‘Only’ 18,000 litres
Don’t panic! Don’t panic! Apparently, only 18,000 litres of the 30,000 litres of the liquid containing uranium spilled by French nuclear ‘experts’ Areva at the Tricastin nuclear site this week reached the ground and the Gaffiere and Lauzon rivers in southern France.
Now, call us cynical if you like but this is a definition of ‘only’ we’ve been unaware of up until now. ‘Only’ 18,000 litres out 30,000 containing 224 kilograms of unenriched natural uranium. We’re sure this ‘only’ comes as a great comfort to the local residents who’ve been told not to drink well-water, water their crops or swim or fish in the rivers.
Let’s have one or two other ‘only’s, shall we? This weeks leak constitutes ‘only’ 130 times the level this reactor alone is permitted to release in an entire year. Read that again. In a single day Tricastin leaked 130 times its permitted annual allowance. It was ‘only’ a faulty valve and a damaged retention tray that caused the leak
France’s nuclear safety agency said the uranium solution was toxic but only slightly radioactive. And that’s supposed to be reassuring is it? Thousands of litres of the stuff find their way into two tributaries to the Rhone, one of Europe’s largest rivers, but it’s ‘only’ toxic and ‘only’ slightly radioactive even though the radioactivity levels caused by the leak are 6000 times higher than regulatory limits allow.
It’s fortunate for Nicolas Sarkozy that he made his speech announcing France will build a second European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) last week and not this week when industry incompetence disproved the lie – yet again – that nuclear energy is clean and safe. If ‘only’ it was.
Comments
this very hazardous things and it should be prevented as early as possible and govt should take care about this problem.
Posted by: ranjit indwar | July 30, 2008 9:10 AM
Lets face it guys - No one has a clue about going slowly, safely to wherever it is that development has to reach - an unknown ideal !
Decision makers, Leaders of nations - they take decisions based on their equations of political survival and ad hoc management - fearfully hoping that if things go wrong that should happen next generation or at least when the opposition is in power.
The Spiritual Leaders of Mankind are also clueless as to what they want to say and do about development models which are raping and destroying the intricate and delicate web of life on our planet.
Who is awake?
Is it the environmentalists?
Sadly no. Environmentalists are merely pointing at the fire and shouting "Fire Fire".
They are not yet empowered to RUN SOCIETY IN ALL ITS ASPECTS. They do not realize that safety norms to protect the environment and the web of life have to be followed WHILE ALSO MANAGING the mundane responsibilities of Governance of ALL SECTORS of Society including Finance, Infrastructure Development, Transport, Agriculture, Industry, Commerce and a thousand others. If the Environmentalist is placed at the helm of administrative affairs I personally believe he has not the experience to manage the routine affairs of governance - and will therefore be even more inept than current governments in channeling resources towards the "Fires" that he shouts to others about putting out.
In the first quarter of this century the global dialogue will shift from Environmentalists who shout "Fire" to Global Citizens who act personally and in a team - converging to TAKE CHARGE IN ALL WAYS - POLITICAL, SCIENTIFIC, TECHNOLOGICAL, FINANCIAL, CULTURAL - EVERYTHING !
Till we point at governments we are impotently shouting "Fire" and publishing minor cases of success.
When we point at ourself we will begin our study of the matter.
When all of us point at the global ethical-environmental crisis and hold hanmds across all borders and NETWORK and converge to form the solution - we will have stepped into 21st century activism.
Posted by: Vinod Bodhankar | July 30, 2008 9:33 AM
river runs red
black rain falls
dust in our head
river runs red
black rain falls
on my bleeding land
Here we are again. The only thing we do is writing and listening very valid warnings for decades,
but apparently we just can't consider it seriously enough. When I say we I mean the common responsibility, which is interestingly enough understood as there is no responsibility on individuals at all whereas there is, actually individuals can change only. So the question is what else can we add, how far we need to go to get decision makers listening to us? I wonder if at all there would be anything can open the few eyes left and show that there is no consumer to trade with and no planet to live any more.. Maybe it will not reach the little brain minds and will not strike the eyes at all, but I am still hoping of course.
Posted by: ANKH | July 30, 2008 9:39 AM