N-Base Briefing 428


N-Base Briefing 428
4th September 2004

ISSN 1478-4661

Participation review

The UKAEA has published an independent review of its public/stakeholder participation programme at Dounreay. The report, written by Faulkland Associates, congratulates UKAEA and its Dounreay staff for what is seen as their genuine commitment to greater openness and public involvement. The report says the UKAEA's public consultation programme goes much further than ever tried before by the civil nuclear industry.

However, the report is highly critical of many aspects of he programme. The report says the policy is ill-defined and poorly explained to both management and public and calls for much deeper and earlier stakeholder involvement in the Best Practicable Environmental Option report process. Stakeholders should also be involved in the strategy, planning and process decision-making, not just on individual projects.

A summary of the report is available at www.ukaea.org.uk/dounreay/dsrpnews A copy of the full report is available from june.love@ukaea.org.uk

Reprocessing wastes

The contract to build a £10 million plant to facilitate the return of reprocessing wastes to customer countries has been awarded to Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering. The new plant will treat and package wastes from reprocessing overseas spent fuel prior to the waste being returned to the country of origin. The intermediate-level waste plant will also be used to store waste from other Dounreay activities. The overseas reprocessing waste is to be returned to Germany, Australia, Belgium and Spain beginning in approximately 2008.

Nuclear plea

The pro-nuclear Dounreay Action Group has repeated its call for a new nuclear reactor to be built at Dounreay. Economic prospects for Caithness were poor once decommissioning ended, chairman Roy Godfrey said, and a new reactor would give a new lease of life to the community.

Environmental assessment

The UKAEA has submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment to the Highland Council in support of its planning application to build a new facility to handle the removal and treatment of the stuck breeder fuel elements in the Dounreay Fast Reactor. Copies of the assessment cost £15 on CD-ROM from the UKAEA's communication's department at Dounreay.

UK in court over B30

The European Commission has started legal action against the UK in the European Court of Justice over the controversial B30 waste ponds at Sellafield. This is the first time an EU member has been taken to court on a nuclear safety issue. The Commission ion is saying the UK has failed to provide proper information on what is stored in the B30 ponds, has failed to give Euratom safety inspectors adequate access to the site and failed to produce adequate plans on emptying and managing the plutonium and uranium waste in B30

NDA chief executive

Dr Ian Roxburgh has been appointed the first chief executive of the new Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Headquarters moving

Nuclear generator British Energy is to move its corporate headquarters to Livingston, west of Edinburgh.

Response published

The UK nuclear waste agency Nirex has published its response to a consultation on the European Union Research and Development Framework Programme. Full details at www.nirex.co.uk

Plutonium ships

Two British Nuclear Fuels' vessels have left the UK for the USA where they will collect about 140 kilograms of plutonium for delivery to France where it will be manufactured into Mixed-Oxide MOX fuel.

Waste rejected

Importing nuclear waste to a dump in the Highlands was opposed by 96 per cent of the people who responded to the private survey conducted by Highland MSP and Scottish minister Peter Peacock.

Beach removal

Work is to start soon on removing the disused liquid waste discharge pipelines that lie under the beach off the Sellafield complex. Work on removing the two disused pipelines from the seabed has been underway for a year.

Waste concerns

Inadequate management and storage of nuclear waste and spent fuel in north west Russia is one of the biggest environmental threats to the Barents Sea according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Program. Details at www.giwa.net/barentsea

Employees moving

Work is to start soon on a new office development at the Westlakes Science Park near Whitehaven. The office will accommodate over 500 British Nuclear Fuel employees who are being moved out of the Sellafield complex.

Another death

A fifth worker has died following the accident last month at the Mihama nuclear reactor in Japan when superheated steam leaked from the cooling system.

New reactor

The Scottish Executive has denied claims that it had plans to build a new nuclear reactor in the Western Isles. The suggestion was made by anti- windfarm campaigners, including broadcaster David Bellamy, at a meeting to oppose plans British Energy for a windfarm on Lewis.