N-Base Briefing 470


N-Base Briefing 470
8th October 2005
ISSN 1478-4661

Four suspended

Four workers at the Dounreay Cementation Plant have been suspended on full pay following the intermediate-level liquid waste spillage at the end of last month. Two of the workers are to face disciplinary charges.

Dunnet survey

A second monitoring survey of Dunnet Beach for radioactive particles started on 27th September.

Report delayed

The Dounreay Particles Advisory Group has said its Third Interim Report will be published in the late Spring 2006 – about three months later than expected. The group says it is waiting for information on the movement of particles in the marine environment and on the characteristics of the particles.

Push for new reactors

The bandwagon for building new nuclear power reactors in the UK continues. Three major European energy companies – Germany's E.On and RWE (that trade in the UK as Powergen and npower) and EDF of France - have held talks with the Department of Trade and Industry to discuss the building and operating of any new reactors. UK nuclear-generator British Energy is prohibited from building any new reactors by the European Commission after last year's financial rescue of the company by the Government.

Media reports continue to stress the support for new reactors from the prime minister Tony Blair and suggest the industry is telling the Government it may be willing to build new reactors without any Government financial support so long as planning applications are not delayed and the government covers the cost of radioactive waste management.

Any problems with planning are likely to be overcome with changes in the planning laws being introduced in England, Wales and Scotland. This would see a National Planning Framework agreed by the Westminster or Scottish Parliaments. Any projects falling within the framework would not need to go though a lengthy and detailed planning inquiry.

In Scotland the First Minister, Jack McConnell, has maintained the executive's stance that it will not consider the matter until the problem of managing radioactive waste has been resolved. After that, he said, it would "only be to consider, discuss and debate. It will not necessarily be to agree".

Thorp closure

The Thorp reprocessing plant at Sellafield is likely to be closed until at least next March according to documents from the British Nuclear Group released under Freedom of Information laws. The plant has been shut since April when a long-term leak was discovered. The operator, British Nuclear Group, has to convince the Government and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority that it is worth re-opening the plant.

Companies waste

Power companies in the UK have been forced to detail the sources of their electricity generation and how much waste is produced under new European regulations. In Scotland Scottish Power says it gets four per cent of its power from nuclear and creates 500 micrograms of nuclear waste per kilowatt hour; Scottish Gas 16 per cent and 1870; Scottish Hydro Electric four per cent and 500. British Gas produces 1870 micrograms of waste while Powergen and Npower produce 1000 micrograms.

Safety review

The pressurised water reactor at Sizewell in East Anglia has been given permission to continue operating for another 10 years following a safety review by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. See www.hse.gov.uk

Waste barometer

The European Commission has published the results of a 'Eurobarometer' survey on attitudes towards radioactive waste and nuclear energy. Details at http://europa.eu.int/comm/energy/nuclear/waste/doc/2005_06_nuclear_waste_en .pdf

Sellafield blunders

An internal Sellafield report has revealed a 'catalogue of dubious practices' at the site's GBP250 million waste vitrification plant, where high-level reprocessing wastes are encased in glass.

Annual plan

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has published its draft annual plan for 2006-07. Among the targets for the year are for the NDA to agree its approach to intermediate-waste interim storage and introduce competition for the management of the Drigg and Dounreay low level waste facilities. The draft plan is available at www.nda.gov.uk