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France and Finland must release all info about safety of planned nuclear reactor
Leaked confidential report reveals vulnerability of EPR reactor
Brussels, 18 May 2006 - French and Finnish governments must publish all
information about safety risks surrounding the planned EPR nuclear power
plant in Normandy and the one being built in Olkiluoto (Finland), Réseau "Sortir du
Nucléaire" and Friends of the Earth Europe demanded today.
This appeal came after the French anti-nuclear activist Stephane Lhomme from
Réseau " Sortir du Nucléaire" was detained for 14 hours on Tuesday. His home in
Bordeaux was searched by the French National Security Service (DST,
Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire), and his two computers and
mobile confiscated. Lhomme is suspected of having illegally obtained the
confidential report on the vulnerability of the EPR, or European
Pressurized-water Reactor.
In an act of defiance, the groups called on all Europeans to sign a petition
against the revival of nuclear power in Europe:
http://www.million-against-nuclear.net (1)
André Lariviere from Réseau "Sortir du Nucleaire" said: "If we cannot even guarantee
the resistance of a nuclear power plant to a 9/11-style terrorist attack,
then the plant should not be built in the first place. The impact on public
health and the environment of such an attack on a nuclear plant is almost
too horrific to imagine."
"Not only are we denied important information, but activists trying to bring
this information into the open are arrested, intimidated and have their
homes searched. This shameful behaviour is typical for the French nuclear
industry and government," Lariviere added.
Frank van Schaik, Friends of the Earth Europe Nuclear Campaigner, said:
"France and Finland must release all information they are holding back about
the safety of the EPR nuclear power plant. A democratic and transparent
debate must take place about the EPR before construction starts in Normandy
and construction at the Finnish EPR plant should be halted now."
"France and Finland should stop wasting money in the dangerous EPR reactors,
and start investing in clean energy technologies," he noted. "And French
authorities should stop harassing anti-nuclear activists using their
democratic rights to inform the public about the dangers of nuclear power."
A confidential report by the EdF on the security of the EPR has been leaked
to the public, revealing that the so-called state-of-the-art ("third
generation") EPR nuclear reactor might not withstand a 9/11-style terrorist
attack with a passenger airplane. (2) The information in the report was
withheld from the French public, who in the past months were consulted on
the construction of the nuclear reactor in Normandy.
EdF has also told French authorities that it "does not consider assuring a
resistance capacity (to the EPR) against every act of war or every possible
act of terrorism." It also advised authorities against informing the public
about the safety concerns. (3)
An EPR prototype is currently being built in Olkiluoto, Finland, and it is
plagued by serious delays related to safety. Finnish authorities confirmed
this but refused to elaborate.
Contacts:
André Lariviere, Réseau "Sortir du Nucléaire": +33-6-76695498
Frank van Schaik, Friends of the Earth Europe Nuclear Campaigner:
+31-6-20295755
Notes:
(1) The largest European anti-nuclear coalition of civic society groups
since the 1980s demands the phase-out of nuclear power all over Europe, as
well as the scrapping of the Euratom Treaty. The coalition of more than 300
European non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has gathered hundreds of
thousands of signatures in all European countries to this end. The aim is to
collect one million signatures and hand them to the European leaders this
autumn. The campaign is organised by atomstopp (Austria), Friends of the
Earth Europe, GLOBAL 2000 (Friends of the Earth Austria), Sortir du
Nucléaire (France), WISE (Netherlands) and Women for Peace (Finland). It is
actively supported by more than 300 NGOs. Last April, 25,000 people
protested in the French town of Cherbourg against the planned EPR in
Normandy.
See: http://www.million-against-nuclear.net
(2) The leaked EdF report in French can be read on
http://www.antenna.nl/wise
(3) In his letter dated 12.8.2003 to the Director-General of Nuclear
Security and Radioactive Protection, Bruno Lescoeur, Director of the Energy
Section at Electricité de France (EdF), says: "As you noted, the project was
carried out right from the beginning to be able to withstand the fall of a
military aircraft, which already represents a severe load." He does not
specifically say whether the EPR can withstand the impact of a military
aircraft loaded with bombs and ammunition, something this kind of aircraft
normally does.
Lescoeur also says in his letter: "It is worth noticing that EDF does not
consider assuring a resistance capacity (to the EPR) against every act of
war or every possible act of terrorism... The numerous hypotheses relating
to an impact must cover a 'reasonable' risk, and cannot pretend including
all risks. I believe that the numerous hypotheses, the used rules and the
many associated analysis should not be included in security reports
accessible or possibly accessible to the public."
See letter in French under:
http://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/index.php?menu=sinformer&sousmenu=themas&soussousmenu=epr-confidentiel&page=1
Friends of the Earth Europe campaigns for sustainable and fair societies and for the protection of the environment,
unites more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups
and is part of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, Friends of the Earth International.
