French Nuclear Reactor Carries 'Chernobyl-Size' Explosion Risk: Group

"French anti-nuclear campaigners claim a new power plant being built in Normandy carries an accident risk of 'Chernobyl proportions'.

Sortir du Nucléaire, a protest network, says leaked confidential documents show that tests on the third-generation pressurised water reactor present a potentially catastrophic scenario.

The network has eight internal papers showing the results of tests on the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) that, it claims, reveal defects in the mechanism that controls the nuclear reaction. These defects, it says, could cause an explosion sending a massive cloud of radiation into the atmosphere.

The documents, leaked by an insider at the French electricity firm EDF, which will run the new Flamanville 3 power station, date from between 2004 and 2009. 'They show the main arguments in favour of the EPR ... are false,' a spokesperson for Sortir du Nucléaire said."

Kim Willsher reports for The Guardian March 7, 2010.

See Also:

"Nuclear Money Meltdown" (Living on Earth)