Guest guest Posted April 13, 1999 Report Share Posted April 13, 1999 Thanks very much Tribhangananda prabhu! your servant, Hare Krsna dasi "COM: Tribhangananda (das) ACBSP (GB)" wrote: > [Text 1989064 from COM] > > Friday, November 27, 1998 Published at 17:35 GMT > > Sci/Tech > > Millennium bug nuclear warning > > Chernobyl - only one of Europe's increasingly elderly reactors > > By Environment Correspondent Alex Kirby > The World Health Organisation says it is worried about the "unacceptably high" > risk of a nuclear reactor accident within the next few years. > > Many of eastern Europe's reactors could be at particular risk from the > millennium bug, it warns. > > The risk of a reactor accident somewhere in the world before 2006 is as high as > 67%, says WHO's British physicist Dr Keith Baverstock. > > "There will be a lot of crossed fingers on New Year's Eve 1999," he added. > > Dr Baverstock heads WHO's new nuclear emergency project based in Helsinki. The > new scheme will help European countries improve preparations for coping with an > accident. > > Human failure likely > > He says the risk lies not so much in the failure of an engineering component as > in human error, with the possibility of computer failure as the year 2000 dawns > making the prospect worse. > > Millennium worries mean hard choices > Dr Baverstock told BBC News Online: "31 December 1999 is one occasion when we > ought to be even more vigilant than we normally are. > > "The millennium bug is a real problem. We shall take it very seriously indeed." > > Dr Baverstock says Finland is confident its reactors will cope safely and he > believes the same goes for all western European countries. > > "But it may well be quite different in the east, where many countries depend > heavily on nuclear power," he says. > > Shutting down the reactors for a short time around midnight is not really an > option because any problems might not show up until later, says Dr Baverstock. > > "It will be very cold and they will need the power. What will they do ? I > should not like to have to decide." > > Preventing cancer > > As part of its work to help countries prepare, WHO is issuing guidelines on the > use of iodine tablets. > > Iodine, given early enough, can help prevent childhood thyroid cancer. > > Children are far more vulnerable to radiation's effects > Since the Chernobyl explosion in 1986, more than 1,000 cases of thyroid cancer, > mainly in children, have been recorded in affected parts of Ukraine, Belarus > and Russia. > > "We used to think that iodine tablets should be available within a 5km radius > of a reactor," says Dr Baverstock. > > "But Chernobyl showed us that the effects spread far wider than that. > > "So the new guidelines will say the tablets should be quickly available to all > children within 500 km of an accident." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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