ENGINEERS were this week still trying to find a dozen highly radioactive fuel
rods that were dropped in an accident at one of Britain鈥檚 oldest nuclear power
stations.
The rods were lost in a fuel handling accident at the Chapelcross plant in
Scotland on 5 July. British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), the state-owned company in
charge of the plant, initially said it was a minor incident. But now it says all
four reactors at Chapelcross may have to be shut down. Fuel operations have
already been suspended at Calder Hall, an identical plant using the same
handling equipment, at Sellafield in Cumbria.
Energy minister Brian Wilson summoned BNFL chairman Hugh Collum to a meeting
this week to explain why the company鈥檚 account of the accident has changed. BNFL
initially said that a carousel of 24 irradiated fuel rods had been dropped 60
centimetres onto a closed door at the top of a discharge shaft during a routine
defuelling procedure. But this week, BNFL spokesmen were saying that the
carousel had in fact fallen more than 160 centimetres, and that 12 of the rods
were now missing. They now believe the door was partially open and that the rods
have fallen down the 25-metre shaft.
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BNFL denies a cover-up, insisting that its understanding of what happened
changed as more information became available. It says it only found out that the
12 fuel rods were missing on 12 July, when it was first able to inspect the
carousel with remote cameras.
A spokesman said on Monday that a camera lowered into the shaft had spotted
鈥渁 number鈥� of rods under water in a flask at the bottom of the shaft. Exactly
how many was still uncertain. He also said that radioactivity in the shaft had
not increased. But independent nuclear engineer John Large says the rods have
probably been damaged by the fall and could be leaking radioactivity. If they
are not under water the rods could catch fire, he says.