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INES, NAMS and the disturbances Radioactive low radiation?!
Uranium transports through Europe The ABC deployment concept

INES and the disturbances in nuclear facilities

2000 – 2009

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INES, Who the f... is INES?

The International Scale of Nuclear and Radiological Events (INES) is a tool to educate the public about the safety implications of nuclear and radiological events, but INES has a problem...

We are always looking for up-to-date information. Anyone who can help, please send a message to:
nuclear-world@reaktorpleite.de

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2019 - 2010 | 2009 - 20001999 - 19901989 - 19801979 - 19701969 - 19601959 - 19501949 - 1940 | Before

 


2009


 

INES category 1 "disorder"December 27, 2009 (INES 1) NPP Fessenheim, FRA

Plant residue got into the cooling circuit when the reactor was started up...
(Costs ?)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia de

Fessenheim nuclear power plant

Operational disruptions

Since the nuclear power plant went into operation, there have been over 1989 incidents between 2008 and 200 that would have had to be reported according to the German Radiation Protection Ordinance...

On December 27, 2009, the second reactor of the nuclear power plant was temporarily shut down because of plant residues in the cooling circuit. The electricity company EDF said it was still unclear when the reactor would be restarted. The French nuclear regulator classified the incident at the plant as INES 1. The reactor, which was taken offline for maintenance work on December 26th, was supposed to have resumed operation at around 27 a.m. on December 6th. According to EDF, plant debris got into the cooling circuit when a water pump was restarted when the reactor was about to be started up. This affected the performance of the system...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Fessenheim (France)

 


INES Category 2 "Incident"December 2, 2009 (INES 2) NPP Cruas, FRA

Vegetation blocked the inlet of the cooling system, the system had to be shut down and repaired.
(Cost approx. US$4 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Cruas_(France)

During the night of December 1-2, 2009, one of the Cruas reactors had to be shut down due to problems in the main cooling system. The cause was that a water pipe was blocked by debris washed up by the Rhône. The cooling system was working again the next morning. The incident was classified as an INES level 2 incident.

Wikipedia fr

Centrale nucleaire de Cruas

On December 2, in Unit 4 of Cruas NPP, leaves and other fall debris accumulated in the river cooling water circuit and clogged it. The reactor was shut down and switched to hot standby with the flow-independent emergency power supply via the steam generators. However, even after this process, the reactor core must be further cooled with the river cooling water - because of the ongoing decay - in the so-called after-cooling mode, so that it does not overheat and melt ...

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 


August 9, 2009 (INES 1) NPP Gravelines, FRAINES category 1 "disorder"

The fuel assembly system failed to properly eject the spent fuel rods from the Gravelines nuclear plant, resulting in the fuel rods becoming stuck and the reactor shutting down.
(Cost approx. US$2 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Slowly but surely, all the relevant information about disruptions in the nuclear industry is coming from the German Wikipedia away!

Wikipedia de

Nuclear Power Plant_Gravelines

The Gravelines nuclear power plant consists of six pressurized water reactors of the same type, each with a net output of 910 MW. It is operated by the French company Électricité de France (EDF). Water from the English Channel, on whose coast the nuclear power plant is located, is used for cooling...
 

Wikipedia en

Nuclear power accidents by country#France

The fuel assembly system did not properly eject the spent fuel rods from the Gravelines nuclear power plant, causing the fuel rods to become jammed and forcing the reprocessing process to be interrupted.
 

Gravelines Nuclear Power Station

In August 2009, during the annual refueling in Reactor 1, a fuel assembly caught on the upper handling structure, halting operations and prompting the evacuation and isolation of the reactor building...

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Gravelines_(France)

On August 11, 2009, an unspecified malfunction occurred during a fuel transport at Gravelines-1.

 


INES Category 2 "Incident"June 10, 2009 (INES 2) Nuclear factory Cadarache, FRA

Underestimated plutonium deposits in the plant's glove boxes, plant operations were suspended for a month. Instead of the estimated 8 kg of plutonium, 39 kg were found.
(Costs ?)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Dismantling of the production plant for MOX fuel elements

In June, 39 kilograms of plutonium were discovered during dismantling work at the French nuclear facility Cadarache. The Atomic Safety Agency ASN stopped the work on October 15, 2009 and classified the incident in INES category 2 “major incident”. She also accused the operator of not reporting the June event until October...
 

Wikipedia de

Cadarache - ATPu production plant - dismantling

After the end of use as a production plant for MOX fuel elements in 2003, it was decided to dismantle this part of the plant. Demolition work began in February 2009. In October 2009, work on the plant had to be temporarily stopped by order of the French nuclear safety authority, as a total of 39 kg of plutonium dust was unexpectedly found in the glove boxes...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Cadarache (France)

The Center de Cadarache is located on the so-called Durance fault, a geological fault zone where strong to devastating earthquakes have repeatedly occurred every 100 years, most recently in 1913. Most of the facilities in Cadarache are therefore considered by French seismologists to pose a radiation risk viewed the region.

[...]

On October 6, 2009, the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) was notified by the operator of the ATPu plutonium factory of an unexpected additional stock of 39 kilograms of plutonium in a sealed container. MOX had been produced in this plant for 40 years; it was already being dismantled at that time. The operator had probably discovered the additional plutonium in June 2009, but kept it secret for months. The event was considered a significant flaw in the operator's safety "culture" and a level 2 incident on the seven-level INES scale.

 


The mushroom cloud stands for atomic or hydrogen bombs, also in the context of tests25 May 2009 (North Korea's 2nd nuclear bomb test) in Punggye-ri, PRKNuclear weapons proving ground

Since 1945, there have been over 2050 nuclear weapons tests worldwide...

Wikipedia de

North Korean nuclear weapons program

Nuclear weapons test in 2009

According to its own statements, North Korea launched a launch vehicle with the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-5 communications satellite on April 2009, 2, despite international protests. The UN Security Council condemned the missile launch on April 13, 2009. In protest against this, the North Korean Foreign Ministry declared on April 14, 2009 the end of the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear weapons program and its consistent continuation.

On May 25, 2009, another nuclear test was carried out. According to Russian sources, the explosive device had an explosive force of 20 kilotons. In addition to the nuclear test, several short-range missiles were fired...

Punggye-ri (Proving Grounds)
 

List of nuclear weapons tests

Chronological, incomplete list of nuclear weapons tests. The table contains only significant points in the history of the detonation of an atomic bomb for test purposes...
 

Atomwaffen A - Z

North Korea

“De facto” nuclear weapons state | “De Facto” Nuclear Weapon State

North Korea signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1985 after US intelligence discovered a classified reactor capable of producing plutonium. The North Korean government refused until 1992 to allow full control by the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). During subsequent inspections, the IAEA found that there was a discrepancy between North Korea's reported amount of reprocessed plutonium and its own measurements. The IAEA suspected more plutonium was being reprocessed for a nuclear weapons program, totaling over 20 kilograms - enough for three small warheads. Tensions between the US and North Korea over nuclear weapons led to a crisis in the spring of 1994 that nearly culminated in war...
 

Punggye-ri

Nuclear test site, North Korea

All of North Korea's six previous nuclear tests (2006-2017) were conducted at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site (also known as Hwaderi). The facility is located in the mountains north of Hamgyeong Province in the northeast of the country under Mount Mantap. At the end of April 2018, North Korea decommissioned the nuclear test site and detonated significant parts in front of gathered press on May 24, 2018, following a summit agreement with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to promote peace between the two parts of Korea...

 


2008


 

INES Category ?September 5th to November 6th 2008 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Asco, ESP

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Ascó (Spain)

In October 2021, the Spanish government approved an extension of the operating license for Ascó-1 and -2 until 2030 and 2031, respectively.

The Spanish safety authority Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear (CSN) reported on its Internet portal about the incident in 2007, which was classified as an INES level 2 incident, and about other incidents that occurred between 2005 and 2008. According to Greenpeace, the nuclear regulatory authority CSN played down the incidents, but examined hundreds of people at Ascó for contamination.

The operators had to pay a fine of 2007 million euros for the 15,4 incident. In 2011, it was discovered that 233 containers of radioactive waste had been lost from the Ascó nuclear power plant. An investigation and sanction proceedings were initiated against the operators. In 2017, the operators were sentenced to a fine of 1,1 million euros.
 

The incidents from 2008 are in the Post  Ascó Nuclear Power Plant in Wikipedia can no longer be found and the link to the source of the information has also been deleted.

Wikipedia de

Ascó Nuclear Power Plant

The Ascó nuclear power plant is located in eastern Spain directly on the Ebro, north of the municipality of Ascó near Tarragona. The power plant consists of two pressurized water reactors from the US company Westinghouse Electric. The Ascó-1 reactor has an installed capacity of 1033 MW, block 2 1035 MW. Block 1 became critical for the first time on June 16, 1983, block 2 on September 11, 1985. The Ascó 1 power plant block was synchronized with the grid for the first time on August 13, 1983, Ascó 2 on October 23, 1985...
 

List of accidents in European nuclear facilities

Between September 5, 2008 and November 6, 2008, eight INES accidents were registered in the double-unit facility, five of them in Unit II. (Source: CSN)
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


INES Category ?October 2008 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Gravelines, FRA

Wikipedia de

Nuclear Power Plant_Gravelines

During the revision in June, the engine of one of the two emergency diesel engines was replaced. After more than three months, in October, it was found that this replacement engine had not been properly installed: the diesel would not have been available for three months, which represents a redundancy failure that is far too long ...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Gravelines_(France)
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


August 25, 2008 (INES 3) Nuclear medicine INES Category 3 "Serious Incident"IRE Fleurus, BEL

Greenpeace

Belgium: Radiation accident more serious than expected

The accident occurred at the Institut des Radioéléments (IRE). The company produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment. On Friday, August 22, radioactive iodine-131 leaked from the plant.

According to the IRE, the leak was discovered the following Monday morning and operations were stopped. On Monday evening at 17:30 p.m., the operator informed the Belgian nuclear regulator FANC.

On Thursday morning, August 28, the nuclear regulator sent a team to Fleurus to take samples. On Thursday night, a warning was issued to the population. The authority recommended that people not eat fruit and vegetables from their gardens or dairy products. The accident was classified as level 3 on the seven-level INES scale.

The case raises questions. It is completely unclear why IRE did not contact the authorities until Monday evening. Contrary to initial statements, elevated radiation levels had apparently been measured in a ventilation shaft for two days.

What is even more incomprehensible is that the Belgian nuclear regulator only reacted days later. And why a spokesman for the authority initially said on the radio that there was no risk to the population.

At this point, IRE estimated that 45 gigabecquerels of iodine-131 had been released...
 

Wikipedia de

Flowers#2008

Radiochemical Industrial Plant - 2008

After completion of a production process, three smaller collection tanks were filled into a larger waste water tank. This led to an unexpected chemical reaction with the formation of radioactive iodine-131. Due to a defective measuring computer, this could escape slowly and unnoticed through a chimney into the environment for a few days. When the problem was noticed, production was stopped in the entire plant on the instructions of the Belgian supervisory authority and a district sector of 5 kilometers to the north-east was banned from the consumption of agricultural products for a few days ...

List of incidents in European nuclear facilities (INES 2 and 3)
 

Wikipedia fr

Institut_national_des_radioéléments

An estimated 45 GBq of iodine-131 was released through the chimney. The Belgian nuclear regulatory agency Agence Fédérale de Contrôle Nucleaire (AFCN) shut down the IRE, a producer of radioisotopes for medical use, immediately after the accident was reported. Residents were warned by the police over loudspeakers six days after the incident not to eat fruit, vegetables, milk and water from the area, after the government's crisis management team had revoked the initial all-clear and activated the European information system ECURIE...
 

Wikipedia en

Nuclear power accidents by country#Belgium

From 2002 to 2011, a total of 5 INES-relevant accidents (3 x INES-2 and 1 x INES-4 and INES-3 each) were registered in Belgium.

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 


July 15 and August 18, 2008 (INES 1) NPP INES category 1 "disorder"Santa Maria de Garoña, ESP

Slowly but surely, all the relevant info on disruptions in the nuclear industry is coming out Wikipedia away!

Wikipedia de

Santa_María_de_Garoña

On July 15 and August 19, the plant's two battery systems were tested. According to the CSN authority, their determined capacity was insufficient. In the event of an accident, these direct current systems perform various safety functions, such as starting the emergency diesel or displaying the reactor status. The main problem with this event is that after detecting the malfunction of the first system on July 15, the operator did not test the second system immediately, but only on August 19, 2008 ...
 

CSN - Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear

http://web.archive.org/web/20141122120320/http://www.csn.es/index.php/es/nuclear-power-plants/santa-maria-garona 

Reportable Events

Level I event at the Santa María de Garoña nuclear power plant, reported on August 18, 2008, due to the detection of a capacity failure in the supply batteries of the main buses A and B ...

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Santa_Maria_de_Garona_(Spain)

In February 2012, it was decided to extend the term by five years until 2018. However, on December 16, 2012, nuclenor prematurely took the nuclear power plant off the grid due to a lack of profitability. An upgrade would have cost 120 million euros, and for 2013 there would also have been an increased tax of 153 million euros.

On June 19, 2013, the Spanish Energy Minister confirmed that the reactor would officially be permanently decommissioned on July 6, 2013...

 


July 23, 2008 (INES 0 Class.?) NPP INES Category 0 "Reportable Event" Tricastin, Pierrelatte, FRA

The operator Areva reported that on July 08, uranium-contaminated sewage had leaked and flowed into the Rhone. On July 23, around 100 people were "lightly contaminated" by radioactive particles.
(Cost approx. US$8,6 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia de

Tricastin Nuclear Power Plant

... on July 23, around 100 people were "lightly contaminated" by radioactive particles. The particles had escaped from the vent line of a shut down nuclear reactor.

Police forces searched the director's office to find out whether the operator had complied with the applicable safety regulations...

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INES category 1 "disorder"July 8, 2008 (INES 1 Class.?) Nuclear factory Eurodif, Pierrelatte, FRA

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Tricastin (France)

2008 uranium accident

On July 8, 2008, an alarm was raised in the Tricastin area. In a plant for the treatment of uranium solutions on the nuclear power plant site, 30 cubic meters (= 30.000 liters) uranium-containing liquid leaked out of a leaking retention basin during cleaning ...

Water extraction and fishing were prohibited. The environmental protection movement Sortir du Nucléaire dismissed the regulator's claim that there was little risk as downplaying it. "Anyone who drinks contaminated water has the particles in their body. Even with low levels of radiation, there is a considerable risk of cancer."

On July 11, three days later, the nuclear supervisory authority prohibited further operation of the plant because the safety measures were insufficient. It was suddenly said 224 kilograms of uranium leaked and 74 kilograms of it got into the waters.

The classification of the accident as an INES level 1 incident was doubted by Sortir du Nucléaire because radioactivity was released. "If you take the information from the authorities as a basis, the incident should at least be classified as a "serious incident" at level 3, if not as an "accident" at level 4" ...
 

Wikipedia de

Eurodif#accident

... The radioactive solution seeped into the ground and through the sewage system reached the smaller rivers Gaffière and Lauzon, the Rhone, possibly also into the groundwater ...

About the amount of the leaked pollutants, the information varies between 6,25 cubic meters of solution with about 75 kilograms of non-enriched uranium (operator information) and 30 cubic meters of solution with about 360 kilograms of uranium (ASN).

According to an independent investigation by the organization CRIIRAD, the incident exceeded the legal limits for annual radiation emissions into the environment by more than 100 times ...
 

Youtube - 07:00

Uranium economy: Facilities for processing uranium

Reprocessing plants turn a few tons of nuclear waste into many tons of nuclear waste

All uranium and plutonium factories produce radioactive nuclear waste: uranium processing, enrichment and reprocessing plants, whether in Hanford, La Hague, Sellafield, Mayak, Tokaimura or anywhere in the world, all have the same problem: With every processing step More and more extremely toxic and highly radioactive waste is being produced ...

 


INES Category ?June 10, 2008 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Rivne, UKR

Wikipedia de

Nuclear Power Plant_Rivne

Almost a week after Krško (June 4, 2008), the same scenario was repeated in the Ukrainian Rivne/Rovno NPP. This time the media reported very little or not at all about it. The power plant was temporarily taken offline...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Rivne_(Ukraine)
 

Spiegel 17/1987 

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

SPIEGEL report on concealed nuclear power plant accidents around the world Humanity has narrowly avoided disaster several times. This is revealed by 48 incident reports that were concealed by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency: often the most bizarre, mundane mishaps from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan...

 


June 6, 2008 (INES 1) NPP INES category 1 "disorder" Philippsburg, GER

Wikipedia de

list of events

According to the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment, on the night of Friday, June 6, 2008, a pressure drop that exceeded the permissible values ​​was detected in the containment vessel of Block I. The container, which encloses important parts of the reactor, has a slight overpressure of 20 millibars during normal operation. According to the ministry, the pressure drop determined was 1 millibar per hour and was due to a leak. The leak occurred when the system was started up after the overhaul and immediately after the container was flooded with nitrogen. On the international rating scale “INES” it belongs to class 1 (“disorder”).

Philippsburg nuclear power plant breakdowns and incidents
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Philippsburg (Baden-Wuerttemberg)

Philippsburg II was started up in August 2001 with a defective emergency cooling system. Although the defect was discovered two weeks later, the reactor remained in operation illegally. It was later discovered that the emergency cooling system had not been sufficiently filled for years. It should be added that the operator had not reported this incident to the supervisory authority in 2001. In November 2001, the Stuttgart Ministry of the Environment reported that contaminated water had leaked from Philippsburg I due to a fault in a valve for the plant drainage system.

Because a pump in reactor I was not turned off during the annual inspection of the rapid shutdown system, 2004 liters of radioactive water flowed into the Rhine in April 30.000. EnBW reported the accident to the nuclear regulator one day later...

  


June 4, 2008 (INES 0 Class.?)INES Category 0 "Reportable Event" NPP Krsko, SVN

Regulators shut down the Krsko nuclear power plant after the primary cooling system failed and coolant leaked into the reactor containment.
(Cost approx. US$12 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia de

Nuclear power plant Krško#incidents

On June 4, 2008 at 15, a loss-of-coolant accident occurred. Coolant had escaped in the main cooling system (primary circuit) and the reactor output was throttled as a result. The reactor was shut down and completely shut down at 07:20 ...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Krško (Slovenia)#Risks and Incidents

Problems already arose during delivery in 1981: when the 322-ton steam generator was being transported from Rijeka to Krško, it crashed into the motorway. In the first eight years, operations at the $70 billion facility were disrupted XNUMX times...

 


INES Category ?May 2008 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Cruas, FRA

Wikipedia de

Cruas nuclear power plant

This block was in the revision standstill with the reactor open. Suddenly it was noticed that two valves of the residual heat removal were only partially open for a full four days, which significantly impeded the post-decay heat removal. Writes from an automatic alarm ASN nothing, it is therefore conceivable that the whole thing was only noticed after these four days by steam phenomena in the reactor flood basin (note: NPPs have to cool the fuel even after the reactor has cooled down and opened for the first time, since the fission products continue to with degressive intensity, decay).
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Cruas (France)
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


INES Category ?April 2008 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Flamanville, FRA

Wikipedia de

Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant

In block 2 of the Akw Flamanville was acc. to Nuclear Regulatory Authority ASN "Severe corrosion" found in the engine cooling lines of both emergency diesel generators. The safety reserves for an emergency power case were therefore small ...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Flamanville (France)
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

  


INES Category 0 "Reportable Event"February 4, 2008 (INES 0) NPP Krümmel, GER

Wikipedia de

nuclear power plant_crumbs

On February 4, 2008, a smoldering fire occurred in a ventilation system. The fire was extinguished by the plant fire department within an hour; no external help was necessary. The nuclear regulatory authority sent an expert and said that no radioactivity was released at any time. This incident (INES 0) was used by numerous environmental and climate protection organizations to question the safety of the Krümmel nuclear power plant and nuclear energy...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Crumbs_(Schleswig-Holstein)

Boiling water reactor • Output: 1.402 MW • Type: BWR-69 • Manufacturer: KWU • Construction began April 5, 1974 • Commissioning: September 14, 1983 • Shutdown: August 6, 2011 • Start and end of dismantling: open
 

Der Spiegel 

The breakdown series of the nuclear power plant operator Vattenfall

Trouble at the nuclear power plant operator Vattenfall: New details of the incidents in Brunsbüttel and Krümmel as well as new disruptions become known almost every day. The group is reprimanded for its information policy and security culture. Now there is a risk of the operator's license being revoked...

 


INES Category ?February 2008 (INES ? Class.?Nuclear factory La Hague, FRA

Wikipedia de

La Hague reprocessing plant

The highly active substances treated in this reprocessing plant constantly release explosive hydrogen, which threatens the tightness of the building when it reacts with oxygen. To avoid an explosion, the air in the building is freed from hydrogen by continuous circulation. For 3,5 hours, this circulation only worked in normal operation, both reserve air strands were not operational due to defects or maintenance work...

Greenpeace, under the supervision of a chartered technical surveyor, found ... 400 cubic meters of radioactive waste water are flushed daily through a four and a half kilometer pipe into the Alderney Strait via Herqueville. This operation is legal, since only the dumping of barrels with nuclear waste in the sea is prohibited, but direct discharge is not ...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

La Hague (France)

World's largest reprocessing plant

There have been a number of incidents in La Hague since it went into operation.

A study published by the European Parliament in 2001 lists events from 1989 to 2011 that were reported by the operator. Eight accidents were described in more detail ...

See in the EU study from 2001 on the Pages 112 and 113

There are comparable nuclear factories all over the world:

Uranium enrichment and reprocessing - facilities and sites

During reprocessing, the inventory of spent fuel elements can be separated from one another in a complex chemical process (PUREX). Separated uranium and plutonium can then be reused. As far as the theory...
 

Youtube - 07:00

Uranium economy: Facilities for processing uranium

Reprocessing plants turn a few tons of nuclear waste into many tons of nuclear waste

All uranium and plutonium factories produce radioactive nuclear waste: uranium processing, enrichment and reprocessing plants, whether in Hanford, La Hague, Sellafield, Mayak, Tokaimura or anywhere in the world, all have the same problem: With every processing step More and more extremely toxic and highly radioactive waste is being produced ...
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


INES Category ?February 2008 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Paluel, FRA

Wikipedia de

Paluel Nuclear Power Plant

Incorrect dispositions of insulation fittings were found in one of the four blocks in February, which had existed for more than five months. "This questioned the tightness of the containment," writes the ASN, "during the period in question, had an accident happened". A core melt could have resulted in releases.
 

Wikipedia en

Nuclear power accidents by country#France

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) 
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Paluel (France)

The Paluel site is located in the Seine-Maritime department in northern France on the English Channel, northeast of Le Havre and northwest of Rouen.

In Paluel, four pressurized water reactors with an output of 1.382 MW each generate electricity, which went into operation between 1984 and 1986...
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

  


2007


 

INES Category ?December 2007 (INES ? Class.?) Vandellos, ESP

Wikipedia de

Nuclear Power Plant Vandellòs

After the eight Spanish NPP units had recorded 14 INES incidents in just three consecutive months, another incident occurred in Vandellos in December. During a test with the reactor running, some shutdown rods unexpectedly collapsed into the core. According to the supervisory authority CSN, this led to a pressure drop in the reactor circuit, and thus to the triggering of the emergency cooling. The pressure build-up that followed led to the activation of the reactor safety valves and the leakage of slightly contaminated cooling water into the containment sump. An internal emergency pre-alarm was triggered.
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Vandellos (Spain)
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


28 November 2007INES Category 2 "Incident" (INES 2) NPP Asco, ESP

Wikipedia de

Ascó Nuclear Power Plant

incidents

In an incident on November 28, 2007, radioactive particles totaling 84,95 million Becquerel were released into the environment. However, the operating company did not inform the supervisory authorities (“Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear”, CSN) until April 4, 2008, and only partially. On April 15, 2008, the incident was classified as Level 2 by the INES...
 

Wikipedia en

Asco Nuclear Power Plant

In November 2007, an INES level 1 incident occurred in reactor unit 2. The Spanish Council for Nuclear Safety (CSN) was not informed of the leak until April 4, 2008. Although the leak occurred in November, the particles were not discovered outdoors until March 2008.

CSN announced that it would change the classification of the leak from level 1 to level 2 because "the control of the radioactive material was inadequate and incomplete and inadequate information was provided to the control authority." An investigation was launched and the director of the plant was fired...

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Ascó (Spain)

In October 2021, the Spanish government approved an extension of the operating license for Ascó-1 and -2 until 2030 and 2031, respectively.

Escape of radioactive water

In November 2007, the conditions at the nuclear power plant seemed to be appalling. Radioactive particles were released through the ventilation system and also reached houses and the Ebro River. The operators only admitted the leak months later, after environmental protection organizations had obtained the relevant information. Dozens of school classes had visited the nuclear power plant in the meantime. Proceedings were opened against those responsible. In April 2011, 25.000 liters of radioactive water leaked out of the cooling circuit, and 14 workers had to be decontaminated.

[...] Because of the 2007 incident, the operators had to pay a fine of 15,4 million euros. In 2011, it was discovered that 233 containers of radioactive waste had been lost from the Ascó nuclear power plant. An investigation and sanction proceedings were initiated against the operators. In 2017, the operators were sentenced to a fine of 1,1 million euros.

 


August 21, 2007INES Category 2 "Incident" (INES 2) NPP Beznau, CHE

Wikipedia de

Beznau nuclear power plant

On August 21, block 2 was in annual revision. The block-common reserve grid feed-in was switched off for maintenance work. To compensate, the emergency diesel generator of Unit 1, which was running at full load, was switched on when idling. After the reserve network was re-established, it was noticed that this diesel would not have fulfilled its emergency power function due to a fault. According to the HSK authority, there would theoretically still have been a cross-connection to the emergency diesel of the shut down Unit 2, but this diesel was also being maintained...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Beznau (Switzerland)

Greenpeace has published a fact sheet on Beznau with a list of incidents. According to this, for example, in 1992 two workers died who were in an unpumped room with argon. In 1997 there was a total failure of a cooling system for two weeks. According to the Swiss supervisory authority ENSI (then HSK), however, "one of three emergency cooling lines was not immediately ready for use for two weeks." In August 2009, two workers were badly exposed to radiation due to uncoordinated work. Incidents and emergency shutdowns have increased since 2007.

The August 2009 incident was assessed as an INES level 2 incident. Because of the incident, ENSI only certified that the Beznau nuclear power plant had sufficient operational safety in 2010 and initiated criminal proceedings...

 


July 22, 2007INES Category ? (INES ? Class.?) NPP Unterweser, GER

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Unterweser (Niedersachsen)

On July 22, 2007, it was discovered that a fitting in one leg of the refrigeration system was improperly adjusted. In the event of an accident, the line would not have been able to provide the required cooling capacity.
 

Wikipedia de

NPP Unterweser

... The cause was an incorrect adjustment of the electronic position indicator on the valve during the inspection in 2006. This was not noticed until the inspection in 2007.
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

   


June 28, 2007 (INES 0 Class.?) NPP INES Category 0 "Reportable Event" Brunsbuettel, Germany

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Brunsbuettel_(Schleswig-Holstein)

On June 28, 2007, the nuclear power plant was shut down automatically due to a power grid failure that caused a smoldering fire at the turbine. Because of this breakdown and faulty dowels and anchorages, the reactor was provisionally shut down in the same month and finally shut down on August 6, 2011 because of the federal government's nuclear phase-out decision ...
 

Wikipedia de

Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant#2007

During maintenance work in an E.ON power grid switchgear on June 28, 2007, a short circuit in the 380 kilovolt transmission network caused a fault in the immediate vicinity of the Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant. The plant was then automatically disconnected from the power grid and very quickly shut down to the output of around 30 MW required for the plant's own needs by means of "load shedding". In order to avoid damage during the sharp reduction in output, a turbine emergency shutdown was triggered and, as a result, the plant's own needs were switched to the external network transformer. The turbine emergency shutdown was immediately followed by a reactor emergency shutdown. When the plant was restarted on July 1, the reactor water purification system was shut off twice. According to the operator, these were both due to incorrect operation by the staff. The barriers were classified in category “N” (Normal) according to the AtSMV and in level 0 (with no or little safety significance) according to the international accident assessment scale INES...
 

MSGF - Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, Family, Youth and Senior Citizens of the State of Schleswig-Holstein

Interim report on the events at the Brunsbüttel and Krümmel nuclear power plants on June 28, 2007
 

Spiegel dated July 12, 2007

The breakdown series of the nuclear power plant operator Vattenfall

dated July 17, 2007

Vattenfall's dark secret

 


INES Category 0 "Reportable Event"June 28, 2007 (INES 0 Class.?) NPP Krümmel, GER

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Krümmel

With the accident that occurred on June 28, 2007, the "safety culture" of the operators Vattenfall and E.ON reached a new low. A fire broke out in a transformer plant, which enveloped the nuclear power plant in large black clouds. The operator and the Ministry of the Environment said in unison that there was no danger. However, Vattenfall's claim that there was no connection between the fire and the nuclear area of ​​the reactor was described as misleading and disinformation by the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Social Affairs, which is responsible for nuclear supervision.

The incident, which initially looked like a harmless industrial accident, increasingly gave the impression of a "near-disaster" that kept the public busy for weeks...
 

Wikipedia de

Krümmel Nuclear Power Plant#28 June 2007

On June 28, 2007, a short circuit in one of the two power transformers led to an oil fire, which resulted in an unplanned reactor shutdown (RESA) and an unplanned failure of the main feed pumps. These two system errors led to a classification as reportable (INES 0). The emergency cooling systems functioned as designed, but further weaknesses in the organization and technology became apparent over time (misunderstanding in the control room, ingress of smoke, failure of an archiving system). The event was reported extensively in the media; the operator's information policy was sometimes heavily criticized...
 

MSGF - Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, Family, Youth and Senior Citizens of the State of Schleswig-Holstein

Interim report on the events at the Brunsbüttel and Krümmel nuclear power plants on June 28, 2007
 

Spiegel dated July 12, 2007

The breakdown series of the nuclear power plant operator Vattenfall

dated July 17, 2007

Vattenfall's dark secret

 


INES Category ?June 2007 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Cattenom, FRA

Wikipedia de

Cattenom nuclear power plant

The plant on the border with Saarland released zinc into the Moselle in June in a concentration that was above the permitted limit. The annual limit has not been exceeded, writes EDF; it remains unclear whether it was normal zinc (heavy metal) or the radioactive isotope.
 

Wikipedia en

Nuclear power accidents by country#France

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Cattenom (France)
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

  


INES category 1 "disorder"May 7, 2007 (INES 1) NPP Philippsburg, GER

After an inspection, the safety container was not properly closed "because of an inaccurate limit switch"..
(Costs ?)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia de

list of events

On May 7, 2007, the security container was not closed properly after an inspection “due to a limit switch that was not switched precisely”. A valve was open on both sides of the passenger lock (Category E and INES 1).
 

Philippsburg nuclear power plant#Further incidents

The closing of two small valves on the personnel lock of the containment vessel was forgotten during start-up and nitrogen escaped during inerting...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Philippsburg (Baden-Wuerttemberg)

Employees at the Philippsburg nuclear power plant made serious allegations against the operator EnBW. Especially since the shutdown of Philippsburg I, "safety measures have been sloppy, nuclear regulators have been deceived, incidents have been kept quiet. The company is playing it down, but the Environment Ministry in Stuttgart is alarmed."

 


INES Category ?2007 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Leibstadt, CHE

Wikipedia de

nuclear power plant_Leibstadt

When the automatic pressure relief system (DAS) was accidentally triggered during a test in normal operation, some of the pressure relief valves in the reactor system opened. The water had to be replenished with the emergency cooling (sources: IAEO, HSK)
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Leibstadt_(Switzerland)
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


INES Category ?2007 April (INES ? Class.?) NPP Penly 2, Ms

Wikipedia de

Penly Nuclear Power Station

When the block was restarted after the overhaul in April, after two days of testing, it was noticed that all emergency cooling pumps would have been unavailable during the two days if required (source: ASN)
 

Wikipedia en

Nuclear power accidents by country#France

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Penly (France)
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


2007 (INES 1 Class.?) NPP Dampierre, FRAINES category 1 "disorder"

Wikipedia de

Dampierre nuclear power plant

Failure of the external network including the reserve network as well as an emergency diesel generator with 100% supply capacity. The factory is about 80 km from Paris. The reactor was cooled down with the only remaining diesel (100%). Nevertheless, the French regulatory authority ASN only classified the incident with INES 1. Reason: The redundancy reserves of the self-steam-driven auxiliary turbine (ready for immediate use) and the gas turbine (whose synchronization could take hours) were still available (sources: ASN, IRSN)

Nuclear power accidents by country#France

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AtomkraftwerkePlag

Dampierre (France)

 


2006


 

The mushroom cloud stands for atomic or hydrogen bombs, also in the context of testsOctober 9, 2006 (North Korea's 1nd nuclear bomb test) in Punggye-ri, PRKNuclear weapons proving ground

Since 1945, there have been over 2050 nuclear weapons tests worldwide...

Wikipedia de

North Korean nuclear weapons program

Underground, 0,55 kilotons (kT) - According to North Korean information, the test was successfully carried out on October 9, 2006. Numerous governments around the world sharply criticized the bomb test; even China, allied with North Korea, faced consequences ...

Punggye-ri (Proving Grounds)
 

List of nuclear weapons tests

Chronological, incomplete list of nuclear weapons tests. The table contains only significant points in the history of the detonation of an atomic bomb for test purposes...
 

Atomwaffen A - Z

North Korea

“De facto” nuclear weapons state | “De Facto” Nuclear Weapon State

North Korea signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1985 after US intelligence discovered a classified reactor capable of producing plutonium. The North Korean government refused until 1992 to allow full control by the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). During subsequent inspections, the IAEA found that there was a discrepancy between North Korea's reported amount of reprocessed plutonium and its own measurements. The IAEA suspected more plutonium was being reprocessed for a nuclear weapons program, totaling over 20 kilograms - enough for three small warheads. Tensions between the US and North Korea over nuclear weapons led to a crisis in the spring of 1994 that nearly culminated in war...
 

Punggye-ri

Nuclear test site, North Korea

All of North Korea's six previous nuclear tests (2006-2017) were conducted at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site (also known as Hwaderi). The facility is located in the mountains north of Hamgyeong Province in the northeast of the country under Mount Mantap. At the end of April 2018, North Korea decommissioned the nuclear test site and detonated significant parts in front of gathered press on May 24, 2018, following a summit agreement with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to promote peace between the two parts of Korea...

 


July 25, 2006 (INES 2) NPPINES Category 2 "Incident" Forsmark, SWE

A short circuit in an outdoor switchgear of the network near the boiling water reactors caused the emergency shutdown of unit 1 and led to a series of subsequent failures in the plant in a complex scenario. Due to a design error, disconnecting the plant from the grid and switching to house load operation - in which the power plant uses its own electricity to run important ancillary units - did not work as planned.
(Cost approx. US$12 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents 
 

Wikipedia de

Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant

On July 25, 2006, the Forsmark-1 reactor was automatically disconnected from the power supply after a short-circuit in the substation through which the nuclear power plant feeds its electricity to the general grid. This led to a load shedding of the generator and the heat produced in the reactor could no longer be converted into electrical power. The reactor was shut down via a scram. The electricity for the control of the nuclear power plant and the feed pumps, which have to dissipate the decay heat, failed. It had to be provided as a substitute by diesel emergency power generators. However, two of the four generators could not feed into the emergency power grid because they remained electrically connected to the 500 V line, which had failed. In addition, the power supply for some of the measuring devices in the control room failed...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Forsmark (Sweden)

On July 25, 2006, Sweden apparently narrowly escaped a nuclear catastrophe. Reactor 1 at Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant was cut off from power supply due to a short circuit. Only two out of four emergency generators started up. An investigation into the accident revealed that the short circuit had failed computers, speakers, and displays, preventing personnel from seeing the reactor data clearly. "For example, the water level in the reactor dropped significantly as a result of the scrambling, but the exact level remained unclear because of the power outage."

According to the former chief designer of the nuclear power plant, Höglund, you were only 20 minutes away from a meltdown.

The accident was classified as an INES level 2 incident.

 


March 11, 2006INES Category 4 "Accident" (INES 4) IRE Fleurus, BEL

Wikipedia de

Flowers#2006

Radiochemical Industrial Plant - 2006

Due to a hydraulic failure, a cobalt source was lifted out of a radiation-shielding water basin, although no irradiation process was taking place and the door to the room was open. Due to the alarm being triggered, a technician entered the room. During his stay of just 20 seconds, he received a radiation dose of around 4,6 Sievert, which can be life-threatening in the medium term (INES 4)...

List of accidents in nuclear facilities (INES 4 to 7)
 

Wikipedia fr

Institut_national_des_radioéléments#Incidents

On March 11, 2006, a worker working in food irradiation at Sterigenics was severely irradiated by the Cobalt-6020 ionizing radiation source. He entered the room when the source was not secured and received a high, potentially fatal dose of 4,4 to 4,8 Gray. This was a level 4 accident on the INES scale. The IRE had a contract for safety management at the company...
 

Wikipedia en

Nuclear power accidents by country#Belgium

From 2002 to 2011, a total of 5 INES-relevant accidents (3 x INES-2 and 1 x INES-4 and INES-3 each) were registered in Belgium.

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

  


INES Category 2 "Incident"March 6, 2006 (INES 2) Nuclear factory NFS, Erwin, TN, USA

At a Nuclear Fuel Services facility in Erwin, 35 liters of highly enriched uranium spilled, necessitating a seven-month shutdown.
(Cost approx. US$115 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia en

Nuclear_Fuel_Services

Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS)

is an American nuclear company. Along with BWX Technologies, the company is the main supplier of nuclear fuel for the US Navy. In addition, the company deals with the conversion of plutonium and uranium from nuclear weapons into fuel rods for nuclear power plants. Browns Ferry nuclear power station is one of the main customers. In addition, one deals with the decontamination of old nuclear power plants. Headquarters Erwin is a small town in Tennessee, Unicoi County.

On August 20, 2007, it was announced that a criticality accident had almost occurred in Erwin...

Nuclear power accidents by country#United_States

March 6, 2006 Erwin, Tennessee, USA. The NFS facility leaks 35 liters of highly enriched uranium, necessitating a seven-month shutdown.

Nuclear_Fuel_Services#NRC_events

On May 11, 2008, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission released information on emergency reports related to two incidents that occurred in 2006 at the Erwin facility. The first incident was a liquid spill of highly enriched uranium that could have resulted in a criticality incident.

The second incident involved an uncontrolled "point of accumulation" where a critical mass of uranium could have accumulated and was discovered in the course of responding to the first incident. In other words, no protection systems were in place to prevent solution leakage from occurring at the bottom of an elevator shaft in the facility. The result of material accumulation in a confined space could be a criticality incident.

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INES Category 2 "Incident"March 1, 2006 (INES 2) NPP Kozloduy, BGR

During the power reduction in the Russian-design pressurized water reactor (VVER), the operators discovered that 22 of 61 control rods could not be moved with the drive mechanisms. The operator had initially classified the incident as INES level 0, but Bulgarian security authorities eventually approved the incident as INES 2.
(Costs ?)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia de

Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant#Incidents

On March 1, 2006, one of four main coolant pumps failed in unit 5, which is why the performance should be reduced by 6% by retracting a group of 30 control rods. Of these, however, 3 got stuck in the top position, whereupon the reactor was shut down by injecting boric acid into the cooling circuit. An emergency shutdown was then simulated by retracting the remaining nine groups with a total of 54 control rods in order to check their function. It was found that a further 19 control rods failed in the same way (i.e. a total of 22 out of 60). The cause of the fault was a change in the design of the control rods by the manufacturer Gidropress. In the event of a simultaneous loss of coolant (e.g. due to the rupture of the supply line), its failure could have led to overheating and melting of the reactor core. The operator had originally classified the incident as Level 0 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, but the regulator classified it as Level 2. The incident only became known two months later...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Kozloduy_(Bulgaria)

... Of the original six reactors, units 5 and 6 with an output of 1.000 and 1.040 MW, which were put into operation in 1987 and 1991, are still online. Reactors 1 and 2 were decommissioned in 2002, reactors 3 and 4 in 2006.

[...] During an IAEA ASSET mission in 1993, a total of 93 events were investigated that had occurred between December 1990 and May 1993, of which 73 were considered to be safety-relevant. In 1994, 425 events were listed, 177 of which were safety-relevant (one event was classified as INES level 2) ...

  


2005


 

INES Category ?  Aug 4, 2005 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Indian Point, USA

 The Indian Point nuclear power plant on the Hudson River released unknown amounts of tritium between 1974 and 2016, Strontium, Caesium, cobalt and nickel free.
(Cost approx. US$34,2 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Indian Point (USA)#Incidents

... On September 1, 2005, the operator announced that radioactive liquid had leaked out of the spent fuel pool at Indian Point 2. According to the NRC investigation, the liquid contained tritium, strontium-90, cobalt-60, cesium-137 and nickel-63. The leak could not be permanently repaired until November 2008 ...
 

The releases of radioactivity before 2007 are included in this Wikipedia-Article no longer mentioned.

Wikipedia de

Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant

The decommissioned Indian Point nuclear power plant consists of three pressurized water reactors and is located in Buchanan (New York) on the Hudson River, which is important for New York's drinking water supply, 55 kilometers north of the center of New York City. 80 percent of the US population, almost 6 million people, live within a radius of 20 kilometers. The nuclear power plant is located in a relatively seismically active area.

Reactor unit 1 was in operation from 1962 to 1974. It was shut down in 1974 because the emergency cooling system could no longer be approved, and the last fuel rods were removed in 1976. Units 2 and 3, built by Westinghouse, were in commercial operation from 1974 and 1976 respectively. Following an agreement reached in early 2017, reactor 2 was shut down on April 30, 2020, and reactor 3 followed on April 30, 2021...
 

incidents

... There is said to be a leak in the cooling pond through which radioactivity is escaping into the groundwater. On February 6, 2016, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of the US state of New York, announced that "alarmingly high" radiation levels had been detected at the nuclear power plant; apparently tritium-contaminated water had leaked out of the power plant. Up to 296 Bq per liter were measured in the groundwater of neighboring towns; the limit is 0,45 Bq.
 

Wikipedia en

Indian Point Energy Center#Incidents

... In 2005, Entergy workers discovered a small leak in a spent fuel pool during excavation work. Water containing tritium and strontium-90 leaked through a crack in the pool building and entered the nearby Hudson River. Despite the leak, workers managed to safely cover the spent fuel. On March 22, 2006, the New York Times reported that radioactive nickel-63 and strontium had been found in groundwater at the site. ...
 

Nuclear power accidents by country#United_States

Entergy's Indian Point Energy Center nuclear power plant leaked tritium and strontium into underground lakes from 1974 to 2005.

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

  


INES Category ? June 29, 2005 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Forsmark, SWE

Radioactive water leaked into the Baltic Sea from an interim storage facility.
(Cost approx. US$12 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia de

List of incidents at European nuclear facilities#29 June 2005

Forsmark, June 29, 2005

On June 29, 2005, radioactive water leaked into the Baltic Sea from the interim storage facility for low and medium-level radioactive waste at the Swedish nuclear power plant Forsmark. Ten times the normal level of radioactive caesium was measured in the waters near the power plant. However, according to the Swedish Radiation Protection Institute SSI, this is still within the permissible limits. The leak was probably caused by corroded metal containers containing radioactive waste.
 

The release of radioactivity on 29 June 2005 is discussed in this Wikipedia-Article not mentioned.

Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant

The first nuclear fuel was delivered to Forsmark in 1977, but commercial operation was delayed until 1980. The reason for this was the accident in Harrisburg and the waiting for the results of a referendum in which Sweden's people voted on the future of nuclear energy...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Forsmark

According to a Greenpeace statement from 2012, the Swedish nuclear power plants in Forsmark, Oskarshamn and Ringhals pose a great danger to the population in Sweden and its neighboring countries due to "technical defects and a poor culture of safety control" ...
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


INES Category ?June 16, 2005 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Braidwood, USA

Millions of liters of tritium-contaminated water were released from the nuclear power plant from spring 1996 to March 2006, contaminating the local water supply.
(Cost approx. US$48 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Braidwood

In the hot summers of 2000 and 2012, the operator had to obtain special permits to operate the nuclear power plant at higher cooling temperatures than originally planned.

Braidwood is a nuclear power plant that was threatened with closure. However, on September 16, 2021, the governor of Illinois signed an energy law that would provide a $694 million cash injection for the endangered Braidwood, Byron, and Dresden nuclear power plants.

incidents

In 2006, Excelon was charged with dumping millions of gallons of tritum-contaminated wastewater into groundwater from spring 1996 to March 2006, a charge the operator did not report until December 2005.

For example, on June 16, 2005, tritium leaked from the nuclear power plant and contaminated the local water supply; the damage caused a cost of US$48 million. 

In June 2011, US media reported that tritium leaks had been detected at 48 out of 65 nuclear power plant sites in the US. According to a July 2014 list, Braidwood was also affected...
 

Slowly but surely, all the relevant info on disruptions in the nuclear industry is coming out Wikipedia away!

Wikipedia de

Braidwood

In March 2006, multiple lawsuits were filed against Exelon and Commonwealth Edison for tritium releases into local water systems between 1996 and 2003...
 

Wikipedia en

Nuclear power accidents by country#United_States

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


INES Category 3 "Serious Incident"April 19, 2005 (INES 3) Thorp, Seascale, Nuclear factory Windscale/Sellafield, GBR

20 tons of uranium and 160 kilograms of plutonium leaked over the course of a year from a burst pipe at the thermal oxide reprocessing plant (Thorp) at Sellafield.
(Cost approx. US$76 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

The nuclear chain

Sellafield/Windscale, UK

The largest civilian and military nuclear facility in Europe is in Sellafield. While in the past plutonium was produced here for the British nuclear weapons program, the site now serves as a nuclear waste reprocessing plant. The Great Fire of 1957 and numerous radioactive leaks contaminated the environment and exposed the population to increased levels of radiation... 
 

This incident is the only accident in Sellafield after Windscale 1957 that can still be found in Wikipedia de

Wikipedia de

Sellafield# Incidents

In April 2005, a leak was discovered in Sellafield, through which around 83.000 liters of radioactive liquid, consisting of nitric acid, uranium and plutonium, escaped unnoticed for months. It is the most serious incident at a nuclear facility in Great Britain since 1992. The public was only informed weeks later, the first press reports appeared on May 9, 2005. The "Independent on Sunday" later reported that the pipe had been leaking since August 2004, but this was not discovered until April 19, 2005.

The British nuclear company BNG (British Nuclear Group), which is responsible for the decommissioning of the Sellafield reactors, was fined on 16 October 2006 for negligence to pay £500.000 (around 750.000 euros) for the incident. The cost of this event is estimated at $76 million.

Since the late 1940's and Windscale/Sellafield's inception, approximately 20 incidents of greater or lesser severity involving the release of radioactivity have been reported. Up until the mid-1980s, large quantities of the nuclear waste generated in day-to-day operations were discharged in liquid form via a pipeline into the Irish Sea.
 

Wikipedia en

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellafield

Nuclear power accidents by country#United_Kingdom

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Sellafield (formerly_Windscale), United Kingdom

On April 19, 2005, a leak from a damaged pipe was discovered at the THORP facility, from which 83.000 liters of radioactive acid had spilled. The British nuclear company British Nuclear Group (BNC) admitted that it had not complied with safety regulations and was ordered to pay 500.000 British pounds. The incident has been classified by the IAEA as a serious INES level 3 incident...

There are comparable nuclear factories all over the world:

Uranium enrichment and reprocessing - facilities and sites

During reprocessing, the inventory of spent fuel elements can be separated from one another in a complex chemical process (PUREX). Separated uranium and plutonium can then be reused. As far as the theory...
 

Youtube - 07:00

Uranium economy: Facilities for processing uranium

Reprocessing plants turn a few tons of nuclear waste into many tons of nuclear waste

All uranium and plutonium factories produce radioactive nuclear waste: uranium processing, enrichment and reprocessing plants, whether in Hanford, La Hague, Sellafield, Mayak, Tokaimura or anywhere in the world, all have the same problem: With every processing step More and more extremely toxic and highly radioactive waste is being produced ...

 


INES Category ?March 28, 2005 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Leibstadt, CHE

Wikipedia de

nuclear power plant_Leibstadt

On March 28, 2005, the Leibstadt NPP came to a standstill for five months. The reason for this was damage to the generator; the repair work on the generator was not the responsibility of the HSK (nuclear supervisory authority), as the nuclear part of the nuclear power plant was not affected.
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Leibstadt_(Switzerland)
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


2005 (INES 2INES Category 2 "Incident"

All nuclear power plants in France

The ASN supervisory authority announced that - in the event of a leak in the reactor circuit - if the line suction strainers of the emergency cooling in the containment sump (with waste such as insulating material or rags) clogged, "the coolability of the core is not guaranteed". INES classification: 2. Improvement measures have been announced. The cleanliness is the smaller problem; the aforementioned insulating material only comes off due to a leak that has occurred, due to the pressure forces of the exiting water jet.
 

Wikipedia fr

Nuclear power accidents by country#France

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2004


 

INES Category 2 "Incident"2004 (INES 2) NPP Vandellos, ESP

Wikipedia de

Nuclear Power Plant_Vandellòs

The supervisory authority CSN determined that the operator of this plant had concealed from it a line corrosion for years, which could have called the functionality of the component cooling into question. If the two lines had failed at about the same time (and not just one, as happened), the reactor would hardly have been able to be cooled down ...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Vandellòs_(Spain)

 


November 4, 2004 (INES ? Class.?)INES Category ? NPP Balakovo, RUS

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Balakovo_(Russia)

On the night of November 3rd to 4th, 2004, an accident occurred due to a turbine malfunction, which caused the Balakovo-2 reactor to be automatically shut down. The reactor is said to have suffered no damage. However, conflicting reports caused great concern among the population: "Hundreds of residents fled that day out of fear of radioactive contamination of the surrounding area. Shop owners closed their shops, and pharmacies were out of iodine products to prevent health damage caused by radioactive radiation." The reactor was restarted a few days later...
 

Wikipedia de

Nuclear Power Plant_Balakovo

On November 4, 2004, an accident occurred at the nuclear power plant, which caused great concern among the population in the town and the surrounding area, and some even panicked. Eyewitnesses and news agencies reported that numerous frightened residents stocked up on iodine-based radiation antidotes in pharmacies. Universities in Samara, 300 kilometers to the northeast, were closed. Shops in the city advised their employees to stay at home. The environmental organization Greenpeace in Russia feared a leak. The incident brought back memories of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986 in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union).

Ultimately, according to the operator Energoatom, the incident at the power plant was only a minor malfunction. There were no increased radioactive emissions and a danger could be ruled out, the Russian nuclear agency said...
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


Aug 9, 2004 (INES 1/4 Class.?)INES category 1 "disorder" NPP Mihama, JPN

A steam explosion in block 3 of the Mihama nuclear power station killed 5 workers and injured 6 others.
(Cost approx. US$11 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Accident resulting in death actually means INES 4, but because no radioactivity was released ...

Wikipedia de

Nuclear Power Plant_Mihama 

incidents

After two minor incidents in Block 2 in 1991 and 2003, a fatal accident occurred on August 9, 2004 at 15:30 p.m. local time, with four employees killed. According to police, the workers were hit by a jet of steam at 270 degrees Celsius. Seven more people were injured. The accident was caused by a leak in the turbine hall...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Mihama_(Japan) 

In August 2004, at Mihama-3, a condensate line in the non-nuclear secondary circuit broke longitudinally and circumferentially. The escaping hot water turned to steam and scalded workers; five died and six others were injured. The cause was corrosion and sloppiness: the wall thickness of the line had thinned from an initial 10 mm to around 1,5 mm, and the line is said not to have been checked since the reactor was commissioned. The vulnerability had been known a year earlier...
 

Wikipedia en

Mihama_Nuclear_Power_Plant#2004_accident

On August 9, 2004, an accident occurred in a building housing the turbines of the Mihama 3 reactor. Five workers died and six others were injured when hot water and steam escaped from a ruptured pipe. The accident, which was provisionally classified as INES level 0, was described as the worst accident (to date) at a Japanese nuclear power plant...
 

Nuclear power accidents by country#Japan

A main pipe burst in the turbine building of the Mihama-3 power plant, killing those present; the subsequent investigation revealed a serious lack of systematic controls at Japanese nuclear power plants, which led to an extensive control program.

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 


July 27, 2004 (INES 1 Class.?)INES category 1 "disorder" NPP Neckarwestheim, BW, DEU

Wikipedia de

Nuclear power plant_Neckarwestheim

At the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant, human error caused an incident in which water from Block II, contaminated with two megabecquerels, got into the Neckar despite countermeasures being taken immediately. For the first time in Germany, the incident led to the operating company of a nuclear power plant (EnBW) having to pay a fine (€25.000). A plant manager was fired because he had made critical comments.
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Neckarwestheim_II_(Baden-Württemberg) 

On July 27, 2004, low-level radioactive water escaped from the nuclear power plant and flowed unnoticed into the Neckar. Since the release of radioactive substances was not reported, administrative offense proceedings were initiated ...

 


8. February 2004INES Category 0 "Reportable Event" (INES 0) NPP Biblis, GER

Wikipedia de

Nuclear Power Plant_Biblis

During full-load operation, a weather-related short circuit occurred outside the power plant due to an unsafe covering of safety-relevant equipment, which led to the power plant block being disconnected from the 220 kV high-voltage grid at 12:48 p.m. As a result of the incident, the block also disconnected from the 380 kV grid due to faulty control mechanisms. This sudden drop in load meant that the plant could no longer stabilize itself on its own. As a result of these events, the reactor was automatically shut down to avoid further safety risks and all four emergency diesel generators that were necessary to maintain reactor safety were started...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Biblis_(Hesse)

...As early as the 1960s, the mayor of Biblis, Josef Seib, had been trying to get the municipality to build the nuclear power plant. The nuclear power plant was welcomed for a long time because it was seen as an economic factor; RWE also donated a sports hall to the municipality for eight million German marks. There was initially little opposition to the Biblis-A and -B reactors. This only changed when it became known in 1973 that RWE was planning two additional blocks C and D and had submitted applications for approval for them in 1975. Years of discussion began about the safety of the plant, in particular about the risks of a reactor accident with a core meltdown as a result of an aircraft crash. "Biblis is initially located in a low-level flight training lane and is often directly overflown by fighter jets." Biblis-C and -D were abandoned because of the protests...

  


2003


 

November 19, 2003 (INES 2 Class.?)INES Category 2 "Incident" Nuclear factory La Hague, FRA

X workers were contaminated with plutonium during cleaning work.
(Costs ?)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

The nuclear chain

The Hague, France

The reprocessing plant in La Hague produces plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear fuel rods. Large quantities of nuclear waste and fissile materials are stored, which greatly increases the risk of plutonium proliferation. In addition, radioactive waste pollutes the sea and the atmosphere. Several studies have already shown an increased incidence of leukemia in children in the La Hague area... 
 

Wikipedia de

La Hague reprocessing plant

The highly active substances treated in this reprocessing plant constantly release explosive hydrogen, which threatens the tightness of the building when it reacts with oxygen. To avoid an explosion, the air in the building is freed from hydrogen by continuous circulation. For 3,5 hours, this circulation only worked in normal operation, both reserve air lines were not operational due to defects or maintenance work. (Source: ASN)

Greenpeace, under the supervision of a chartered engineer, found that a four-mile long pipe was flushing 400 cubic meters of radioactive sewage per day into the Alderney Strait via Herqueville. This operation is legal, since only the dumping of barrels with nuclear waste in the sea is prohibited, but direct discharge is not ...
 

Wikipedia fr

La Hague site
 

Wikipedia en

Nuclear power accidents by country#France

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

La Hague (France)

World's largest reprocessing plant

There have been a number of incidents in La Hague since it went into operation.

A study published by the European Parliament in 2001 lists events from 1989 to 2011 that were reported by the operator. Eight accidents were described in more detail ...

There are comparable nuclear factories all over the world:

Uranium enrichment and reprocessing - facilities and sites

During reprocessing, the inventory of spent fuel elements can be separated from one another in a complex chemical process (PUREX). Separated uranium and plutonium can then be reused. As far as the theory...
 

Youtube - 07:00

Uranium economy: Facilities for processing uranium

Reprocessing plants turn a few tons of nuclear waste into many tons of nuclear waste

All uranium and plutonium factories produce radioactive nuclear waste: uranium processing, enrichment and reprocessing plants, whether in Hanford, La Hague, Sellafield, Mayak, Tokaimura or anywhere in the world, all have the same problem: With every processing step More and more extremely toxic and highly radioactive waste is being produced ...

 


April 10, 2003 (INES 3 NAMS 3,9) NPPINES Category 3 "Serious Incident" Paks, HUN

During cleaning work in Unit 2 of the Nuclear Power Plant, the casing of some fuel rods was damaged. 360 TBq of radioactive gas escaped.
(Cost approx. US$43 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia de

Nuclear Power Plant_Paks

During cleaning work in Block 2 of the Paks nuclear power plant, the cladding of fuel rods was damaged. Radioactive gas escaped, causing a "serious incident" (INES 3). No one was injured in this accident. However, the measuring probes in the area registered noble gas contamination above the limit values...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Paks_(Hungary)

In 2003, a serious INES level 2 accident occurred at reactor 3, in which several fuel elements were damaged during cleaning and radioactive gas leaked out. No one was injured, but the reactor could not be put back into operation until four years later. An IAEA report stated that increased radiation was initially detected in a cleaning basin near the reactor core and the cleaning system was opened. "It turned out that the majority of the 30 fuel elements had overheated and were severely damaged or melted due to a lack of cooling." The damaged fuel elements were transported by rail to Mayak in Russia in August 2014, without the public being informed at the time...

 


INES Category ?March 1, 2003 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Kozloduy, BGR

Wikipedia de

Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant

In full load operation, a primary circuit leak suddenly occurred at a weld seam. The emergency cooling started working. In contrast to the more powerful Units 1 and 4 and all western pressurized water reactors, units 5 to 6, which have now been shut down, were able to shut off individual segments of the primary circuit with valves. A shut-off was made so that the loss of water could be stopped after a relatively short time.
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Kozloduy (Bulgaria)

... Reactors 1 and 2 were decommissioned in 2002, reactors 3 and 4 in 2006.

[...] During an IAEA ASSET mission in 1993, a total of 93 events were investigated that had occurred between December 1990 and May 1993, of which 73 were considered to be safety-relevant. In 1994, 425 events were listed, 177 of which were safety-relevant (one event was classified as INES level 2) ...
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

  


2002


 

22 November 2002INES Category 2 "Incident" (INES 2) NPP Tihange, BEL

 Wikipedia de

Tihange Nuclear Power Plant

On November 22, 2002, an incident occurred in Unit 2 (INES 2). The reactor - which was shut down at the time and no longer critical - was still producing decay heat, which was dissipated by circulating coolant in the primary circuit, as in power operation. During a test, a safety valve on the pressurizer was opened by mistake, causing the pressure in the primary circuit to drop very quickly from 155 bar to 85 bar. The high pressure in the primary circuit during operation means that the water does not boil, even at high temperatures, but remains liquid. If the pressure drops, the boiling point of the water also drops. The decay heat of the fuel elements can then no longer be removed, and there is a risk of a core meltdown. In this specific case, due to the rapid drop in pressure, several safety systems were activated, which pumped water into the primary circuit and thus continued to cool the fuel elements. The pressure relief valve that had been opened by mistake was closed again after three minutes...
 

List of nuclear power plants in Belgium

As of June 2023, 2 reactor units with a total installed net capacity of 5 MW are in operation at 3928 locations in Belgium; 3 units at 3 locations with a total installed net capacity of 2024 MW have already been permanently shut down. The first commercially used reactor unit went into operation in 1962.

In Belgium, a total of 2011 billion kWh (net) were generated in nuclear power plants in 45,9, meaning that nuclear energy accounted for 54 percent of total electricity generation. In 2022, 41,617 billion kWh were generated, meaning that it accounted for 46,4 percent of total electricity generation.

Wikipedia en

Nuclear power accidents by country#Belgium

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Tihange (Belgium)

Due to an accidentally opened valve, there was a pressure drop in the primary circuit in the Tihange nuclear power plant and cooling water evaporated ...

Cracks in the reactor vessel

In February 2015, it was announced that there were not just 3 but 2 cracks in the reactor pressure vessels of the Doel-10.000 and Tihange-16.000 units, which were probably caused by material fatigue. The Belgian nuclear regulator feared a problem for the entire nuclear industry worldwide...

 


March 8, 2002INES Category 3 "Serious Incident" (INES 3) NPP Davis Besse, USA

Severe corrosion of reactor head control rod drives forces 24-month shutdown of Davis-Besse reactor.
(Cost approx. US$167 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia de

Davis Besse Nuclear Power Plant#Incidents

In March 2002, a long-delayed inspection revealed that boric acid had leaked from the reactor near a control rod duct on the reactor pressure vessel cover. The boric acid is used to control the reactor and is added to the coolant. However, the acid reacts very aggressively to heavy metals. As a result, there was severe corrosion on the reactor lid, so that only a few millimeters thin layer of the inner lid lining remained. Experts at Oak Ridge National Laboratory then calculated that in the worst case, it would have taken another five months for a large leak to form in the reactor head...
 

Wikipedia en

Nuclear reactor accidents in the United States

Severe boric acid corrosion on the reactor head forces the Davis-Besse reactor to be shut down for 24 months.

Translation with https://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Davis Besse (USA)#Corrosion on the reactor pressure vessel (serious accident)

A serious level 1 incident occurred at Davis-Besse-2002 in 3, which exemplifies the interplay of material weaknesses, poor safety culture and carelessly implemented controls. A serious nuclear accident only happened because of a coincidence ...

 


21 January 2002INES Category 2 "Incident" (INES 2) NPP Flamanville, FRA

Control systems and safety valves failed after improper installation of condensers, forcing a two-month shutdown.
(Cost approx. US$119 million)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

Wikipedia de

Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant

On January 21, 2002, incorrect installation of capacitors caused errors in the control system and safety valves. The cost of the incident is estimated at $119 million...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant - Block 2

On January 21, 2001 (?) a process control system failed in Flamanville-2 due to an error during maintenance work. A chain of irregularities and damage to various systems followed ...

 


2001


 

INES Category ?December 14, 2001 (INES ? Class.?) NPP Brunsbuettel, Germany

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Brunsbüttel (Schleswig-Holstein)

On December 14, 2001, another hydrogen explosion occurred, destroying a cooling line and endangering reactor pressure and containment vessels. Since the operator only reported the incident three days later, "the Federal Environment Ministry expressed doubts about the reliability of the operator" - a threat to withdraw the operating license." The safety team refused to shut down the reactor for an inspection and downplayed the damage for two months. Vattenfall stuck to its cover-up tactics and, in order to reassure the population, set up a "commission of experts" made up of nuclear power supporters. The Schleswig-Holstein nuclear regulator created a detailed list with several hundred defects, but it was not allowed to be published due to legal resistance from Vattenfall. The report was also not handed over to German Environmental Aid.

The nuclear-critical doctors' organization IPPNW accused Vattenfall of not responding adequately with retrofitting and safety measures to the hydrogen explosions in the Brunsbüttel and Krümmel nuclear power plants (Schleswig-Holstein), and of the Schleswig-Holstein state government of lying to parliament. The company and the state government rejected the allegations.
 

Wikipedia de

Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant

Serious incident at the Brunsbüttel NPP. As it became known only a few months later, a hydrogen explosion had occurred in the immediate vicinity of the reactor pressure vessel. The supply line for cooling the reactor cover with a diameter of 100 mm was torn over a length of 2 to 3 meters. There was a risk that splinters could damage the containment by passing the splinterguard. The operator HEW tried to cover up the incident as far as possible. For example, it was only reported to the responsible ministry as "spontaneous seal leakage". Only after two months did the supervisory authorities manage to inspect the “leak” while the reactor was shut down, and the extent of the incident was discovered, despite a violent dispute with the operator. If the reactor had been shut down according to regulations immediately after the explosion, the operator would have had to buy additional electricity for several million euros at the beginning of winter.
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


INES Category ?November 16, 2001 (INES ? Class.?) High Flux Reactor, Petten, NLD

Wikipedia de

Institute of Energy

As part of the EURATOM treaty, the Netherlands and the then EURATOM Commission signed the treaty establishing the European research center in 1961, which was opened in Petten in 1962. It took over the high-flux reactor for materials research that had gone into operation the previous year and is now used primarily for the production of medical isotopes...

According to the report of the former IE director Frans Saris, on November 16, 2001 there was an officially concealed incident (Station Blackout = total power failure) at the High Flux Reactor, in which one was only just about to meltdown. Due to a failure of the external power supply, the pumps that are used to cool the reactor were suddenly without power. After that, the emergency power supply also failed, and due to the inadequate power supply, the operators had great difficulty opening a valve that is used for passive emergency cooling ...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Netherlands

In 1955 the construction of the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in Petten was started, with which one wanted to gain experience with atomic energy ...

In December 2021, the new government announced that it would build two new nuclear power plants and provide five billion euros for them. In addition, the term of the Borssele nuclear power plant is to be extended. The reasons given were climate change and an increase in the security of supply with energy ...
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


INES Category 2 "Incident"August 12, 2001 (INES 2 Class.?) NPP Philippsburg, GER

A deviation from the prescribed boron concentration was reported to the authorities. In addition, the liquid level had not reached the value stipulated in the start-up operating instructions and was only implemented with a delay. Subsequent investigations revealed that significant deviations from the commissioning requirements and violations of the relevant instructions have probably been common for several years.
(Costs ?)

Nuclear Power Accidents
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Philippsburg (Baden-Wuerttemberg)

Philippsburg II was started up in August 2001 with a defective emergency cooling system. Although the defect was discovered two weeks later, the reactor remained in operation illegally. It was later discovered that the emergency cooling system had not been sufficiently filled for years. It should be added that the operator had not reported this incident in 2001 to the supervisory authority. In November 2001, the Stuttgart Ministry of the Environment reported that contaminated water had leaked out of Philippsburg I due to a defect in a valve for operational drainage...
 

Wikipedia de

Philippsburg nuclear power plant

At the Philippsburg nuclear power plant, the operating team failed to see that the emergency cooling system did not meet the requirements of the operating manual when block 2 was started up. The emergency cooling system was sufficient to cool the cold and uncritical reactor. After restarting the reactor, the emergency cooling system was upgraded to the extent required by the limit values. However, the incident mentioned below occurred. The coolant, which is buffered in the flood tanks (emergency cooling system) of the nuclear power plant, fell below the permissible boron concentration. Three of the four existing containers were affected. As a result of these events, the power plant manager and two board members of the operator EnBW lost their jobs.

 


2000


 

Wrecked submarine with nuclear reactor and/or nuclear weapons on board August 12, 2000, (Broken Arrow) Submarine K-141 Kursk, Russia

 

Der Spiegel

DISASTERS

A big bluff

The nuclear submarine "Kursk" that sank off Murmansk is back home. Documents that surfaced in Moscow suggest that Russia's fleet accidentally sank the high-tech ship itself.
 

The bow, and with it the entire torpedo section, was left on the seabed during the salvage. The Russian propaganda was repeated in the following articles of the German Wikipedia adopted almost unchanged...

Wikipedia de 

List of U-boat accidents since 1945

Nuclear submarine. Sank after one of its own torpedoes exploded on board. Mostly raised and scrapped in 2001. The entire crew perished.
 

Kursk (submarine)

The Kursk, K-141, was a Russian nuclear submarine of Project 1990A (NATO code Oscar II class) built in 1991/949 and equipped with cruise missiles.

When it sank in the Barents Sea in 2000 as a result of an explosion presumably caused by a technical defect, the Russian military initially claimed that the Kursk had been rammed by a US submarine. The Russian Navy did not have a special rescue submarine that had rescue locks or robotic arms compatible with the Kursk, but only diving capsules. The hesitant Russian information policy, the initially unsuccessful rescue attempts by the poorly equipped Russian Navy to open the exit hatch with the help of Norwegian divers, and the skepticism of Russian naval officers as to whether it was still possible to open the allegedly damaged exit hatch, led to a serious delay and to the very late acceptance of foreign offers of help.

After time-consuming failed attempts, Norwegian divers, now operating from their own dive platform, managed to open the inner hatch three days after their arrival and more than a week after the explosion. They had to realize that there could be no survivors because all sections were already flooded. However, Norwegian officer Erland Raanes testified that, contrary to claims by Russian naval officers, no damage was found to the exit hatch. The Russian government then asked the Norwegian government to carry out the recovery of the bodies.

It later emerged that around 23 crew members had survived and managed to escape to the rearmost section, where the emergency exit hatches were. A fallen CO2 filter that came into contact with water or oil caused a chemical reaction that led to a fire. This consumed the remaining oxygen in the air and the men suffocated.

[...]

Salvage

After the use of diving robots, divers began in July 2001 to mark the places on the wreck where holes were to be drilled for the ropes to lift the wreck. The ship was raised by the Dutch companies Mammoet and Smit Internationale on October 8, 2001. Previously, the bow with the torpedo section had been separated from the rest of the ship underwater. The wire saw used for this purpose was manufactured by a Krefeld company. This wire saw consisted of sleeves coated with JG-DUR hard metal. With the help of the Giant-4 pontoon, the deep-sea tug Singapore towed the Kursk to the port of Roslyakovo (♁69° 4′ N, 33° 12′ E). There it was brought to the floating dock PD-50 and scrapped. The Kursk is the only one of the five sunken Soviet-built nuclear submarines that was raised. Likewise, K-8 (1970, located at a depth of 4500 m), K-219 (1986, 5500m), Komsomolets (1989, 1850 m) and K-159 (2003, 240m).

 


July 5, 2000INES Category ? (INES ? Class.?) NPP Grafenrheinfeld, DEU

Wikipedia de

Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant

On July 5, 2000, there was a fire at the nuclear power plant, which damaged the motor of a main coolant pump in the immediate vicinity of the reactor pressure vessel...
 

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Grafenrheinfeld (Bavaria)

In the summer of 1973, Bayernwerk AG submitted an application to build and operate the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant, which was followed by partial approval from the Bavarian state government in the summer of 1974. Despite bitter resistance from the population and a collection of signatures, construction work began in 1974/75 and the nuclear power plant was put into operation on December 9, 1981...
 

SPIEGEL report on hidden nuclear power plant incidents around the world

»A cold shiver runs down my spine«

Humanity has slipped past the catastrophe several times by a hair's breadth. This is revealed by 48 accident reports that were kept secret by the Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency: breakdowns, often of the most bizarre, profane kind from the United States and Argentina to Bulgaria and Pakistan ...

 


June 26, 2000 (INES 1 Class.?)INES category 1 "disorder" NPP Grafenrheinfeld, DEU

Wikipedia de

Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant

On June 26, 2000, an INES level 1 incident occurred at the nuclear power plant. During the annual inspection, defects were found in five of eight control valves that had been installed a year earlier. During the production of the bushings, contamination occurred and corrosion occurred on the bushings due to the effects of humidity during a long system shutdown, which affected the smooth movement of the valve spindles. This defect was classified as INES level 1 because several components in similar facilities with the same safety functions were affected...

AtomkraftwerkePlag

Grafenrheinfeld (Bavaria)

On October 28, 2010, because of the susceptibility to faults, resolutions were passed in numerous towns and communities in the vicinity of the nuclear power plant in which an extension of the operating life of the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear power plant was rejected, without success.

Shortly after the Fukushima disaster, the reactor was shut down and underwent maintenance. A crack was discovered in a thermal protection pipe in the cooling system, whereupon the opposition in the Bavarian state parliament accused the government and E.ON of covering up the matter for months.

In view of the breakdown statistics and other incidents, the reactor should not have been temporarily taken off the grid, but rather permanently, as the Schweinfurt city council also demanded in a resolution. In April 2012, as in the Brokdorf nuclear power plant, broken retaining springs on fuel elements were found at the reactor...

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