Unit N1 was in unplanned outage from 20.04.96, the reactor in cold shutdown condition. Residual heat was removed routinely by second channel of core cooling system. The first channel of this system was taken out of service for maintenance, the third one was in standby mode of operation. At 18:17 30.04.96 running pump of second channel switched off due to pressure drop at the pump inlet. The third channel's pump started up and switched off shortly afterwards due to the same reason. Feed and bleed was arranged (i.e. injections of cold make-up water and drainage into the primary coolant purification system), but before personnel managed to restart core cooling system, temperature of primary coolant had reached 82 deg. C, that was a violation of operational limits (reactor outlet water temperature should not exceed 70 deg. C). The event investigation is in progress, but the incident root cause has not been revealed yet. Justification: Off-site and on-site impact criteria are not appropriate for the event rating. The event is rated under the degradation of defence in depth criterion. According to para: III-3.1.1. "degradation of reactor core cooling" of the user's manual, the event is provisionally rated at level 1. The final rating and additional factors will be considered after investigations have been completed.
The Netherlands has agreed to allow Urenco to be used for the British military nuclear program. This clears the way for uranium enriched by Urenco to be used in nuclear weapons. With his decision, Foreign Minister Berendsen (CDA Christen Democrats) is departing from the principle that civilian and military nuclear applications must remain strictly separate. […]
Behnam Raeesian is an internationally recognized visual artist and poster designer from Iran, known for bold political and cultural works. Through exhibitions, workshops, jury roles, and collaborations with cultural institutions worldwide, he has built a strong voice in contemporary political graphic design. His projects confront complex issues such as nuclear risk and technological impact, transforming […]
Everywhere you look, the nuclear industry’s hype machine is in overdrive. Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and the UK government all tout small modular reactors as the silver bullet for climate change and energy security. Tech billionaires are hiring nuclear veterans. Wall Street is whispering about “round-the-clock power” for artificial intelligence data centers. For those old enough […]
Kernenergie en veiligheid: A wargame sought to test if a major radiological release that would prompt the evacuation of millions of civilians in South Korea could distract key US allies from assisting and rebuffing an all-out military invasion of Taiwan. The short answer was yes. The game originally presumed that China, wanting to keep the […]
Big batteries and EVs to the rescue again as faults with new nuclear plant cause chaos on Nordic grids The Finnish nuclear power plant Olkiluoto was finally connected to the grid last year, at an estimated cost of €11 billion compared to the original budget of €3 billion. That cost blowout forced its developer, the […]
