Global Issues
Brazil Beefs Up Nuclear Emergency Plans
The Brazilian government is tightening safety procedures at its two nuclear power stations. Although this South American country is not prone to earthquakes or tsunamis, it is not exempt from natural disasters like landslides and flooding that could jeopardise evacuation plans if a radiation leak occurred.
The government began to rethink its disaster readiness policies in January, when torrential rains caused landslides and flash floods that killed nearly 1,000 people, blocked roads and destroyed everything in their path in the hilly region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, in the southeast of the country.
Landslides are also frequent on the access roads to Angra dos Reis, where two nuclear reactors, Angra I and Angra II, that produce 2.5 percent of Brazil's electricity, are located 170 kilometres south of Rio de Janeiro, the state capital.
Former Green Party lawmaker Fernando Gabeira warned that there are at least 120 points at risk of landslides on the narrow highway from Rio de Janeiro to Angra dos Reis and the city of Santos, which snakes between the mountains and the Atlantic ocean.
The accident response procedures 'were never a good plan,' Gabeira told IPS. 'I took part in a simulated evacuation, and the alarm siren didn't work. A police officer who was going to help us get organised died in an accident. And the highway is very dangerous,' he said.
Ricardo Baitelo, head of Greenpeace Brazil's energy campaign, wondered what would happen during an evacuation in the case of a nuclear disaster, 'if traffic is already difficult at tourist seasons like New Year or carnival.' Angra dos Reis, where some 20,000 people would be at risk if an accident involving radioactivity occurred, is a fast-growing tourist resort.
The government is aware of the weak points in its nuclear plan. Eletronuclear, the state-controlled company that runs the nuclear power plants, announced in late March that it had set up a commission to reevaluate the safety of the hillsides surrounding the access routes to Angra dos Reis, and that it would hire an independent consultancy firm to carry out an assessment.
The revised plan also includes establishing alternative escape routes in case of accident, including the construction of two quays near the nuclear plants for evacuation by sea, as well as an air route.
The nuclear power station is located on the sea shore, with the hills behind it. Gabeira said the possibility of escaping by sea 'is important, because it recognises that the road to Angra may be worse than useless in an emergency situation. 'But it must be understood that there are times when the sea, too, is less than friendly,' he said.
The head of the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN), Odair Gonçalves, told IPS the revised evacuation plan is just one of the components of the current emergency programme, a policy that depends directly on the president's security cabinet.
The programme is activated when the accident risk is greater than what the design limits of the reactors can cope with, and calls for preventive evacuation within a radius of three to five kilometres. 'If the accident is serious and grows in intensity, as happened in Japan, evacuation of the population can be recommended. Eletronuclear is building piers and secondary ports to act as alternative exit routes by sea and by air, in addition to the road,' he said.
© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service