@guardianeco Who to trust on nuclear?

Who to trust on nuclear?

Even without Fukushima sceptics might wonder why Britain ignores the German lead on energy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

• • Paul Dorfman
  • guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 April 2011 21.30 BST
  • Article history

In the continuing disaster at Fukushima, Japan's nuclear safety agency has now raised the crisis level to seven: the highest category of nuclear accident. The government is widening the evacuation zone. The unpalatable truth is that the legacy of Fukushima will be with us for a long time to come.




The numbers are staggering. Latest information from nuclear consulting engineer John Large tells us the six reactor cores held 487 tonnes of uranium (of which 95 tonnes includes 230kg of plutonium, an even nastier substance, from the Mox assemblies), with a further 1,838 tonnes of stored spent fuel, including 1,097 tonnes in the central pool store. There is no question there have been very significant and "ongoing" releases of this radioactive inventory.