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Letter bomb blast at Swiss nuclear industry group: police

French atomic security unready for repeat disasters: agency
Paris (AFP) March 30, 2011 - French nuclear security has not yet taken into account the kind of accumulation of natural catastrophes that led to Japan's atomic disaster, the head of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said Wednesday. "How do we deal with an accumulation of assaults? This is something that we have not yet taken into account," ASN head Andre-Claude Lacoste said when asked about lessons to be learnt from the unfolding nuclear accident at Fukushima. "Obviously, we will have to ask ourselves what are the lessons to be learnt from what happened in Japan," Lacoste told journalists after presenting his 2010 report on nuclear security in France to parliament. A powerful earthquake followed by a giant tsunami earlier this month cut the electricity to Fukushima's nuclear reactors, shutting down the cooling system and leading to the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

"We cannot live on quiet certainties, in fact who can after what's just happened?" he said, adding that the ASN's position remained that "no one can ever say that there will never be a nuclear accident in France." The French government last week told the ASN to carry out a security audit at France's 58 active atomic reactors. France is proportionally the world's largest user of nuclear power. The audit will take into account the risks brought to light by the Fukushima disaster, and its first conclusions should be published by the end of the year. "Seismic, tsunami or flooding hazards... We must go back (to the power stations) given what's happened in Japan," Lacoste said. "We could envisage setting up areas with emergency diesel supplies at all nuclear plants in France (or that) at plants along the coast, the diesel be stocked at the top of a cliff rather than at the bottom." "That might appear extremely rustic but that's typically the kind of question that must be asked," he said.
by Staff Writers
Zurich (AFP) March 31, 2011
A letter bomb exploded at the offices of the Swiss nuclear energy association Thursday, injuring two people, police said.

The letter exploded at the offices of Swissnuclear in the northern town of Olten, a police spokesman said. Both victims suffered superficial wounds.

"At about 8.15 am, while opening the letter, it exploded," injuring two people, a spokesman for police in the canton of Solothurn told AFP.

"One person was hurt in the arm," he said, without giving details about the identities of the victims.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Swissnuclear is the nuclear energy offshoot of the Swiss power industry association. It groups major power generating firms in Switzerland, according to the association's website. Swissnuclear was not immediately available for comment.

The entrance of the office building, located in the centre of Olten, as well as a part of the street, were blocked off by police.

No damage was visible from the exterior of the building, which was surrounded by police cars.

Thursday's incident occurred as around 30 Greenpeace protestors held a demonstration a few hundred metres away, outside the headquarters of Swiss power firm Alpiq.

But the group quickly suspended its demonstration following the blast, distancing itself from the letter bomb.

"We distance ourselves with the greatest firmness from this explosion. Greenpeace has nothing to do with this attack," Florian Kasser, who heads Greenpeace's energy campaign in Switzerland, told AFP.

"The demonstration has now been suspended," he added.

In a statement, Greenpeace said the demonstration was being held to demand Alpiq formally withdraw a request to build new nuclear power plants in Switzerland, which has suspended plans to replace its ageing reactors following Japan's nuclear disaster.

In an interview with a Swiss newspaper, Heinz Karrer, who heads Swiss energy group Axpo, acknowledged that "at the moment, it is unthinkable to talk about another new nuclear power plant."



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