Is it possible in an Argentine nuclear power plant?

The trigger must be taken as an excuse. As never before since the events of April 26, 1986, A successful fiction – and many commented on these days – recreates one of the largest nuclear accidents in history and focuses on the consequences of an environmental disaster it will last through the centuries.

What happened in Chernobyl – the operational center of Pripyat (Ukraine), which was then part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) – represented until the beginning of this decade the most deadly example of what is meant by a nuclear disaster. On March 11, 2011, the destruction of Fukushima I facilities in Okuma, Japan, as a result of an earthquake widened the known limits of the disaster.

A serious history of these disasters is the Three Mile Island accident, which occurred on March 28, 1979 at a plant near Harrisburg, Pensilvania, in the northern United States. On this occasion, a mechanical failure of the heat dissipation systems resulted in the release of an indeterminate amount of radioactive gas that reached nearby cities.

It is a magnitude 5 problem on the INES international scale that establishes severity parameters for nuclear accident cases. The highest point of this rank corresponds to magnitude 7 – serious accident -, until here shared by the mentioned incidents of Chernobyl and Fukushima. The incorporation of this "until now" is not fanciful: no expert, both in Argentina and in the world, can certify that a hecatomb of this size will not happen again on the planet.

Given this tension and the long local tradition in the development of atomic complexes, a series of questions about the safety of the three power plants in operation becomes mandatory.

If any type of failure were to occur at the Atucha I and II facilities, or in the Cordobesa Embalse region, could Argentina suffer a major disaster for Chernobyl? Are there valid protocols for situations of this nature? At the same time, have nuclear accidents occurred in our country?

In order to dispel these doubts, iProfessionnel consulted a series of experts on nuclear energy and consulted documents from organizations that monitor activity to prevent atomic eventualities. Beyond the nuances, the concrete aspect is that there is a coincidence our country is not immune to the suffering, ultimately, of a fatality like that of the former Soviet Union.

Raúl Montenegro, professor at the Universities of Córdoba and Buenos Aires, winner of the Right Livelihood 2004 Award – known as the Alternative Nobel Prize – is one of the researchers who has deepened the characteristics of the Argentine nuclear plan.

In dialogue with iProfessionnel, also owner of the Foundation for the Defense of the Environment (FUNAM), stressed the total absence of high safety criteria and did not spare the critics during the evaluation of the current emergency plans for the Atucha and Embalse Complexes.

More specifically, he emphasized that, If a Clbad 7 event occurs in any of the reactors in operation, the direct impact radius would exceed 500 km and would reach even neighboring countries such as Uruguay or Chile.

The planned emergency system, said the expert, provides only measures for the people of Lima, the city of Zárate party near Atucha, and the inhabitants of the city of. Embalse, in the province of Cordoba, near the homonymous factory.

Area affected by a magnitude 7 accident, according to FUNAM:

Split Forecast

"We do not have a health system, much less trained technical personnel to cope with the worst accident, neither in Córdoba nor in Buenos Aires. The state should also be economically prepared for such a situation, but the reality is that there are no budget cuts, "Montenegro told the media.

In addition to any potential technical malfunction, the specialist stated that the protocols relating to terrorism situations or vicissitudes external to the reactors, such as the crash of an aircraft on the facilities, were not designed either. The radioactive waste, he explained, is now stored in dry silos located outside the buildings housing the reactors.

Montenegro argued that the impact of a large aircraft on these points of accumulation could generate a nuclear tragedy worse than that experienced by Ukraine in 1986.

"If a commercial plane fell on the Embalse silos, we would not have a Chernobyl, but the equivalent of 20 Chernobyl. Deposits would release radioactive material because they are not designed to withstand an action of this magnitude. After what happened in the United States with the Twin Towers, no one can say that such a thing can not happen, "he said.

According to the professor, the nuclear powers have specific policies to deal with potential terrorist actions. "In countries such as France, there are criteria and limits for airspace, for example, in nuclear fuel reprocessing areas, the order to shoot down any aircraft flying over the airfields. facilities had been in force for a long time, guidelines in this respect ".

Rodolfo Kempf, physicist of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and doctor in nuclear materials of the National University of San Martin (UNSAM), referent of the ATE within the National Commission of the Atomic Energy (CNEA), rejected a serious accident in factories operating in Argentina.

"I can not say that it's impossible, but I can confirm that it's very unlikely that an event like this will happen." An accident such as Chernobyl is also likely that a person falls on a plane over. Now, is it impossible that a plane falls exactly? Of course not. But it is by far the least likely to happen, "he said. iProfessionnel.

Contrary to what Montenegro has stated, Kempf said the safety guidelines in force in Argentina are aligned with the best international standards. He also said that until now, the technology that houses Atucha factories I and II has not recorded any serious incident in the world.

"If we compare the operation in Argentina to that of Chernobyl, we can say that the technology is very different." In Ukraine, due to a protocol problem, an incident involving the burning of graphite components and the lack of good containment technologies has occurred. . In Argentina, on the other hand, graphite is not used in any of the installations and the moderation and cooling are carried out with heavy water.. In Fukushima, the trigger was an earthquake followed by a tsunami. Here we do not have these conditions, "he said.

Also from ATE and CNEA, Luján Rodríguez commented on iProfessionnel that the nuclear sector "shares very high levels of security with the aeronautical sector", adding that in the country's power plants "there is a periodic badessment of the state of the reactor and facilities in general".

In his opinion, any eventuality in the Atucha factories is controllable as long as the established protocols are respected. "While we are critical of how information is processed at the institutional level in the nuclear business, the accuracy levels are very high in Argentina, the quality requirements are met in the components and every gram of fuel used is recorded., tracked, tracked. Conditions are not generated for processes to go wrong"he said.

And if an accident occurs?

Asked about the established guidelines in case of accident in complexes Atucha I and II, Rodolfo Kempf said iProfessionnel which govern aspects for the population of Lima and highlight the task of those responsible for radio protection. "They are responsible for overseeing and monitoring what needs to be done in factories, even with the power of the police," he said.

The expert indicated that the emergency plan for Lima excluded evacuation, which occurred in Prípiat in April 1986.

"Evacuate is not the best option, it is best to seal the doors and windows with blankets or other items, to stay in certain places, so that the food is close to the people, the population should avoid particles suspended in the environment, "he said.

Then add: "Another aspect is to promote the consumption of iodine to saturate the thyroid so that the body does not integrate radioactive iodine.This protocol not applied to Chernobyl could have improved the living conditions of the population."

Kempf's statement concerning the existence of a limited plan in Lima is in line with the denunciation by Montenegro, which stresses the need to broaden considerably the protocol of action within a radius of at least 500 kilometers.

"We must stop insisting on limited projects in the first 10 kilometers around the factories." In Embalse, simulacra are almost an entertainment. On the other hand, it is advisable to reject the evacuation. The word of order to be respected is not to leave the premises, but to stay inside. If it happens to the children of the school, they stay in the school, "he said.

"The problem is that people are unprepared, and that's the fault of NASA – it's Nucleoeléctrica Argentina, the operator of the country's nuclear power plants – and the ARN – Nuclear Regulatory Authority -. They never wanted to prepare the company as this involved exposing the existence of the risk. They prefer that the danger is not known"he added.

Verified issues

With nearly half a century of operating nuclear power plants on its territory, Argentina is sadly grateful to be the only country in Latin America and the Caribbean to have suffered a road accident. magnitude 4, ie with radioactive contamination inside a nuclear power plant particle abroad.

This is what happened on September 23, 1983 at the Constituyentes Center, still active in the San Martín party, in Greater Buenos Aires. A human failure in the reconfiguration of the reactor core, the RA-2, produced a powerful dose of neutrons and gamma radiation, which resulted in the death of one operator and severely contaminated another 17.

Closer in time, FUNAM denounced on November 17, 2017 "the tightening of several containment seals in the area of ​​operation of the nuclear reactor Embalse (Córdoba), which allowed the release of steam with radioactive tritium 3. in the area of ​​operations, where there were about 50 people. "

"During the five hours that lasted the episode, radioactive tritium was the subject of numerous recordings at noon and at 2 pm, a situation that forced the total evacuation of the area contaminated.", reported the organization in the middle of last year, the FUNAM said that five workers were contaminated.

Many years ago, at the same facility in Córdoba and again according to the source, on June 30, 1983, a design and procedure failure resulted in "a serious incident without release of radioactive material into the environment".

"In Argentina, serious nuclear accidents have already been recorded in reactors and facilities, most of which have been kept secret," concludes a document from the foundation.

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