09/02/2017 Channel Islands News

highlights the risks of being so close Nuclear power.

Account. Also on the programme tonight, could parking Wars be the

cause of thousands of pounds worth of damage in Jersey?

Channel Island authorities say there's no risk to residents

following an explosion at a nuclear power plant.

The blast at Flamanville in Normandy was caused by a fire.

Five people were treated but there were no serious injuries,

and French officials say there's no danger of a radiation leak.

Just before ten today a fire caused an explosion at Flamanville power

plant in a machine room - five workers needed treatment

The plant owners - EDF - said emergency services

contained the fire quickly, and the generator was

soon disconnected from the electricity grid.

Flamanville is around 20 miles from the Channel Islands.

While the islands aren't within the official risk zone,

they're close enough that the authorities have procedures

in place to try to protect residents in event of any disaster.

But with the internet and social media, today's news emerged

from French media sources long before any official word from Jersey

The fire officer involved with emergency planning thinks

We want to make sure the information we put out is correct obviously.

There's lots of info in the public arena so it's one of the challenges,

so one of the lessons from today is having set messages

of reassurance we can put out, as opposed to just messages

of what to do if there was an incident.

And he says if there was a serious incident,

islanders would be told to take shelter and stay indoors.

People living around Flamanville get protective iodine tablets in case

Why don't Channel Islanders get them too?

we're not in the zone that requires iodine tablets but clearly

we have the contingencies in place to make sure we know the right thing

to do and people will be informed of the right thing

On a clear day, you can see the power station

from here on the north east coast of Jersey.

And of course it's even closer from Alderney.

And while authorities say today's explosion thankfully didn't lead

to any radiation leak, it's a reminder of the importance

of having emergency plans in place and just how close

the Channel Islands are to any risk.

Earlier I spoke to nuclear consultant John Large,

who told me what he made of today's events...

Well, there's not enough information coming out yet, we donate how

serious it is and whether it affects the nuclear part of the plant -- we

do not know. The history of nuclear accidents has shown through to

Chernobyl, three mile Island, and most recently the Kashi mayor in

Japan, is that generally authorities play down nuclear aspects at the

beginning of the incident and the facts of the matter only come out

rather later. This could be a serious incident which is yet to be

fully reported. So, John, what kinds of safety plans should governments

of the islands put in place? They would have to be comprehensive, they

have to cater for the rest of the accident -- risk of the accident and

scale of it. That means you have to have an information channel

established with the French operator and French authorities. So, your

government knows, in real-time, the accident develops and if there's a

radioactive plume develops. It approaches, you need a comprehensive

integrating account of the weather and atmospheric stability and the

accident itself. And, what measures you have in place on the island to

mitigate and countermeasure against radiation exposure. It's quite a

complex system that needs to be modelled and put in place. John,

knowing what you know, would you be happy to live in the Channel

Islands? Well, I always dodged answering that question! The Channel

Islands are a delightful place, I would be happy living there. Any

man-made enterprise or structural or venture has risk. It's whether the

people of the Channel Islands want to live with that risk. If they are

properly informed and informed about the risk, then they can make a

decision. Ten thousand pounds worth of damage

has been caused to dozens of cars since October last year parked

outside homes in St Helier. Jersey Police believe those

responsible might be angry The 18 year old student was very

proud of her Citroen. But that pride's been dented -

by someone with a strong One day it just

started getting keyed. I don't know why but I've

got over 12 scratches, like key marks on my car

on every surface. My friends are scared to come up

and park by my house, I'm always the one to go and get

them, or they have to park quite far away so they don't risk the chance

of getting their nice cars And Molly's not the only person

to have been affected in this area, I spoke to one woman on this street

who told me her son's car was damaged, costing

around ?400 to fix. And another woman told me

she damaged her own car by trying to avoid a car that

was illegally parked. And these are the issues

causing tension. It's quite spread out,

so we have 4 or 5 different seats of damage which makes it quite

difficult to identify What we're asking people to do

is take a calm approach to perhaps a vehicle that they find in front

of their house, or in front of But then for that community

and those people to keep a look out. We genuinely believe

because of the way the offences are spread across this area that

it's highly likely that whoever Plain clothed police

officers will be working And if you know anything

about who did this to Molly's car - and her neighbours' -

you're asked to come forward. An Aurigny aircraft bound

for Guernsey from Manchester had to do an emergency diversion

to East Midlands because of a bad decision by the pilot, according

to the Air Accident Investigation Earlier I asked our reporter

Mike Wilkins what conditions Well we know snow was falling

at Manchester Airport. The report says the crew had little

experience of flying They made a decision that

de-icing was 'probably The commander said, 'the snow

doesn't appear to be sticking, so I think we can get away

without de-icing.' Later he said he was prepared to have delayed

departure if he believed The pilot did make a visible

inspection of the aircraft and the report says

he "optimistically thought any lying So, what happened once the plane had

taken off? The crew turned on the autopilot

a minute after taking off from Manchester,

but it disengaged about two A pitch warning

message was displayed. Two more attempts to use autopilot

both saw it disengage. It's believed a build-up of ice

on the tail led to difficulties The pilot said quote,

"I want to divert to East Midlands because I'm having to put

forward pressure on." The plane landed safely and all 31

passengers and crew were fine. Aurigny didn't think

it was a serious incident and it took them 3 days to inform

the Air Accident And what have Aurigny done

to improve their safety? Aurigny say they have procedures in

place for de-icing, but they were not followed. It has improved winter

awareness training. The air accident investigation Branch at art -- are

investigating a second incident which happened in December.

It involved the same aircraft and once again had to land due to ice

related problems. David Braine has

your late forecast. Some sunshine, cloud around, a risk

of showers tomorrow, and a cold wind. Daytime temperatures of four,

maybe 5 degrees, and with wind chill it will feel much colder. This area

of low pressure heading towards Spain and Portugal, easterly wind

strong in lower tempters over the next few days, including into the

weekend, giving a risk of wintry showers. This evening and through

the night, some holes in the cloud and the chance of the odd shower.

Temperatures down to two or three degrees, a touch of Frost as well.

Tomorrow we expect to see briefly some sunshine but on the whole it is

cloudy. Showers in the north and some come further south. Most of

those showers are offering but every now and again they could be some

sleet and snow grains in the wind. Just four or 5 degrees. It could be

a lot colder than temperatures suggest. A large part of Europe is

also in the grip of icy weather at the moment. Eastern France, no more

than zero. Eastern Europe, tempters below freezing during the daytime.

This pool of cold air heading towards us over the next couple of

days. Saturday even colder, winds from the north-east and a risk of

some sleet and snow showers in the wind, Sunday into Monday there's a

transition to slightly less Cordero, and a briefly on Sunday of seeing

some snow -- colder air. How much snow will arrive, is uncertain at

this stage but for all of us, the next few days will be cold! Have a

good night. It certainly is called out there.

That's your news this Thursday evening. BBC Radio Guernsey and

Jersey have a bulletin from 6am and Alison is back with you tomorrow

night at 6:30pm. See you on Monday night. Good night.

will turn a bit less cold again. All the way up seven Celsius.

At this time of year we can often get the weather stories that reflect

the battle