Nuclear waste nightmare

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Movie
German title Nuclear waste nightmare
Original title Déchets: le cauchemar du nucléaire
Country of production France
original language French , English , Russian
Publishing year 2009
length 97 minutes
Rod
Director Eric Guéret
script Eric Guéret,
Laure Noualhat
production Sophie Parrault

Nightmare Atomic Waste is a documentary film produced by Arte in 2009 that researches the whereabouts of radioactive waste from military and industrial facilities and aims to provide information about the dangers and consequences of the use of nuclear energy .

The film was first broadcast on Arte on October 13, 2009 and has also been released on DVD.

action

The film begins with footage showing the sinking of barrels with radioactive waste in the sea.

This is followed by an interview with the CEO of the French nuclear group Areva , who criticizes the lack of transparency in handling residual radioactive material.

This is followed by underwater recordings made in June 2000 showing burst and heavily corroded barrels with radioactive waste on the sea floor.

An animation explains how electrical energy is generated in nuclear power plants using radioactive material.

The voice-over explains the aim of the film, namely to determine through global research how the military and industry deal with the radioactive waste they produce. In addition, the question should be clarified whether the garbage poses a risk for the population.

Greenpeace International, Amsterdam

The following pictures show the headquarters of Greenpeace International in Amsterdam. In the video archive there is an interview with Mike Tomsley, who tells, among other things, that the previously shown underwater recordings were made near La Hague , where fishing is still being done near radioactive waste.

A cutscene explains how ionizing radiation can cause illness in humans.

It is reported that all nuclear waste-producing countries have dumped more than 100,000 tons of radioactive waste in the ocean in less than 50 years. The British contributed the largest share with 80%, followed by Switzerland.

The following pictures show the fight by Greenpeace against the sinking of barrels on the open sea, whereby the inflatable boats of Greenpeace campaigners are deliberately hit with barrels.

Hanford Site, USA

The setting changes to the United States for the Hanford Site in Washington state . The world's first nuclear facility was operated there as part of the Manhattan Project from 1942. The Columbia River was contaminated with radioactive material, but without informing the population about its dangers. Old film material is shown, which shows many families bathing in the contaminated river.

The film team has scientists take water and soil samples and analyze them in a laboratory. Downstream (after the site) radiation that is several times stronger than upstream is measured. In addition, there are unnatural radioactive elements in the water, so that contamination of the water by the Hanford site can be considered proven. In an area of ​​121 km² around the plant, drinking water extraction from the river is questionable.

Mayak Nuclear Plant, Russia

The place of action now changes to Russia, where reports are made of the Mayak nuclear facility and the Kyshtym accident that occurred there in 1957 , the largest accident ever known to occur with radioactive material. In this incident, which was kept secret from the public by the nuclear industry and governments for 30 years, a waste tank exploded due to a defect in the cooling system. The strength of the explosion was equivalent to that of an explosion of 75 tons of TNT , with 15,000 km² of land contaminated, 200 people died immediately and 270,000 people were exposed to ionizing radiation. The film team visits villages along the course of the Karachay Lake , which was heavily contaminated both by the accident and by the regular operation of the nearby nuclear interim storage facility and the reprocessing plant. A scientist measured 16,000 decays per minute with a radiometer at a publicly accessible location near the Tetscha River , which is an extremely high value. Measurements in the laboratory show that the water in the Tetscha is contaminated with tritium . The soil of the bank is so heavily polluted by 137 Cs that radiation of 180,000 Becquerel per kilogram is determined (for comparison : In 2008, a 137 Cs exposure of 10,000 Bq / kg was measured in Bavaria due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster ). It should be noted that the radioactive material in the district there ends up in the food chain through fishing and milk production .

La Hague, France

Now images from La Hague in France are shown, where a reprocessing plant of the same type as the previously shown Russian plant in Mayak is located. A Greenpeace employee reports on the years of observations and analyzes of the plant's impact on the environment. An interview with the Director General of the Authority for Nuclear Safety ( Autorité de sûreté nucléaire ) will then be shown.

The following part of the film shows the creation of a "plutonium balance", whereby it should be determined how much of the material used is reprocessed and recycled. First, a spokesman for the Areva group is asked who calls the amount of 96 percent.

Seversk, Russia

The action changes to the closed Russian city of Seversk (formerly known as Tomsk -7), where radioactive residues from France are sent by train for reprocessing. First the Duma deputy and later the head of the Tomsk City Security and Radiation Control Department will be interviewed. The latter is faced with satellite images showing the storage of containers with radioactive waste in the open air at the Nuclear plant Tomsk show ▼ . He sees no danger to the population here, but admits that in the event of a plane crash or a similar accident near the container there would be a problem. He also mentions 80 percent of French nuclear material that remains in Seversk and is not sent back to France.

Paris, France

The French electricity company Électricité de France (EDF) confirmed in Paris that even 90 percent of the material sent will be transferred to the Russians and will remain in Russia. The previous statement by the spokesman for the Areva group is thus refuted, since instead of 96 percent, only 10 percent of the radioactive material is reprocessed.

This is followed by an interview with a former French environment minister who talks about the background of French energy policy. In addition, excerpts from the television duel between Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal about the French presidential election 2007 are shown, with fade-ins highlighting their false statements and thus making their ignorance of important questions about nuclear energy clear.

In conclusion, it is stated that the world population has not been informed, or has been systematically incorrectly informed, about the dangers of nuclear energy. In almost all nuclearized countries, this misconduct triggered waves of protest when it became known. As an example, numerous pictures of demonstrations and conflicts in Germany, for example during the transport of nuclear waste , are shown. In any case, these protests sparked a debate about phasing out nuclear energy, which in Germany ultimately led to the declared withdrawal. The corresponding part of a statement made by then Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on June 14, 2000 is shown.

reception

It was only through the research on which the film was based that the public became aware of the events surrounding nuclear waste exports to France and the storage of dangerous goods in the open air. The debate on this was widespread in the international press, which also made it known that Germany was exporting even more radioactive waste to Russia.

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ , Tagesschau.de on October 13, 2009
    Dispatch of nuclear material: Paris government investigates nuclear transports to Siberia , Spiegel Online on October 13, 2009
    {{Web archive | text = archive link | url = http: //www.zdf.de/ ZDFmediathek / content / Atommuell_illegal_nach_Russland_entsetzt% 253F / 863398 | wayback = 20091019092841 | archiv-bot = 2018-03-28 22:27:23 InternetArchiveBot}} Nuclear waste illegally disposed of in Russia, today in Europe from October 14, 2009 ( ZDFmediathek ) , Link no longer available, media library does not list any reports that are older than 2010.
  2. ↑ 27,300 tons of uranium delivered to Siberia - German nuclear waste is stored in Russia ( Memento from October 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Tagesschau.de from October 14, 2009