Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSL1475395820080414?sp=true 

Spain’s recently re-elected Socialist government has pledged to phase out the country’s eight nuclear plants and step up electricity generation from renewable energy sources.Up to 800 people are being examined for contamination after a leak of radioactive material at a nuclear plant in northeast Spain last November, the nuclear watchdog said on Monday. By Martin Roberts

MADRID (Reuters) – Up to 800 people are being examined for contamination after a leak of radioactive material at a nuclear plant in northeast Spain last November, the nuclear watchdog said on Monday.

The Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) said it had so far examined 579 out of between 700 and 800 people who had been through the Asco I nuclear plant in Tarragona since the leak and none had been found to have been contaminated.

The CSN said it was considering sanctions against the plant’s operators for not providing it with enough information about the leak, which it considered to be more serious than originally classified.

The CSN was not advised until April 4 of the leak, which occurred during refueling at the 1,000 megawatt Endesa-owned Plant.

The leak was first made public by environmental group Greenpeace on April 5 and confirmed shortly afterwards by the CSN, which sent inspectors to the site.

In a statement the CSN said it had raised its rating of the leak to 2 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) for “inadequate control of nuclear material and for supplying incomplete and deficient information to the regulator”.

The CSN said it would demand those responsible be found.

“From the sequence of events it may be deduced that the operator knew on April 9 that the information on total activity spilled was not correct and not forwarded to the CSN,” it said.

The watchdog added that the plant’s management now estimated that a maximum of 84.95 million becquerels (Bq) of radioactivity had been leaked, which compares to a figure of 235,000 Bq published on April 8.

“The radiological impact derived from the new data is still of very little significance to the population around the plant,” the CSN said.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Manuel Rodriguez, head of radiological protection, told Spanish state radio that those who had passed through the plant were being checked for contamination as a safety precaution.

“In the same way we are taking measures outside the site,” he said.

In an earlier statement, the CSN said its inspectors had found radioactive materials including cobalt-60.

Cobalt-60 is produced when materials like steel absorb radioactivity from reactors, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It has medical uses, like radiotherapy, but can be dangerous as it emits gamma rays, exposure to which over time can cause cancer.

CSN president Carmen Martinez has asked to give evidence to parliament.The Asco I plant was shown as working normally on the CSN Web site.

Greenpeace called for the plant’s operation to be suspended.

Asco I has a pressurized water reactor (PWR) and is owned by Spain’s second largest utility Endesa. It came on stream in August 1983 and its operating permit is due to expire in 2011.

(Reporting by Martin Roberts and Sarah Morris; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

Related article: http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Energy/Briefing/2008/04/16/nuclear_accident_in_spain_angers_officials/5639/
———————————————————————————————-
Nuclear accident in Spain angers officialsPublished: April 16, 2008 at 4:13 PM
SOURCE : (UPI) http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Energy/Briefing/2008/04/16/nuclear_accident_in_spain_angers_officials/5639/

ASCO, Spain, April 16 (UPI) –

Spain’s Endesa is accused of having played down an incident at a nuclear plant, with the radioactivity emitted 100 times more than previously admitted.

The incident, which Endesa labeled “minor,” happened last November at a nuclear power plant in Asco, northwestern Spain, but wasn’t detected until last month. Spanish media reports Monday said officials from the country’s nuclear watchdog, CSN had, found that the levels of radioactivity meant Asco was the fourth-gravest incident connected to nuclear energy in Spain.CSN said in a statement it rated the leak as  2 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) [Chernobyl = 7; [Three Mile Island = 6] because of “inadequate control of nuclear material and for supplying incomplete and deficient information to the regulator.”  The watchdog is considering fining Endesa.CSN also ordered medical tests for some 800 people working at the plant. Some 580 people have already been screened, without the tests having revealed health issues, the Spanish media said.As a direct response to the affair, Endesa Wednesday sacked both the head of the plant and its top radiological protection official. © 2008 United Press International.
Please click on the link below to view the entire article.
http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Energy/Briefing/2008/04/16/nuclear_accident_in_spain_angers_officials/5639/