(February 12, 1993) Information about a leak in the coolant system of the Norwegian research reactor at Kjeller (near Oslo) which occurred in April 1992 has only recently come to light.
(386.3787) WISE-Amsterdam Norwegian authorities say they had not released the information because they didn't want to "frighten the public". During the accident half a liter heavy water seeped away. It occurred while the research reactor was shut off.
Although the Norwegian authorities often protest against the UK reprocessing-plant at Dounreay and transports of nuclear material, they are directly responsible for some of them. Last year, for instance, Norway licensed a transport by sea (in a 'normal' freighter) of 36 fuel pins containing low-enriched uranium from Dounreay to Halden in Norway. Environmentalists called it hypocritical. Authorities, however, claim that these transports are not a danger for the environment even if an accident were to occur, but that large shipments of plutonium are. Environmental activist Björn Bore, spokesperson for Natur og Ungdom (Nature and Environment) reacted: "Radioactivity is radioactivity. Whether it comes from a nuclear power plant, a plutonium factory or a research reactor".
Kjeller is one of two research reactors in Norway. Both are state-operated facilities, mostly used for lucrative research contracts with, for example, Finland, Sweden, Japan, Germany and the US. The facilities were established in the '50s at a time when Norway thought nuclear power would be the source for the future. Halden, its other reactor, was established in cooperation with Holland.
The radioactive waste from both facilities is stored at a concrete bunker at Halden. At the beginning of 1991, a government-appointed committee recommended that Norway's low- and medium-level waste be stored in the unused Killingdal mines. But the plan was met with strong protest from the local population. The district council had previously voted unanimously against accepting the facility.
In an earlier accident at the Kjeller facility, on 2 September 1982, a 62-year old scientist was severely contaminated. He had walked into a "radiation-room", due to a combination of technical and human errors. The radiation destroyed his white blood cells and caused major chromosome damage. His bone marrow stopped producing new white blood cells, despite major blood transfusions. Two weeks later, on 16 September, he died.
Sources:
- Die Tageszeitung (FRG) 20 Jan. 1993
- Trouw (NL), 17 Sept. 1982
- NENIG Briefing, Aug/Sept 1992
- Power In Europe (UK), 14 March '91
Contact: Natur og Ungdom, Torggata 34, 0183 Oslo 1, Norway; tel: +47-2-36 42 18; fax: +47-2-20 45 94.