The THTR Circulars from 2008

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THTR Circular No. 119, January 2008

Leukemia in Hamm too?

Of all things, the THTR accident reactor is not being examined!

Details of the KIKK study, in which the incidence of child cancer in the vicinity of nuclear power plants was examined, were put online by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) in the course of December 10th. Of all things, the thorium high-temperature reactor in Hamm-Uentrop, which not only made a name for itself through a whole series of breakdowns, but whose operators tried to cover up a serious incident at the same time during the Chernobyl disaster in 1986; It is precisely this reactor that is not examined in this study! - It's incredible!

The reason for specifically excluding this reactor from the 17 or so nuclear power plants is flimsy: Research reactors and systems with short operating times were not scrutinized. As if the highest security problems were not to be expected with these systems in particular!

From the first nuclear chain reaction in 1983 to the decommissioning decision in 1989, the THTR ran a total of 16.410 operating hours. Short operating time?

In contrast to the 15 MW THTR of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor (AVR) in Jülich, the output of the THTR Hamm was twenty times as much. According to the operator (Knizia), it was a prototype; was therefore the first operational copy of a special nuclear facility.

The fact that filter systems and measuring devices were switched off during the accident in 1986, of all times, caused thousands of people to block access to the system, which even the writer Umberto Eco reported in his daily newspaper column in distant Italy.

The Tritium accident in 1992, when radioactive water seeped into the ground for a long time, shows that even after the official shutdown of a reactor, a lot can still happen!

One reason why the KIKK study was carried out is the world's highest leukemia rate, with 17 sick children, in the Elbmarsch near the Krümmel nuclear power plant and the research facility for the Society for Nuclear Energy Utilization in Shipbuilding and Shipping (GKSS).

And this fact has a lot to do with Hamm and the THTR:

During a nuclear experiment in the GKSS on September 12, 1986, an explosion occurred, in the course of which there was presumably a release of radioactive tiny spheres containing uranium, thorium and plutonium. They are less than half a millimeter in diameter. Exactly these tiny spheres, which are barely visible to the eye, are also part of the fuel element spheres of the THTR Hamm! Several tens of thousands of these spheres are located in a large THTR sphere.

It is known that a total of 8.000 of these large fuel assemblies were destroyed during the THTR operating period due to technical problems. Since filters were changed and measuring devices were switched off during operation, these radioactive tiny spheres could have been carried on unnoticed by the wind and still lie around somewhere!

In Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein these released tiny spheres have led to a number of state parliament investigative commissions, violent disputes between experts and 15-year-old protests against the disguise of a scandalous state of affairs.

It is obvious that neither the BfS nor the federal government have an interest in the fact that the radioactive globules of the THTR are given a similar level of attention in North Rhine-Westphalia as in northern Germany. Therefore, so the presumption of the Hammer Citizens' Initiative, the THTR should probably be kept out of the investigation.

The life and health of the citizens in the area of ​​Hamm is left behind.

So hear the pharmacist
who speaks loudly and clearly:
There is medicine for many things
But not against radiation.

Who would have thought that the pharmacist described by Walter Mossmann in the song “Die Wacht am Rhein” would even warn the THTR on WDR television 35 years after the song was written? The Münster folk music group Fiedel Michel, who used the song as a "Watch at the lip" sang, certainly not either.

In the beginning there was an expectant wait for the announced KIKK child leukemia study. What would she say about the THTR? Then the Federal Office for Radiation Protection put several hundred pages online. However, the THTR was completely left out of the investigation, we were disappointed to find out. But this event develops its own dynamic in the next few days:

10 December 2007

WDR is the first to rush forward and report: “Cancer risk: Hamm-Uentrop was not examined. (...) This is justified with the short operating time of the reactor. "

11 December 2007

In the Lippe wave in Hamm, opponents of nuclear power plants have their say in the article “Do nuclear power plants increase the risk of cancer?”: “They call on the state government to also examine the plants in Gronau and Ahaus, as well as the area around the THTR in Hamm. Until it was shut down in 1989, there were serious breakdowns here. The anti-nuclear power plant initiatives see themselves confirmed by the study. Because it shows that so-called low radiation below permissible limit values ​​can also cause damage to health. "

12 December 2007

After the press releases had been diligently worked on in the Münsterland and Hamm, the media broke out in great detail. The Westfälischer Anzeiger (WA) reported for the first time about the radioactive PAC beads in Gesthacht (highest child leukemia worldwide) and that they were also used in the THTR. - A novelty. When asked, Hamm's Lord Mayor Thomas Hunsteger-Petermann stated that he does not actively support the inclusion of the THTR in a study, but that he does not find the demand "absurd": "I would not mind if Hamm and the THTR were included." Very committed this doesn't sound like that. It will take revenge again.

The article in the “Soester Anzeiger” on the Lippetal site is of crucial importance for the progress of events. Because this community lies in the prevailing wind direction of the THTR. And the citizens there know that only too well. It is very astonishing and hopeful how profound the analysis can be here in an area where no organized anti-nuclear group has been active for 25 years: 

“And Lippetal's SPD parliamentary group leader Herbert Schenk also joins. He himself knows cases of leukemia in the community of Lippetal from his own environment. "Even 18 years after the reactor was shut down, there is still great unease," says Schenk. If the study had also recorded the disconnected THTR 300 in Uentrop, that would certainly be very reassuring for many citizens and those particularly affected by cancer, according to the SPD parliamentary group leader. The results of such a study would be very helpful, especially in view of the fact that further research was carried out on high-temperature technology and that it is to be used again in South Africa and China and other parts of the world. "

Today the press releases of the Münsterland initiatives and the Federal Association of Citizens' Initiatives Environmental Protection (BBU) are also published in several national newspapers. The author of these lines has his birthday on this day and receives more calls and emails from concerned citizens than congratulations. What we have said again and again is confirmed by affected citizens 18 years after the closure of the THTR. It's a strange, mixed feeling as it has very unfortunate consequences for some people.

13 December 2007

A discussion forum on the subject of THTR will be set up on the homepage of the WA and Soester Anzeiger. Here, too, the participation from the slipstream of the reactor is greater. The Berlin daily newspaper “Junge Welt” writes: “After the study of several childhood cancer cases in the vicinity of nuclear power plants became known, there was no great outcry in society. The anti-nuclear movement is also remarkably reluctant to react. North Rhine-Westphalia is an exception. Several citizens' initiatives are calling for the examinations not to be limited to light water reactors. ”The JW mentions the plants in Gronau, Ahaus and Hamm in detail and establishes the connection to child leukemia in the Elbe march here.

The Greens in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament are not idle either. For the meeting of the NRW environmental committee on January 9, 2008, they present a catalog of questions and refer to the nuclear facilities in Jülich, Hamm, Ahaus and Gronau that were not considered in the study.

And by the way: The German Bundestag is discussing the KIKK study. The NRW plants, however, do not appear in the extensive debate.

The WA quotes a letter from its Internet forum in the paper edition: “A few years ago I myself lost a good friend to blood cancer. 17 years ago no one saw a connection between THTR and its disease. (...) A reason to follow up and ask. "

14 December 2007

The WDR deals with the nuclear facilities in NRW in a detailed article on its homepage and quotes Florian Emrich from the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS): “The BfS expert does not rule out that it is necessary to also examine the NRW sites . "The NRW state government issues a complete certificate of poverty when questioned by the WDR:

“Neuser can already deny that the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Energy could already deny that investigations might be necessary for the decommissioned nuclear power plant in Hamm-Uentrop, which was prone to failure at the time. "The study only included operating nuclear facilities." The plant in Hamm, on the other hand, was shut down and concreted in in 1988. "So there is nothing more to measure," explains Neuser. "Total nonsense", however, outraged nuclear power opponent Matthias Eickhoff. "Radioactivity doesn't go away overnight." In 1986 there was an accident in Hamm in which radioactive elements leaked into the environment. "

Under the headline "17 deaths from leukemia" reports to the WA that in 2006, according to the State Office for Statistics in Hamm, 17 people died of leukemia. "The cancer registry for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has existed in Münster since 2005, but this is still being set up". So after Chernobyl it took a full 18 years for the NRW state parliament to come up with a cancer register. An indictment of poverty.

In Hamm's neighboring cities of Ahlen and Beckum, too, we now know what has happened. There you can read “Die Glocke”, which quotes our press releases in great detail.

15 December 2007

The Hammer Grünen call on the mayor in the WA to use his good contacts in the state and federal government and to carry out an investigation for Hamm and the surrounding area: "Now the mayor is asked".

16 December 2007

The Sunday walk at the THTR interim fuel storage facility in Ahaus, to which the media has repeatedly referred, takes place under the topic of the KIKK study.

Laurenz Meyer and Sigmar Gabriel discuss the study on Anne Will's talk show. In the chat that followed, Meyer acknowledged our bankruptcy reactor: “Research in Germany in the field of nuclear energy has come to a complete standstill. I find that very regrettable, because with our safety technology we have made and can make a major contribution to the safety of nuclear power plants in the rest of the world. Meanwhile, other countries in the world, like France, like the USA, are leading here, and the safe high-temperature reactor that we decided in Germany is now being built in South Africa and Japan, and the German researchers were working there on site. (...) The radiation exposure in the vicinity of nuclear power plants is significantly lower than, for example, the natural radiation exposure that exists in some parts of Germany or, for example, the radiation exposure from a long flight in an airplane. "

He's still the old disgust. Hopefully he'll hit the plaster again soon, that mobilizes the other side immensely.

18 December 2007

The Soester Anzeiger writes: “Many people from Lippetal are disappointed because the THTR 300 on the western border of Lippetal has been left out in the“ Epidemiological Study on Childhood Cancer in the Area of ​​Nuclear Power Plants ”(KIKK). (...) With votes from all three parliamentary groups, the Council is now calling on the responsible bodies to also prepare a study for the decommissioned THTR and its surroundings and to present the result as quickly as possible. "

19 December 2007

The council group of the Greens in Hamm submits an application in which the administration should ask the state government to prepare a corresponding study. If necessary, the municipality should contribute financially. The next council meeting is in Hamm on January 29, 2008.

20 December 2007

The day begins with an interesting announcement in the Soester Anzeiger: “Today TV report on the THTR study”. The residents of the Lippe Valley already know that the WDR film team from the Dortmund studio is coming today. The topic is now on everyone's lips. The Soester Anzeiger writes: "Both at the state level and at the municipal level, a wide variety of groups and parties are now calling for the child cancer risk to be investigated at the NRW nuclear facilities as well."

The WDR team is shooting at the THTR in Uentrop, where BI Environmental Protection Hamm demands that the incidents from 20 years ago should be carefully examined again. Of the Mayor of Lippetal Susewind (CDU) repeats in the television film the demand of the council for a study for the THTR and the surrounding area. Particularly important is the verbal contribution by the Lippborg pharmacist, who refers to the radioactive releases at the time and notes: “The cancer rate is amazing. That is a sign of its own. ”Several interviewees clearly stated in front of the camera what they think of the statements of the United Electricity Works (VEW) on the incident: "These are all lies!"

And what does he do Great Mayor Hunsteger-Petermann (CDU), who came to the Dortmund studio for an interview? Somewhat reluctantly, he agrees to the request of the Lippetal Council, only to throw a few smoke candles behind which he can withdraw: “The number of cancer cases in Hamm in recent years has been below average.” For information only: One Cancer registries have only existed in NRW since 2005!

The agile WDR presenter counters: “So you give Hamm the all-clear without asking scientists beforehand? What do you want to do in detail? You say we'll write a letter like this next year ...? ”- The mayor, who otherwise expresses his visions in local politics in a very imaginative way, remains remarkably modest: Now he wants to write two letters to the two responsible ministries .

The moderator followed up and asked about the increased Bequerel numbers from 1986. Hunsteger-Petermann replied: “I can't judge that, I'm not a scientist.” The moderator: "But you are the Lord Mayor!" This again asserts that there is no increased risk of cancer in Hamm and refers to "annual measurements since 2000 or 1997". Or maybe the mayor should find out more about how and when that was?

When asked about the incidents of 1986, he only gave a nebulous “I cannot judge whether this can still be clarified”. The moderator is not satisfied with that and asks: “So what happened around the reactor is not a big issue for you, did I understand you correctly?” Then the annoyed OB's last sentence: “I want one have objective clarification ... “- to which he obviously wants to contribute as little as possible so that it can finally be initiated.

He acted like a stubborn donkey during the interview, even though his party friends from the Lippe Valley showed him how it could have been. But maybe he would have gotten into trouble with the hammer atomic lobbyist and party colleague Laurenz Meyer if he had behaved more critical of the atomic?

The citizens of Hammer, who otherwise only got to know their Lord Mayor as a light-hearted man who distributes gifts, will have rubbed their eyes.

26 December 2007

It's Boxing Day and two eventful weeks, which have set a lot in motion, are behind us. Who of us would have thought that the accident of 1986 and its consequences are still very much present in the minds of so many people?

The citizens' initiative for environmental protection in Hamm does not want to wait so long until the stubborn mayor becomes active at some point in the next year. She still writes to that today Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel a letter. In addition to the demands and arguments already mentioned here, there is another aspect. We quote:

"It is incomprehensible that a lot of money is still being spent and effort in Germany for the further development and research of the THTR line, while the health-endangering consequences of the old nuclear legacy in the vicinity of the THTR are being ignored and not investigated in more detail will! This omission is particularly absurd against the following backgrounds:

1. This year, Professor Antonio Hurtado was appointed to the University of Dresden to research the further development of high-temperature reactors and Generation IV reactors.

2. This year, a total of four research positions and professorships were set up at RWTH Aachen University and the Forschungszentrum Jülich, some of which also research the HTR line.

3. Within the framework of the EU programs co-financed by the FRG (RAPHAEL and others), many millions of euros have been spent in German research institutions for years to further develop the THTR as part of Generation IV.

4. Many German companies are now producing parts and components for the THTR in South Africa, which is intended in particular as an export product for emerging countries. In our opinion, a thorough scientific analysis of the radiation-relevant consequences of the old prototype in Hamm-Uentrop is essential before this technology is exported to many other countries on a large scale! "

In the following days, several reports in the WA and a very long article in the "Wochenblatt" (January 2, 1) appeared and took up the problem.

The essential fundamental danger points and the resulting sensible options for action for the area around the THTR were named in the THTR circular five years ago:

“The multi-layered problems with ball breakage in the THTR over several years make at least one thing very clear. It cannot be completely ruled out that, as has now become known in the Hanau and Geesthacht case, spherical components or even PAC spheres have escaped from the reactor. Since the PAC beads do not initially emit any strong radiation to the outside, they could not be noticed with the conventional measuring methods at the time. Providing evidence of radioactive substances outside the reactor today would be relatively expensive. Possible PAC beads would have to be tracked down with the help of an orienting measuring program. Together with in-depth studies, this would be relatively expensive and would have to be financed by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. "(No. 82, April 2003)

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