- VIENNA - A reactor meltdown
could occur within one hour if a commercial passenger jet hits a nuclear
power plant, according to a new Greenpeace report which examines the vulnerability
of nuclear power plants to plane crashes in Germany.
-
- Nuclear expert, Dr Helmut Hirsch, says in the report
that in a worse case scenario of a commercial passenger jet hitting a nuclear
plant, the reactor's containment would be breached, the cooling systems
would fail, and within a very short period of time less than one hour
- the reactor core would begin to meltdown. A catastrophic release of radioactivity
on the scale of Chernobyl would follow. Dr Hirsch's report was released
as International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General, Dr Mohamed
El Baradei, acknowledged that the world's nuclear reactors and other facilities
are vulnerable to a September 11th type attack. An IAEA conference in Vienna
today will discuss the threat of nuclear terrorism.
-
- The GP report also states that, even if the reactor building
remains largely intact, there is a high probability that as a result of
the damage caused by the aircraft, a core meltdown could still occur. Such
an event would be less catastrophic in the short term due to the containment
structure, however, this would eventually fail - either through explosions
caused by the meltdown (within ten hours) or within a matter of days due
to excessive internal pressure. Dr Hirsch states that in the oldest German
nuclear plants the reactor buildings had walls 60 cm (two feet) thick which
could withstand a sports plane, weighing 10 tonnes and flying slowly (300
kmph) while others were designed to withstand a crash by a Starfighter
warplane and the newest to withstand a crash by a Phantom fighter jet.
-
- However the report points that the mass of commercial
passenger jets and the amount of fuel they carry far exceed those of jet
fighters. The F4E Phantom II jet has a take off weight of 26,309 kg with
maximum estimated fuel reserves of 6,000 litres while a Boeing 747-400
has a take-off weight of 396,890 kg and maximum fuel reserve of 216,840
litres. "In general it can, given the current state of knowledge,
be assumed that even in an accidental crash by a big passenger plane the
reactor building will probably be broken into - if a 'direct hit' occurs
- even if the facility involved is protected against the impact of a Phantom
jet fighter.
-
- This possibility cannot be ruled out even with a medium
sized passenger plane (eg Airbus A-320). The probability is greater still
in the case of a deliberately aimed crash at higher speeds," the report
states.
-
- Dr Hirsch questioned the safety of deploying air defence
systems at nuclear sites saying the most effective safety measure would
be to close down the nuclear plants as soon as possible. "Stationing
military units at nuclear power plants for the purpose of air defence,
a measure already implemented in France and the Czech republic, must
be regarded as extremely problematic," the report said. "Apart
from the obvious danger of shooting down aircraft which have no interest
in the plants - planes whose radio and navigation systems have failed,
for example - new risks are created as a result."
-
- While the IAEA Director General stated that reactors
were vulnerable to aircraft attack, he downplayed the threat posed by fissile
materials - the ingredients needed for nuclear weapons - being used by
terrorists to make weapons. However Greenpeace International spokesperson
Shaun Burnie said nuclear weapons experts have stated the contrary, that
the design and manufacture of a nuclear weapon is relatively straightforward
once fissile materials, such as plutonium, have been obtained. During the
last ten years global stocks of plutonium in commercial nuclear programs
have grown to over 200,000kg. As little as 5kg of this plutonium would
be sufficient for a nuclear weapon.
-
- "The IAEA has two functions: to promote nuclear
technology and to safeguard nuclear material. The two are in direct contradiction.
Proliferation of nuclear power, the job of the IAEA, increases the threats
of nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear terrorism," Burnie said.
"Instead of seeking to reassure the world that it can be protected
from nuclear terrorism it would be more effective for the IAEA to admit
that the risk is so high that reactors have to be shut down and that the
trade in plutonium should be halted," Burnie said. "Future energy
requirements must come from energy efficiency measures and renewable energy
."
-
- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
-
- - Shaun Burnie +31 629 0011 33 (London). Franko Petri
+43 676 514 7246 (Vienna). - Dr Helmut Hirsch +49 5116063028
-
- The English version of Dr Hirsch's report can be found
here: www.greenpeace.org/~nuclear/germannucplantsafety.pdf
-
- http://www.greenpeace.org/pressreleases/nuclear/2001nov2.html
|
