November 2006Issue 395



Faulty Forsmark

NUCLEAR

On 17 August 2006, there was a ‘class two’ incident that occurred at the Swedish atomic reactor Forsmark. A short circuit in the electricity network caused a problem inside the reactor and it needed to be shut down immediately, using emergency backup electricity. However, two of the four generators died. They disconnected, leaving the reactor in a state where the operators did not know the current state of the system. A meltdown could have occurred, such as in Chernobyl. In Sweden, the Government immediately shut down all similar reactors until the problem could be cleared up. The risks involved here are very rare but quite lethal – a core meltdown is no joke.

The Risks Digest




Language Tools
Powered by Ultralingua

Join over 10,000 people just like you. Get e-mail updates about new content, issue alerts, contests, and more!

other articles
FROM THIS ISSUE

Fair enough?
Fair trade risks losing its soul to big business. Albert Tucker wants you to join the fightback.

How to be an ethical consumer
Info and action ideas.

Walls
The Berlin Wall was considered an outrage. But where, asks Eduardo Galeano, is the outrage at the other walls being erected around the world, in Israel, Western Sahara and the US?

Don't believe the hypermarket
Supermarkets haven’t seen the error of their unsustainable ways, reveals Sarah Irving.

Free software!
Strike a blow for freedom – get rid of Windows, Word, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express and the rest, says Bruce Byfield.

recently
IN THIS COLUMN

Court in the act
Apartheid accomplices Coca-Cola, Barclays, BP et al are heading for court

A kick in the balls
New Zealand intelligence gathering or US & NATO spy satellite?

Inside China’s prisons
It’s difficult to know for sure how many political prisoners there currently are in China, but it’s safe to say that there are thousands of them.

Starved by the system
The companies making a killing from the food crisis

Planktos wiped out
Planktos – RIP

Cyclone survival
Women in Orissa, India, have ways of dealing with calamity






Voices from the margins:

Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.