| It's easy done, that was the
message last week from the Nuclear Inspectorate as it was confirmed that fuelrods at the
Chapelcross power station had fallen down a shaft. A spokesisotope told
the JT: "It's understandable, if you leave fuel rods lying around, a few are bound to
roll into a conveniently located shaft at some point. The rods were recovered and there's
no harm done, probably."
Elsewhere in the crazy world of nuclear fission fizz-bang-boom, it was revealed
that settings on release valves on the two reactors powering Torness had been "out a
couple of decimal points."
An atom scientist explained the significance of this
to the JT: "Let's say you have the gauge on your central heating boiler set too high.
You just get hotter water. It's exactly the same with these release valves, the reactor
just produces hotter water. |
The only difference is that your
domestic boiler wouldn't irradiate half of East Lothian if it blew up, that's the point at
which my comforting analogy breaks down a bit I have to admit…" Chapelcross,
the UK's oldest operating nuclear power station was originally built to process weapons
grade fissionable material and enviromental groups have called for its closure on safety
grounds. A worried tree hugging hippy told the JT: "I wouldn't say the technology at
Chapelcross is archaic but the containment ring for the reactor is made out of wood, and
the skill sets of the senior staff members are a bit out of date."
The latter claim was rejected as ludicrous by Eric Electron, the station's
Alchemist in Chief, King's Necromancer and Custodian of Ye Big Glowy Thing That Maketh The
Funny Noises… |
