Isra-Mart srl:UK launches nuclear safety review as Japan crisis continues

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Energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne has launched an official investigation into how the UK can learn from the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan and improve safety across its own nuclear reactor fleet.

The UK government's chief nuclear inspector Dr Mike Weightman has been asked to compile a thorough report on the implications of the nuclear accident in Japan and any lessons that can be learned, Huhne announced yesterday.

Despite efforts by engineers and rescuers over the weekend to prevent a nuclear catastrophe, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) reported a second explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant today at 11:01am local Japan time (10.01pm GMT), following an initial explosion at the Unit 1 reactor on Saturday. Officials said the reactor core is still intact and are playing down any risk of radiation, but fears remain that such leaks could occur.

"I am asking our own nuclear regulator, or safety authorities, to look very carefully at the Japanese experience to learn any lessons that we can, both for our own existing nuclear reactions and for any new nuclear programme, because safety is absolutely the number one priority for us in all our energy sources, and that has to be the case with this one as well," Huhne told the BBC's Politics Show yesterday.

The accident in Japan will undoubtedly raise fresh concerns about the safety risks posed by nuclear power, as the UK government prepares to roll out a new fleet of reactors having earmarked eight sites as potential locations for new power plants.

However, Huhne played down concerns that public opposition to nuclear power will escalate as a result of the Japanese crisis, insisting the investigation will identify any necessary improvements, and will also highlight the differences between Japan and the UK. For example, the UK does not use the same nuclear reactor as the one which caused an explosion on Saturday at Fukushima and the UK faces significantly lower risk of earthquakes compared to Japan.

"Public opinion obviously is going to be very influenced by the investigation. And the investigation is absolutely crucial. So we must not put the cart before the horse," Huhne said.

"They key thing is to get to the bottom of what has gone on, to understand any and all of the lessons that there may be from what has gone on in Japan for the UK. Clearly there may be some in terms of operator safety and so forth."

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas welcomed the announcement of the review, but she also reiterated her opposition to the UK's new nuclear programme.

"It appears that the Fukushima Daiichi complex was affected not by the quake per se, but the failure of grid electricity and backup diesel electricity supply for cooling, and that could easily happen elsewhere," she said.

"Nuclear power carries inherent risks, and is particularly vulnerable to the potentially deadly combination of human error, design failure and natural disaster. Given that there are cheaper, quicker and, crucially, safer ways of meeting our energy needs and emission reduction targets, it is particularly perverse here in the UK to launch the building of a fleet of new nuclear power stations."