What would happen if terrorists blew up a nuclear power station in the UK?

Question

FYI I think the government wouldn't tell us until they had got all their key personel out of the country and by then the ports and airports would be overrun, which means if we didn't die of rad poisoning we'd kill each other trying to get off the island...discuss

Answer 1

An infiltration of a nuclear plant would require a lot of expertise, and a long period of planning, further increasing the chance of the plot's detection. It would probably need either ex military or paramilitary personnel and equipment to accomplish, all of which are hard to acquire. Once discovered, the SAS, and possibly every other counter terrorist organisation on the continent, would then come down on the plotter like the wrath of an angry god.

If this plot was to use a plane, then under current security measures, they would probably only be armed with a paperclip, or possibly a nail file... and the pilot's cabin, as of 9/11, is now a near impregnable door, with a probably very trigger happy and scared man with a gun behind it. This is also not factoring in any air marshals, or off duty police, army or johnny-on-the-spot (and after 9/11, that could be ALL of the passengers) hero types trying to stop them.

Or, assuming some other countries ballistic missiles were somehow captured and even the hint of pointing them in a UK-wards direction was suggested, chances are the UK would bomb the crap out of the site, or sick the SAS on them... and suffer the political repercussions later...

The plant has far, far too many safeguards to go critical, and surely, emergency response to such an incident would be very fast and aggressive, so they would probably not be able to cause an overload...Assuming on one of these three plans actually succeeds, and CT does not respond in time, then depending on their plan, there could be a moderate or full scale nuclear incident...

If enough concrete is dropped on the reactor in time, then it could be less serious than Chernobyl. Depending on prevailing winds, and the emergency service response times, it could actually, be containable... The radioactive dust could be blown out to sea, temporarily saving the UK from a nuclear disaster... but possibly dooming it to a future with glow-in-the-dark fish...

Seriously though, radioactivity is not certain death. The most dangerous isotopes have a half-life of 2 weeks, so if everyone stayed indoors, or reached a safe area, and knuckled down for a few weeks, then the threat would be significantly less... running away would be pretty much out of the question as well, as chances are, all planes would be grounded, and all ports closed. Besides, if the disaster was serious, then everyone outside and nearby would probably be irradiated causing health problems...

It would be a disaster, but the UK would not tear itself apart. The radioactive area could be buldozed over, and buried, clearing the area...The disaster could also be limited in scale, if response was quick enough, and chances are the CT teams would also get to there before the plan reached fruition...

So it probably wouldn't happen, and wouldn't do as much damage as hollywood tells us it would..
Hope this helps.

Answer 2

the guys who speak about NPP security are a bit optimistic. If a load of environmental protestors could get onto the control tower roof at sizewell B and stay up there for hours a determined terrorist group wont have that much trouble!
Most of the answers are right about what would happen. It would take a whole load of explosives to damage the reactor enough to release harmful materials. What would be dangerous would be if they managed to damage the cooling system. This would shortly lead to meltdown, assuming no-one was able to carry out an emergency repair. For the effects of a meltdown, go to wikipedia and have a look at the 'chernobyl incident' page

Answer 3

This puts us conspiracy theorists to shame :( To think that missing a small target like a nuke plant thats low to the ground vs a large target thats high in the air was a mistake is ignorance. The Gov may have been behind 9/11 but this is far from proof that they were... The best proof I have heard is the fact that the Gov was running multiple tests of the defence system that made it impossible for the planes to be targeted and shot down in time. To think 4 planes could be hijacked and no one in the defence agency notice enoth to be able to launch some time of ground to air missle at them is retarded... Also I think the terrorist could have picked a much better target then the heavly built pentagon but that proves nothing also.

Answer 4

Not much, because they'd find it extremely difficult to actually get to the core, which they'd have to if they wanted to cause a nuclear incident. They would certainly never be able to burst into the site (Atomic Energy Police have been armed since the fifties let alone the SAS guardians). So they'd have to use an aeroplane (a very big one) on the same lines as 9/11. Ever heard of ground to air missiles ? We've got 'em, so if you're in the plane that's really tough but if you live next door to Sellafield you're probably as safe as the rest of us.

Answer 5

When Buncefeild oil depo went up the we ( the people that live in the area - and yes i know that wasn`t terroists ) were told bugger all, we had to find out every thing from the telly.
But when a necular power station goes up then those who have the means to get out will and the rest of us will suffer.

Answer 6

Have you ever seen a nuclear power station?.. believe me it would take a very big bomb to blow one up!,. or even damage one enough to result in nuclear material being vented to the atmosphere.. They are made out of thousands of tonnes of reinforced concrete .-usually the nuclear elements are set in massive concrete and steel revetment's, covered over by a pressure containment dome, with many different safety devices and measures to contain any likely nuclear effect .

Answer 7

This is very difficult - you would need someone on the inside to help you - even with that, there are so many safety precautions and security measures in place that it would be hard to have another Chernobile (my apologies if I didn't spell that right)

But hey, if it did happen you would be able to cook chicken on a rock (yes I stole that from Vegas Vacation)

Answer 8

We would all end up glowing in the dark and the Labour party would claim the credit for reducing electric bills.

Answer 9

Heaven forbid, we need to keep our eyes open, + defeat the terrorist. Chemical warfare, I surmise is what`s going to happen, we stopped the poising a few months ago. But BEWARE.

Answer 10

How do you blow up a nuclear reactor? Here, in the States, it's nearly impossible to fart without everyone in the Security Dept. knowing it, at one of those places. And, at the one in Savannah, Ga. they are equipped with military hardware, and are screened for security clearances. How the hell would you even consider bombing one? (Now watch, Greenpeace is going to do it, just to drive a point across...)