N-Base Briefing 252

N-Base Briefing 252- 29th October 2000

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Dounreay News

Waste storage

Dounreay operator, the UK Atomic Energy Authority, has applied to the Highland Council for planning permission to construct a temporary low level waste storage facility to contain about 900 200-litre containers. Dounreay has been short of low-level waste storage since an extension to the waste pits was abandoned due to concerns over nearby coastal erosion. At present low-level waste is stored in a former hanger at the site's old airfield. The Council's reference for the application is 00/00345/FULCA

New contracts

The French company Framatone has been awarded two contracts concerning the decommissioning of the Dounreay Fast Reactor. A GBP3m contract is for decommissioning the old fuel storage pond and the second, worth GBP1m, is to examine ways of removing the liquid sodium coolant from the reactor and design equipment to do the work.

Sodium treatment - and Vulcan 'Letters'

Two items in Briefing 251 require further explanation. The regulatory 'approval' from Euratom still awaited for the new plant built to deal with 1,500 tonnes of radioactive liquid sodium used to cool the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) and 57 tonnes in the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) requires further details. It is in fact a legal requirement now that the European Commission be asked for its opinion on such proposals, rather than give its approval, and this opinion must be considered by the regulators before a final decision is made on whether or not to approve new facilities and their waste management. In addition the procedure whereby defence facilities such as HMS Vulcan were exempt from normal regulatory approval, but instead exchange a 'Letter of Agreement' is also changing. The new European Commission's Basic Safety Standards Directive requires authorisations as a matter of law since 13th May 2000. In a current legal action involving the Aldermaston nuclear weapons establishment its argued this Directive makes the 'Letter of Agreement' procedures unlawful.

News in Brief

Submarine faults still causing waves

What was initially described as a "minor defect" which resulted in the nuclear submarine HMS Tireless going into Gibraltar has now turned into a serious problem for all 12 of the UK's 'hunter-killer' Trafalgar and Swiftsure class vessels. Spanish concerns over the presence of the crippled submarine were raised by the Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar during meetings with Tony Blair. Spain has complained about the UK withholding information on the submarine's faults. The reactors, developed at HMS Vulcan, have long had problems with their coolant systems. Examination of HMS Tireless showed the seriousness of the problem, with cracks are in a critical section of the cooling system, and this led to the recalling of the other vessels. It is suggested the problem on HMS Tireless could easily have become extremely serious before the reactor was shutdown. It is possible repairs will be carried out first on a submarine at one of the two UK depots, Faslane and Devonport, before work is carried out on HMS Tireless.

EU view on reprocessing

The EU environment commissioner has given the Commission's view on this summer's OSPAR resolution calling for the adoption of the non-reprocessing option for the management of spent nuclear fuel. In a letter to Greenpeace Commissioner Wallstrom commented: "...there is now broad support for the implementation of the non-reprocessing option for spent nuclear fuel. The Commission, whilst having no direct powers to decide on reprocessing...will continue to contribute by providing OSPAR with the information and scientific background necessary to allow the strategy on radioactive substances to be implemented and progress to be assessed."

EU nuclear split

A special meeting of European environment ministers will be held on 7th November to try and sort out the split among member states over whether or not nuclear power should be included on the list of Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) in the Kyoto protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The UK and France in particular are promoting the use of nuclear energy in developing countries, while a number of other member states are opposed to the proposal which is seen by the nuclear industry as a possible lifeline with new developments in industrialised states at a virtual standstill. So far Europe has opposed including nuclear power in the CDM list - a standpoint which has annoyed the US Administration. A meeting is scheduled for the Netherlands next month to decide on this issue.

Pile problems

A three-year delay in decommissioning work on the Windscale Pile One at Sellafield has been confirmed. In 1957 a serious fire in the UKAEA's Pile One caused widespread contamination of northern England and melted fuel elements are still stuck in the reactor. The contract to decommission the pile was awarded by the UKAEA to Nukem, Rolls Royce and British Nuclear Fuels and the UKAEA has now said there will be a new review of all available decommissioning options after the contractors' proposals were found to be "not robust enough".

AEA profit warning

AEA Technology, the privatised part of the UKAEA, warned this week of a likely drop in profits because of delays in singing new long-term engineering contracts.

Russian petition

Over 2.5 million people signed a petition opposing plans by the Russian government to import, reprocess and store overseas nuclear waste. The plan, proposed in Parliament by energy minister Yevgeni Adamov, is seen as a way of earning foreign currency by offering foreign governments and nuclear industries a way out of their waste store and disposal problems. It is estimated Russia could earn GBP14 billion from the trade. The government proposes importing about 20,000 tonnes while another proposal, in which American firm Non-Proliferation Trust Inc is involved, envisages importing about 10,000 tonnes.

Taiwan scraps reactor

The Taiwan government has announced it intends scrapping plans to complete the partially built reactor in the north of the island.