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Sweden alerted IAEA about nuclear "incident," did not request help
Vienna, Aug 4, 2006 Sweden alerted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the recent "incident" at one of its nuclear plants but requested no technical assistance, an agency spokesman said Friday. "On Thursday, 27 July, Sweden reported that an incident occurred at its Forsmark 1 reactor... They rated the incident at Level 2 according to the 7-level International Nuclear Event Scale (INES)," IAEA spokesman Ayhan Evrensel said. "Swedish authorities have not requested any assistance from the IAEA," he added. According to the scale, level 2 qualifies as an "incident," just one step above an "anomaly". It is less critical than a "serious incident," and far below the level 7 "major accident" that was the explosion at Chernobyl in 1986, which projected a large quantity of radioactive material beyond the plant's perimetre. "Incidents" involve a "significant failure in safety provisions but with sufficient defence in depth remaining to cope with additional failures," in other words, a "significant spread of contamination" or "overexposure of a worker" to radioactive material, according to the IAEA. The Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) said Thursday it would open an investigation into the incident. Swedish authorities have shut down five of the country's reactors, four of them in connection with a potentially dangerous failure caused by an electricity blackout at the Forsmark 1 plant last week. Following the shutdown, the environmental organisation Greenpeace called Friday for worldwide testing of nuclear power plants. Nuclear power accounts for nearly half of Sweden's electricity production. A source close to the UN atomic watchdog told AFP the IAEA "was not alarmed" and televised reports speaking of a near catastrophe were exaggerated. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links
Sweden plans no more nuclear reactor shutdowns
Stockholm, Aug 4, 2006 Sweden's nuclear authority said on Friday it would not close down any more nuclear power stations, after problems forced a halt to operations at four of the country's 10 reactors. |
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