAYS YES TO YUCCA On W ednesday 8 May the U.S. House of Representatives showed that it’ s still the best Congr ess money can buy, by voting for Y ucca Mountain.

(568.5403) NIRS - By a vote of 306 The Nuclear Energy Institute had at Exelon, the largest nuclear utility in in favor to 117 opposed (12 least 14 lobbyists standing at the foot the U.S.), rushed the vote to the floor, members did not vote), the House of the stairs leading up to the House giving the House all of one month to passed Joint Resolution 87. This chambers, “working” the consider a vote that will have overrides the State of Nevada’s 8 Representatives as they walked up to consequences stretching out April veto of President Bush’s 15 cast their vote. Pro-Yucca House hundreds of thousands of years. February approval of the Dept. of leaders had boasted that they would Energy recommendation to move garner 350 votes. Speaker of the Thanks to everyone who helped ahead and apply for a license to House, Dennis Hastert (from the generate calls, letters, faxes, emails – open a national repository for high- most nuclear state in the US, Illinois, your hard work paid off, denying NEI level radioactive waste at Yucca with 14 reactors; Hastert’s home area the bigger victory they wanted. All in Mountain, Nevada. hosts the world headquarters of all, 117 votes against Yucca is

17 May 2002, WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 568 3 respectable, and sets a good tone for U.S. are introducing pro-Yucca had already been passed. the looming Senate vote on Yucca, resolutions in several states. In On a more hopeful note, the band expected sometime between mid Monroe, Michigan – home to Detroit Midnight Oil has taken on fighting June and mid July. Edison’s Fermi Two nuclear reactor – Yucca with a passion. An anti-Yucca, the county council tried to secretly anti-Mobile Chernobyl banner hangs U.S. readers: please help generate pass a pro-Yucca resolution, a behind the band during all shows. calls, letters, faxes, and emails to violation of the Open Meetings Act. Lead singer Peter Garrett addresses your Senators, and get your friends When caught in the act, the council Yucca from stage, directing the and family to as well. Contacting voted 4 to 4, delaying action. But the audience to the NIRS tables in the your Senator’s office once per week utility then twisted arms at the lobby, where they sign post cards and at this critical point is not too much. county council, and a short time few petitions to Senators. Setting up meetings with your days later, the council then voted to Senators when they are home for the approve the pro-Yucca resolution. Also, four new mock nuclear waste Memorial Day recess would also be casks are currently under very valuable at this critical time. In Holland, Michigan, the local construction, with hopes of having a council passed a pro-Yucca resolution six-cask caravan kicking off 6 June at Invite to join the meeting local without anyone in Don’t Waste various points around the country. environmental, public interest, and Michigan even knowing that it was other groups that oppose Yucca. being considered. If you have any questions or ideas, or Introducing local resolutions at your if you’re interested to plug into the city or county council expressing A local Native American woman mock cask event nearest you, please opposition to nuclear waste rushed over to the council chambers contact Kevin Kamps at +1 202 328 shipments through or near your to voice opposition to the proposal to 0002. community would be very valuable dump high-level nuclear waste on right now too. Western Shoshone Indian lands, but Source and contact: Kevin Kamps at was not allowed to speak – the NIRS In fact, nuclear utilities across the resolution she had just learned about U.S. NUCLEAR WASTE:UTAHNS SAY “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” There is a direct r elationship between the vitality and capacity of a community’ s civic envir onment and the health of its natural envir onment. A dysfunctional civic envir onment not only fails to defend itself against the abuse of its natural envir onment, it invites that abuse. Such is the case in T ooele County specifically , and Utah generally , wher e our deser ts have become the rug under which the nation’ s toxic wastes ar e swept.

(568.5404) Families Against bombing range the size of Rhode west of Salt Lake City. Incinerator Risk - Utah’s West Desert Island, and an Army depot with a has become one of the largest large underground plume of Everywhere you look, it seems like environmental sacrifice zones in the carcinogenic water. those in a position to decide if country. Besides having the largest Envirocare should be allowed to toxic air polluter in the country Currently, there are two active dump nuclear waste in Utah have (MagCorp), Utah’s West Desert is nuclear waste proposals by Private accepted money from the company. burdened with the largest emitter of Fuel Storage (PFS) and Envirocare It first came to light with the toxins to the environment that would make Utah the nation’s declaration by Larry Anderson that (Kennecott), half the nation’s dumping ground for nuclear waste. he had accepted over $600,000 in stockpile of chemical weapons and PFS wants to park 40,000 metric tons cash, gold coins and real estate from two chemical weapons incinerators, a of spent nuclear fuel rods above Envirocare owner Khosrow Semnani hazardous waste incinerator, a ground on the Skull Valley Goshute while he was the Director of the massive radioactive waste landfill, a Reservation 45 miles southwest of Utah Division of Radiation Control hazardous waste landfill, a proving Salt Lake City. Additionally, (DRC). Anderson was charged with ground for biological and chemical Envirocare is seeking legislative and extortion, while Semnani was warfare agents (much of it gubernatorial approval to dump investigated for bribery. Semnani contaminated with unexploded dismantled nuclear reactors in their pled guilty to the most lenient ordinance and anthrax spores), a radioactive waste landfill 60 miles sentence allowed under Federal

4 WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 568, 17 May 2002 guidelines and agreed to pay a waste? According to the Nuclear waste from being transported $100,000 fine. Anderson is now Regulatory Commission, unshielded through our front yards to be serving a 2 1/2 year jail term. exposure to “Class C” radioactive dumped in our back yards. waste can “cause a lethal radiation During the Larry Anderson trial, it dose, based on a 20-minute References: was revealed that former Utah exposure at a 3 foot distance.”(1) (1) U.S. General Accounting Office, Governor Norm Bangerter accepted a Report RCED-98-40R, Radioactive Waste: $65,000 “personal loan”, State - None of the waste would come Answers to Questions Related to the Proposed Ward Valley Low Level Senator Stephen Rees accepted from Utah.(2) Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility, May $108,000, and a member of the DRC - Over 80% would come from 22, 1998. Board accepted a personal loan of nuclear reactors.(3) (2) Envirocare statement. Salt Lake City $15,000. They’re not alone. - Less than .01% is medical waste.(4) Mayoral Debate, March 15, 2001. Governor Mike Leavitt and his www.slcgov.com/mayor/ campaign funds have accepted over Envirocare claims that the increase in envirocare%20forum.htm $85,000 from Envirocare in campaign taxes will force them out of business. (3) ibid. contributions, and many of the Utah However, Envirocare accepts over (4) Marvin Resnikoff, PhD, Living legislators have accepted money as 97% of the ‘low-level’ commercial Without Landfills, A Special Report of the Radioactive Waste Campaign; Published well. The former chairman of the radioactive waste disposed of in the by Radioactive Waste Campaign, New Utah DRC Board was hired by United States. Only 2 other sites Your, NY 1987. Dr. Resnikoff is the Envirocare to head their operations currently accept these types of expert the State of Utah hired in their in Texas, and the former Director of wastes: Washington and South case against the Skull Valley nuclear the Utah Department of Carolina. By 2008, S. Carolina will waste storage site. Environmental Quality is now the only accept wastes from a few President for Envirocare. locations on the East Coast. Source and contact: Jason Washington only accepts waste from Groenewold, Director, Families Having seen that Envirocare had a few states in the northwest. More Against Incinerator Risk, 68 S. Main gone to great lengths to grease the than 40 states will be looking for a Street, Suite 400, Salt Lake City, UT skids for legislative and gubernatorial place to dump their waste, and will 84101, USA approval, a new group, Utahns for have no other option other than to Tel: +1 801 355 5055 Radioactive Waste Control, was send their waste to Envirocare. Email: [email protected] formed to launch a ballot initiative Web: www.fair-utah.org or that would prevent Envirocare from Each of the six previous commercial www.healutah.org accepting higher-levels of radioactive radioactive waste disposal sites has waste. Specifically, it would prevent leaked radiation into the “ClassB&C”waste from being environment. Four of these sites are disposed of in Utah. Almost 70,000 now closed. Some are now petition signatures are needed by undergoing multi-million dollar June 3, 2002 in order to qualify for clean-up projects. the November election. Prior to 2001, Envirocare did not have The Radioactive Waste to pay taxes to the State of Utah. Restrictions Act - What it will Only a regulatory fee of $2.50 per ton do was applied to radioactive waste. Taxes assessed by the State would go 1. Prevent higher-levels of towards textbooks, reduced class radioactive waste from being sizes, scholarships, & helping the disposed of in Utah. homeless. 2. Reform Regulatory Oversight of Radioactive Waste Disposal. To the extent that we allow Utah’s 3. Use taxes from radioactive West Desert to become the enabler wastes currently disposed of in for a toxic economy, we encourage a Utah to support the Education, collective behavior that is self- Environment, and Ethics Fund, destructive. Burying yesterday’s and a homeless endowment hazardous waste so that even more fund. lethal waste can be produced only postpones the day of reckoning. So why are 84% of Utah residents Utahns are saying enough is enough, opposed to Envirocare’s attempt to and are encouraging people to accept higher-levels of radioactive support any attempt to keep nuclear

17 May 2002, WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 568 5 UK NEGLECTS ITS “SERIOUS AND URGENT” NUCLEAR WASTE PROBLEM The Royal Society (the UK’s national academy of science) has published a highly critical r esponse to the UK government’s consultation document on nuclear waste, accusing the government of prioritizing PR activities over tackling the r eal pr oblems of nuclear waste.

(568.5405) WISE Amsterdam – The intensely with a blinding white light. Because of these problems, the Royal Royal Society was responding to the The industry says reprocessing is the Society concludes that changes in consultation document “Managing only way to make Magnox fuel safe, waste management are essential Radioactive Waste Safely” (see WISE but the Royal Society points out that “regardless of whether a new News Communique 554.5317, “UK: this in turn generates “highly generation of nuclear power stations New public consultation on radwaste radioactive and very hazardous generates fresh volumes of waste”. policy”) from the Department for liquids, which are energetic and The current nuclear waste Environment, Food and Rural Affairs mobile and have a very high natural management regime in the UK “falls (DEFRA). tendency to disperse”. These liquids short of that which could be achieved are stored in tanks at Sellafield, through the use of currently available The Royal Society’s response was which must be continuously cooled technologies”. described by the BBC as “a damning to prevent a serious nuclear accident indictment of successive from occurring. To improve this, they propose governments and the nuclear “BATNEEC” (best available industry”. It describes the problem of Vitrification “inevitably produces technology not entailing excessive disposal of existing waste as “serious some liquid effluent which has cost). Unfortunately, failing to give a and urgent”, and says that it must be hitherto been discharged to sea”. definition of “excessive cost” makes solved “regardless of whether a new These discharges are the subject of this phrase rather meaningless. generation of nuclear power stations protests from many countries, produces fresh volumes of waste”. including Norway and Ireland. Lack of research However, the DEFRA consultation The Royal Society calls for new document appears to assume that the Also the vitrification is so far behind research, particularly into main problem is “public presentation schedule because of a variety of conditioning nuclear waste into and acceptance” rather than the very incidents, including fires (see WISE “forms that are passively safe and real technical problems of dealing News Communique 541, “In Brief”) robustly stored”. It is pointed out with radioactive waste. that reprocessing has at times been that there are many different types delayed (see WISE News of nuclear waste, and each type Badly-managed waste Communique 543.5242, “Sellafield: requires a suitable conditioning The UK currently has more than Waste tanks incident”). process. “Unfortunately”, the report 10,000 tonnes of radioactive waste, continues, “the relevant scientific and the amount will increase 25-fold Use of plutonium or reprocessed and technological research base has once existing nuclear facilities are uranium in “second cycle fuels” such been seriously diminished”. decommissioned. Despite this huge as MOX would create “still more increase to come, management of complicated wastes”, and there are The report proposes more existing waste is a shambles. Around “concerns amongst UK scientists” international collaborations, 90% of existing high level waste about the disposal of irradiated MOX commenting that “an independent (HLW) and intermediate level waste fuel. report at EU level might be (ILW) remain in “unconditioned appropriate”. form” – in other words, not yet With low-level waste (LLW) and ILW packaged in a form suitable for long- there is also the problem that much Risks – not just terrorism term storage. of it contains organic matter such as After 11 September, “an urgent safety resins, paper or cloth. These review should take into account the The Magnox waste is a particular eventually generate methane and possibility of extreme terrorist problem because it is chemically carbon dioxide, and reactions intervention”. However, terrorists reactive. It contains metallic involving metals will generate are not the only risk: “The present uranium, which can spontaneously hydrogen. All these gases could hazard is real and the risk only catch fire if exposed to air, and contain traces of radionuclides and so maintained at acceptably low levels metallic magnesium, which burns be radioactive. by very active management systems.

6 WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 568, 17 May 2002 These are costly and inevitably bring Management Commission (see WISE industry must not be allowed to some risk of worker exposure”. News Communique 508.5004, “UK dictate nuclear waste policy: “It is advice: Underground repository for essential too ensure that waste Spin-doctors fail LLW; excess PU should be classified disposal decisions and options are The government spin-doctors seem as waste”). not driven exclusively by pre- to think it is just a case of “managing commitments to upstream the debate” rather than finding real They also foresee that new problems production stages, for example the solutions. In this, they follow the could arise from the splitting off of commitment to reprocessing”. industry, which according to the BNFL’s nuclear liabilities into a new report, “seems to have regarded Liabilities Management Authority Sources: www.royalsoc.ac.uk; BBC, 3 treatment of waste as of secondary (see WISE News Communique May 2002; DEFRA consultation importance, and to have focused its 559.5347, “ Full steam ahead for UK’s document (at www.defra.gov.uk/ efforts on countering what it saw as nuclear industry ‘Titanic’ “, which environment/consult/radwaste/pdf/ hostile public opinion and on also appeared in last December’s radwaste.pdf) economic concerns”. NIRS Nuclear Monitor). The precise role of this new authority is unclear, Contact: Nuclear Free Local However, the Royal Society points but there will be “new regulatory Authorities (NFLA), Town Hall, out that the nuclear waste issue has interfaces” as responsibility for Manchester M60 2LA, UK been a public relations failure. In cleanup of nuclear sites is shifted to Tel: +44 161 234 3244; particular, the UK nuclear waste the new authority, which “can cause Fax: +44 161 234 3379 agency Nirex “is closely associated delays and increase costs”. Email: [email protected] with the failed policies of the past.” Web: www.nuclearpolicy.info Instead, they support the House of The report finishes with a final Lords’ proposals for a Nuclear Waste warning that the reprocessing HANAU, THE PARTICLES MYSTERY AND ILLEGAL DUMPING IN SWEDEN The myster y of radioactive par ticles in the Elbmarsch in nor thern Germany has broadened with the discovery of additional particles near the former German MOX plant Hanau. Meanwhile, the Swedish authorities fail to pr osecute W estinghouse for illegal dumping of plutonium-containing waste fr om Hanau on a municipal dumpsite in Sweden. (568.5406) WISE Amsterdam – The leukemia cases near nuclear Commission of Schleswig-Holstein particle story was featured on the installations is probably in the concluded that the cause of this was German TV program “Report Mainz” Elbmarsch (see WISE News probably radioactive releases from on 6 May and was the lead story in Communique 389.3788, “Leukaemia Krümmel (see WISE News the Tageszeitung on 7 May. Spherical around Krümmel”). Communique 487.4835, “German radioactive particles have been found leukemia commission: Krümmel NPP in soil samples from the This is an area around the banks of cause of high leukemia rate”). surroundings of the Hanau nuclear the river Elbe in northern Germany, However, this raised the question of fuel plants, according to the TV and is home to the nuclear power why a nuclear power station with program. The particles with a station Krümmel and the research just one reactor should give rise to so diameter of approximately 1 mm center GKSS, which had two old many leukemia cases. were found at a depth of 15 cm. research reactors. The controversy continued after the What the particles are, and how they Independent radiation measure- discovery of strange spherical came to be there, is still a matter of ments carried out after the discovery radioactive particles in the area. The controversy. The roots of this of the leukemia cluster put into German section of International controversy go right back to the question the accuracy of radiation Physicians for the Prevention of discovery of a leukemia cluster in the monitoring (see WISE News Nuclear War (IPPNW) arranged for 1980s in a different part of Germany. Communique 435.4300, “False these particles to be analyzed by a radiation measuring in Germany?”) group called ARGE PhAM (working Germany’s – and possibly Western group on physical analysis and Europe’s – most significant cluster of In December 1997, the Leukemia measurement techniques). 17 May 2002, WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 568 7 This group, whose leader Heinz Others have suggested that the admissible limit of 100 Bq/kg tenfold. Werner Gabriel describes himself as a whole affair is merely a media hoax, The Swedish Radiation Protection “supporter of nuclear energy”, says and the particles could be earthworm Institute (SSI) then prohibited that the Elbmarsch particles contain casts (!) or industrial slag. Industrial further dumping of this material. plutonium, enriched uranium, slag commonly contains naturally In December 2000 however, curium, and americium. They claim occurring radioactive materials such Westinghouse Atom AB, the licensee that the particles are an as uranium, radium, thorium and for the dumping, illegally continued experimental type of nuclear fuel potassium. dumping of at least five further known as “PAC fuel”, and that they batches of the material. were released after an accident on 12 Illegal dumping in Sweden September 1986 at GKSS. While speculation on the particles in SSI then investigated whether Germany continues, Swedish Westinghouse Atom AB might have After these claims were made, staff authorities are refusing to prosecute penal responsibility for breaching the of the Federal Radiation Protection Westinghouse for illegal dumping of Radiation Protection Law. According Authority, the ecology department of plutonium-containing waste from to the law, a minor breach does not the State of Lower Saxony and the Hanau, which ended up on a imply penal responsibility. And, SSI Jülich nuclear research center all municipal dumpsite in Sweden. considered the breach “minor”, tried to find more particles, but claiming that no hazards to humans without success. Some months ago, 40 metric tons of material have been or the environment had occurred. the state attorney for Schleswig- delivered from Siemens to Ranstad Holstein ordered seizure of the soil Mineral AB. At Ranstad Mineral AB’s Irradiation: sooner or later? samples taken by ARGE PhAM in uranium-processing plant (a former The particle controversy and the order to investigate them “very uranium mill), residual uranium was Sweden dumping incident illustrate officially”. (Note: in the Elbmarsch, recovered from the Hanau material. the hollowness of the nuclear one bank of the river Elbe is in After the extraction of the uranium, industry’s claim to keep radioactive Schleswig-Holstein and the other is the material was dumped on the material isolated from the in Lower Saxony). nearby municipal Risängen dump environment. Sooner or later, some site which is located in the of it always seems to escape. Particles at Hanau community of Skövde. Whether unintentionally, as in the The mystery then broadened after alleged incidents in Germany, or the discovery of particles near the According to a Swedish parliament intentionally – and even illegally – as Nukem nuclear fuel production plant resolution, the import of radioactive in the Sweden dumping incident, the at Hanau, 500 km (300 miles) to the waste into the country is prohibited industry just seems to keep south. Although the TV program in principle, but the Hanau material spreading its waste around. “Report Mainz” reported that these escapes this because it is classified as particles also contained plutonium “useful residues.” Sources: tageszeitung, 7 May 2002; and uranium, it turned out that they WISE Uranium web site; Main Echo, had not yet been analyzed - they In April 2000 it was found that the 10 May 2002; Frankfurter Rundschau, merely “looked” similar to those plutonium concentrations in samples 16 May 2002 from Geesthacht under the electron from dumped waste originating from microscope. treated Hanau material exceeded the Contact: WISE Uranium TAIWAN: NO NUKES,NOWASTE! Expressing their wrath at the government’s failure to remove nuclear waste fr om the island, the T ao tribe of Or chid Island launched an island wide pr otest on 1 May 2002 to demand that T aiwan’s government set up a solid schedule and pr omise to r emove nuclear waste fr om the island. (568.5407) Green Party Taiwan - The have launched campaigns to support However, Orchid island residents temporary repository of radioactive the Orchid Island residents. On 3 have to bear the risk of nuclear waste waste in Orchid Island was opened in May 2002, in front of the Legislative produced from the main island of 1982, and has already stored 97,672 Yuan, representatives of Taiwan. barrels of low-level radioactive waste, environmental NGOs denounce the which accounts to 57% of total failure of the relocation project as Anti-nuclear organizations demand production (see WISE News disrespecting environmental justice. that Taiwan’s government remove Communique 387-8, “Orchid Island: The living standard of Orchid Island the nuclear waste from Orchid Taiwan’s Nuclear Dumpsite”). residents is much lower than that in Island. The relocation project must Taiwan, and for them nuclear power not be postponed because of the Taiwan’s anti-nuclear organizations is unnecessary and unwanted. difficulty of finding a final storage 8 WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 568, 17 May 2002 site. It is proposed by anti-nuclear policy of the government. Since the storage site for nuclear waste would organizations that the government Progressive Democratic Party (DPP) never provide a solution, if the should relocate the nuclear waste to became the ruling party, attempts opposing parties continually insist a military area or a nuclear had been made to correct the on the mistaken nuclear energy prohibited site. mistaken nuclear energy policy when policy. Withdrawing the nuclear the Executive Yuan announced a halt energy policy is the only way to After the immediate response of the to the construction of the fourth resolve the problem. Therefore, anti- government to the aborigines’ nuclear power plant on 27 October nuclear organizations call on the protect on 1 May, residents nearby 2000 (see WISE News Communique government and opposition parties the first, second and third nuclear 538.5217, “Taiwan: Lungmen to address the welfare of the people power plants launched protests as cancellation announced, political row by halting the fourth nuclear power well. Those residents are concerned continues”). However, the boycott of plant as soon as possible. It is also that their health may have been the opposing parties in the essential to decommission the three threatened by the nearby high level Legislative Yuan resulted in a already built nuclear power plants, radioactive waste storage and nuclear resolution reinstating the project, letting all the people enjoy a nuclear- fuel. The fisheries living nearby the forcing the government to resume free Taiwan and live without any risk second nuclear power plant have construction of the Fourth Nuclear of nuclear waste. even demanded that Taiwan Power Power Plant on February 14, 2001 Company pay them 26 billion NT (see WISE News Communique Source and contact: Fenlan Lai, dollars (US$730 million) in 543.5245, “Taiwan: Two sides to the Green Party Taiwan compensation. nuclear coin”). e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +886-2-23621362 Anti-nuclear organizations consider Any foreign negotiation with North Fax:+886-2-23621361 that the problem of nuclear waste is Korea, Russia, China or even the Website: http://www.gptaiwan.org.tw due to the mistaken nuclear energy Solomon Islands in seeking the final WEAKENING OF NUCLEAR TRANSPORT REGULATIONS The United States Depar tment of T ransportation (DOT), in conjunction with the US Nuclear Regulator y Commission (NRC), is pr oposing to adopt United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear transpor t r egulations. These may make nuclear transpor t mor e dangerous and may even help pave the way for radioactively contaminated materials to be “r ecycled” into ever yday items.

(568.5408) NIRS – The IAEA Some main concerns are: closed doors with no opportunity for regulations (TS-R-1) (1) allow (a) the process by which nuclear public input. The TSR-1 regulations radioactive materials under certain advocates, including federal took a routine path through the circumstances to be transported as if regulators, use the United Nations/ United Nations (UN) committees of they are not radioactive, in addition IAEA procedures to overcome clear nuclear advocates, avoiding the light to other provisions. Other nations national mandates against of public scrutiny, to become and the European road and rail radioactive waste deregulation; regulations for UN transport organizations are also being (b) the deliberate dispersal of organizations, the International pressured under the guise of radioactive materials into raw Maritime Organization (IMO) and the “harmonization” to accept these materials, products, the marketplace International Civil Aviation requirements. and our surroundings; Organization (ICAO). These, and (c) the overall reduction in most, UN organizations have Deregulation of radioactive materials protections in the TS-R-1 transport cooperative agreements with the has been repeatedly defeated by regulations in many of its provisions; IAEA that facilitate getting the massive popular opposition when and nuclear industry’s desired policies proposed by other US agencies (d) the fact that US DOT rules into international requirements or (Environmental Protection Agency, generally preempt state and local statements. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, authority, undermining more Department of Energy). If approved, protective laws and regulations. Although US government officials this rule would serve as a technical participated in the IAEA, UN, ICAO precedent for deregulating Anti-democratic process and IMO meetings, they did not radioactive wastes and materials in IAEA transport requirements are effectively represent or inform the the US and around the world. continuously developed behind concerned public. There are 17 May 2002, WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 568 9 indications that they expressed some that previous secret international toward tightening up and increasing concerns with IAEA on its secretive, rulemakings brought us. Now, protections. exclusive habits, but the only visible supposedly based on “science”, the result so far is a reduction (from $80 nuclear establishment wants to The NRC and DOT proposals also to $17) in the price the public must change these numbers – and well appear to weaken requirements for (still) pay to get a copy of the IAEA over half of them (222 of the 382 Type B containers (which are used for documents proposed to become our listed) go up, thereby increasing the irradiated fuel transport), uranium governing regulations. Access to exempt concentrations for the hexafluoride packaging, plutonium information in these rulemakings is majority of radionuclides. NIRS transport requirements, surface very challenging and the content of questions and challenges the contamination levels on Type B the transport regulations is complex, “science” being used to justify TS-R-1 containers, design changes for dual making it more difficult for the exemptions. We even more purpose casks and “grandfathering” public to play an active role. adamantly oppose any increases in of old cask designs. For those who those levels and have suggested that follow transport regulations, the “A1” Facilitating radioactive “recycling” only reduced levels be adopted if and “A2” values which determine the Among the many complicated and changes are made. need for and type of transport protection-reducing transport containers required, are being schemes proposed in TSR-1, is the The proposed chart lists exempt changed. One result is supposedly a attempt to legalize the exemption of amounts or quantities of radioactive determination that the double varying amounts of every materials in entire shipments containers now required in the US radionuclide from nuclear transport (consignments). Large amounts of for plutonium shipments are not regulations. This will also remove some radioactive elements can be necessary and a proposal to do away one of the obstacles to the dispersal transported as if not radioactive. with that requirement. of radioactively contaminated There are no comparable exemptions substances into daily commerce, raw in the existing regulations. The The deadline for comment to US NRC materials, personal items, vehicles, amounts listed appear to have the and US DOT is July 29, 2002 and buildings, children’s toys and potential to give unsuspecting public hearings will be held in furniture, soil, concrete, medical members of the public doses near or Chicago on 4 June and in Rockville, devices and more. exceeding allowable worker MD on 24 June. inhalation doses in the US. A new chart (2) is being proposed References: that would set exempt concentration Additional Concerns (1) 67 FR 83:21328-388 April 30, 2002, and quantity levels for releasing US DOT and NRC share authority DOT RSPA Notice of Proposed nuclear shipments from transport over nuclear waste transport in the Rulemaking Docket No. RSPA -99-6283 (HM 230) Hazardous Materials regulations. The right side columns US and are intending to incorporate Regulations; Compatibility with IAEA, in the new chart list Exempt the IAEA’s 1996 radioactive transport and Concentrations. These are the very regulations plus a few additional 67 FR 83:21390-484 April 30, 2002, NRC same concentrations that the nuclear provisions. The justification is we Proposed Rule: Compatibility with IAEA establishment is trying to get need to harmonize our standards Transportation Safety Standards (TS-R-1) adopted in every country to allow internationally, but they were & other transport amendments, and radioactive waste release and already in harmony. The new IAEA “Regulations for the Safe Transport recycling. US DOT and the rest of the regulations (TS-R-1) are being of Radioactive Material,” 1996 Edition, world all currently have a uniform adopted to relax protections and let ST-1, now TS-R-1. (2) proposed 49 CFR 173.436 in the DOT exempt concentration for any more radioactive waste out into regs or IAEA TSR-1 Section IV Table I radioactive materials (70 becquerels commerce unregulated. At a time columns 3 and 4. per gram). when we could be facing dramatic increases in the amount of nuclear Source and contact: D. D’Arrigo at NIRS does not support any level of material on roads, rails, ships, planes NIRS (+1 202 328 0002 ext. 16, exemption, but this 70 becquerels and barges in the US and [email protected]) per gram is the existing world value internationally, the trend should be IN BRIEF Radioactive flood threat in Central tailings dumps from Soviet uranium the way to the Aral Sea” according to Asia. On 12 May, a huge landslide nearly mines abandoned in the 1960s. Local Anarkul Aitaliev, from the government’s 400,000 cubic meters in size has blocked civil defence teams are making all department of environmental the course of a local river, posing a threat possible efforts in order to stop monitoring. of flooding a radioactive dumping site floodwaters reaching the dump, since a near the town of Maylisu in the south of worst case scenario involves radioactive By sheer coincidence, a working group of Kyrgyzstan. The dumpsite is one of many water “tearing through Central Asia all the Interparliamentary Assembly of the

10 WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor 568, 17 May 2002 Eurasian Economic Community arrived Actions in Germany. A week of anti- and Greenpeace Russia. in Bishkek on 13 May 2002 on a fact- nuclear actions in Germany has included Contact: WISE Russia at finding mission to Kyrgyzstan’s tailings protests against a nuclear industry [email protected]. dumps. conference in Stuttgart (14-16 May) and WISE Uranium web site actions against Castor transports. On 16 NPP’s documents end up in bookstore’s May, nuclear waste transports from Ohu, trash. Documents on the U.S. North Radioactive killer mushrooms. At Krümmel, Mühlheim-Kärlich, Brokdorf Perry nuclear power station have been another of Kyrgyzstan’s tailings dumps, and Neckarwestheim took place, and one found by a television station in a trash one local resident has died and another of the transports was stopped for a time bin of a nearby bookstore. The five are in intensive care after eating at Nuremberg. The transports are documents had been dumped there by mushrooms. Residents had been picking continuing towards La Hague (France) an employee of GE Power Systems, a mushrooms in the restricted zone of the and Sellafield (UK) as this WISE/NIRS company that was responsible for the Kara Balta uranium tailings dump, the Nuclear Monitor goes to press. refueling at the plant. The GE Power largest in the country. www.indymedia.de, 16 May 2002 Systems company had recently been WISE Uranium web site replaced by Framatome ANP. GE cleared Russia: anti nuclear action camp. out their office at the plant and the Argentina: demonstration against waste Russian anti nuclear groups will organize employee made arrangements to dispose import. Around 3,000 protestors protest actions, including an anti-nuclear of the documents at the bookstore. The gathered in Buenos Aires on 12 May to walk and an action camp, starting 29 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said protest against plans to import nuclear June and ending 6 July. The actions will that none of the documents revealed waste from Australia. The plans form take place near Krasnoyarsk, a Siberian safeguarded information. But it also part of the agreement for Argentinean city where Russia plans to store 20,000 recognized that such kind of documents company INVAP to build a replacement tons of imported spent nuclear fuel. The would be withheld from public research reactor at Lucas Heights in organizers are Ecodefense (WISE Russia), disclosure if it where in NRC’s Sydney (see WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor the Krasnoyarsk branch of the Socio- posession. 566, “In Brief”.) Ecological Union, the Anti-nuclear The News-Herald, 9 May 2002 news.com.au, 13 May 2002 campaign of the Socio-Ecological Union

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