N-Base Briefing 478


N-Base Briefing 478
10th December 2005
ISSN 1478-4661

Energy review

As expected at the end of last month prime minister Tony Blair announced an energy review that will include looking at the option of building new nuclear reactors in the UK. The review is to be led by the energy minister Malcolm Wicks. Despite claims that no decisions have already been made the 'spin' from Downing Street is that Mr Blair is convinced new nuclear build is necessary to prevent an energy crisis in the UK.

Scottish powers

Debate continues over the powers of the Scottish Executive to influence any proposal to build a new reactor in Scotland. The Labour peer Lord Sewel, who was the Scottish Minister who oversaw the devolution legislation, said the executive "could not use its planning powers to prevent, as a matter of policy, the construction of nuclear power stations in Scotland". Only if there were "legitimate planning grounds" could the executive oppose a new reactor.

Former energy Minister Brian Wilson, a long-time supporter of nuclear energy, also said planning powers could not be used to achieve a political objective.

Extending reactor life

British Energy is looking into extending the life of the Torness and Hunterston reactors in Scotland. Hunterston is presently scheduled for closure in 2011 and Torness in 2023, but a company spokeswoman said they were considering extending the life of both reactors.

Waste meeting

This week the UKAEA invited local residents to view its plans for a new low level waste facility at Dounreay. The UKAEA said the projected date for the facility to be ready to receive waste is 2013. It is anticipated that between 64,000 and 109,000 cubic metres of solid low level waste will be created by decommissioning.

Stack application

The UKAEA is to submit a planning application to Highland Council for a new main discharge ventilation stack in the site's fuel cycle area.

Court opinion

The full Court of Session judgement on the action raised by the Sandside Estate against the UK Atomic Energy Authority because of the radioactive particle contamination of its beach is now available at www.scotscourt.gov.uk/opinions/p777_02.html

Committee visits

Members of the Enterprise and Culture Committee of the Scottish Parliament visited Dounreay last month to discuss economic and employment issues.

French ruling on waste

A French appeal court has upheld a Greenpeace case that Cogema is storing foreign nuclear waste at it la Hague complex. The case concerned 1,500 Australian spent fuel elements from the Lucas Heights reactor in Sydney – that would have gone to Dounreay, like previous spent fuel, before it ended commercial reprocessing work in 1996.

The spent fuel was shipped to la Hague without Cogema getting approval for reprocessing it – effectively meaning it was merely storing the overseas waste. Earlier this year permission was given to reprocess the spent fuel. The four-year legal battle is likely to be continued by Greenpeace which is investigating whether the ruling can be applied to other material stored at la Hague.

The ruling has also caused concern in Australia. The federal Senate has just passed two Bills to force the Northern Terrority to accept a nuclear waste dump in its borders, but this is unlikely to be ready before 2011 at the earliest.

The dump is meant to take waste from Lucas Heights, but there is concern that the French legal ruling might mean Cogema tries to return the 1,500 fuel elements before the dump is ready. Officials from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation want assurances that neither the spent fuel elements, nor the waste if they are reprocessed will be returned before 2015.

Australia is also scheduled to start receiving reprocessing waste from Dounreay in 2011.

Meantime several senior members of the Australian government are pressing to open a debate about building a power reactor in the country.

CoRWM confusion

The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) has been embarrassed by an on-line website poll posted by its programme managers AMEC-National Nuclear Corporation (NNC). The on-line poll on nuclear power and other issues was put onto the CoRWM website by AMEC last month – despite the fact the committee's terms of reference relate solely to waste management, not nuclear power or energy policy.

Last week CoRWM instructed AMEC-NNC to take the poll off its website. When the poll was withdraw 74 per cent of those voting opposed a new nuclear programme. The poll also asked a number of other questions on attitudes to waste management. Full details at www.corwm.org.uk/content- 629

Waste exported to Russia

Details of how the European nuclear industry has been dumping radioactive waste in Russia for several decades are emerging with the publication of a Greenpeace report, Europe's Radioactive Secret. Contaminated uranium from reprocessing at the Cogema complex at la Hague and depleted uranium from fuel enrichment facilities in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Capenhurst in the UK has been exported to Russia. Greenpeace estimates over 100,000 tonnes has been shipped to Russia over the past 10 years. The waste is shipped to St Petersburg and then taken by rail to dump sites in Siberia.

CoRWM tribunal claim

Two former members of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management are taking the Government to an employment tribunal for unfair or constructive dismissal. Dr Keith Baverstock, the former head of the radiation protection division for the World Health Organisation, was sacked from the committee after complaining that its work was unscientific. Professor David Ball resigned from the committee in protest at the sacking of Dr Baverstock.

Call to keep Westinghouse

The chairman of British Nuclear Fuels, Gordon Campbell, has called for the proposed sale of the company's Westinghouse subsidiary to be cancelled. The government, however, is keen on the sale, expected to raise GBP1.1 billion, partly because of the cash, but it also argues state ownership of a commercial reactor builder might be contrary to European competition laws.

NDA training boost

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has given GBP20 million to help boost training and employment prospects in Cumbria. The money will be used to help start a Nuclear Institute, a National Skills Academy and a new academic position of Chair of Epidemiology at the University of Central Lancashire.

Pipe raised

Work on cutting up and removing the former two-mile long seabed discharge pipeline at Sellafield has been completed. The pipeline was cut into sections and packed into 55 ISO freight containers that will be taken to the Drigg waste repository.

CoRWM

The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management has published a number of new reports and meeting minutes on its website. Details at www.corwm.org.uk

Dogs recruited

The Civil Nuclear Police Authority has said there is a shortage of dogs to be trained for security work at the training facility at Sellafield.

Cumbrian links

The Caithness area committee of the Highland Council has agreed to establish links with colleagues on local authorities in Cumbria to share views on decommissioning of the Sellafield and Dounreay sites.

Fuel emptied...

Work has started on unloading fuel from Reactor No.3 at the Chernobyl complex. The reactor was closed in 2000 and fuel from this and the No.1 reactor have to removed before a new shelter cane be build over the No.3 reactor that exploded in 1986.

...but waste plan considered

Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko is considering a plan to import nuclear waste from Europe for burying in a dump in the contaminated zone around Chernobyl.

Evacuated

Part of the Sellafield complex was evacuated this week after monitors detected high radiation levels. The incident happened in the high activity storage area last weekend. The cause was believed to be a blockage in the pipe where samples were taken.