Radioactive Spin

The fallout from Hungary's nuclear accident at Paks

On April 11th, maintenance at one of the reactors of the Paks nuclear facility in Hungary had to be suspended because of a radioactive gas leak. The press officer at the plant said the leak wasn't a danger to the surrounding environment, so there was no need to take emergency measures. According to the International Atomic Agency's disaster scale, the accident was ranked as two out of seven, the higher the figure being the more dangerous.

It was sometime during the night when sensors indicated the presence of a toxic substance in the air. Experts then believed the leak probably came from the cooling unit beside the reactor. By morning the leak had reduced substantially. According to Balazs Kovats, spokesperson at the Paks Nuclear Facility, technicians immediately suspended all work at the facility and investigated the source of the leak. They concluded that the cooling unit had malfunctioned. It was surmised that a problem with heat transfer from the rods during the cooling process was the cause.

Government and the media simply ignored the accident

The gas leaked from the facility to the outside environment through the plant's air conditioning system. Authorities stressed, however, that the amount of radioactive gas was so small that it wasn't a cause for worry, either within the facility or beyond. Nevertheless, the mayors of the surrounding towns and villages were notified by SMS of the leak.

It was only a week later when the authorities admitted that the situation at Paks was more serious than at first thought. This came about when a closer investigation was made on the damaged heating rods. The damage was so extensive that it surprised everyone at Paks; no-one expected the damage to be so severe. Subsequently, the danger level of the accident was retroactively raised to three.

In the 20 year history of the plant, this was the most serious accident to date. What has since come to light is that the heating rods were not cooled enough when they were transferred. As a result, they overheated and became deformed, causing a crack in the chamber which allowed the radioactive gas to escape. Authorities admitted that human error could have been a cause of the accident.

What has been especially worrying about the accident at Paks is not only the reminder of potential health risks posed by nuclear power, but the way in which the government and the media simply ignored the whole issue. On the day of the accident, news of the leak appeared behind other stories of the day considered to be more important, such as the dismissal of a state secretary, the economic woes of the Expo center, and the upcoming referendum vote on EU membership.

Indeed, the referendum provided a convenient distraction. The issue of the radioactive gas leak from Paks almost totally disappeared from the headlines until the following week. It was only afterward, when the full extent of the damage was known, that the mainstream media began to deal with the issue. But by then, it was more in the form of damage control and spin than investigative journalism.

As a result, some commentators lamented the failure of the media to confront the issue. It was a classic example of media self-criticism of "we should have done more" coupled with calls for "the need to learn from our mistakes." Yet such lament always comes too little, too late; its underlying value, however, lies in the appearance of media objectivity. No doubt when a similar situation will once again rise to the fore, the media will react in the same way as before.

A "clean" form of energy

On another front, a parallel campaign was quickly launched to quell any unease that might be the result of the accident. The economic costs of shutting down Paks were immediately highlighted, as well the notion that Paks shouldn't be shut down as nuclear power is a "clean" form of energy.

At the same time, a vicious counter-attack was launched against all those who questioned the safety measures at Paks, including those raised by outside observers. Concern over radioactive fallout, not only pertaining to the accident but as a criticism of nuclear power in general, were shot down as scaremongering and negative propaganda.

Meanwhile, the government remained tactfully silent on the issue. Indeed, what happened at Paks wasn't even taken on by the opposition in parliament. As far as the political elites are concerned, nuclear power is a necessary evil, this despite the fact that the communist era facility was of the same type that blew up at Chernyobl over 15 years ago. Although the safety systems at Paks have been modernised, it still doesn't change the underlying features that make nuclear power one of the most dangerous sources of energy around.

What is even more worrying is the fact that the frequency of accidents and disruptions at Paks appear to be on the rise. In the past 12 years, there have been at least 20 accidents or disruptions at the Paks nuclear facility. Most have been in the range of 0 or 1 on the International Atomic Agency disaster scale. Four of them happened in the last two years alone.

On top of all this is the lingering enigma of waste. While some may consider nuclear power to be clean energy, no-one is willing to have nuclear waste stored in their backyard. In addition to this, the government still doesn't have a proper policy on the decommissioning of Paks.

In the past, governments in the region simply censored information as a means for dealing with an unpleasant situation. Attitudes have changed little since then. What is different is the way in which information is handled or, in some cases, simply ignored. With such indifference, an environmental disaster can't be that far off.