N-Base Briefing 503


N-Base Briefing 503
21st October 2006
ISSN 1478-4661

Reactor cracks - BE problems

The value of shares in nuclear-generator British Energy slumped by over a quarter this week on news that two more of its reactors are to be shutdown because of safety concerns over cracks in boiler pipes. This means only one of BE's eight reactors is working normally - resulting in the company having to buy electricity in the wholesale market to meet its existing power supply contracts with customers. The two reactors are Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B unit 4. The only reactor operating normally is Torness. (Daily Telegraph 17/10/06, Financial Times 17/10/06)

Manpower forecasts

The UKAEA has published updated figures for employment forecasts at Dounreay. About 2,000 people are currently employed on site and this will reduce by 500 over the next five years. Once decommissioning is completed in 2033 only 23 people will be employed - although the UKAEA hopes to bring this date forward to the 2020s. To try and offset the affect on the local Caithness economy Highlands and Islands Enterprise has announced a GBP12 million fund to help develop new employment opportunities in the area. (www.hie.co.uk/news.htm, www.ukaea.org.uk/downloads/dounreay/dounreaysocioeconomicupdateoct06. pdf)

Raffinate tests

Tests of storing Dounreay's medium-level liquid raffinate reprocessing wastes in a cement grout within steel drums is to be carried out at the t3uk facility at the Janetstown nuclear test centre. (Press and Journal 18/10/06)

One site

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority wants to combine the Sellafield and Windscale sites into one combined licensed site. The NDA says at present there are two separate safety and working cultures in the two sites with Windscale run by the UKAEA and Sellafield by the British Nuclear Group. (Whitehaven News 12/10/06)

Thorp fine

Sellafield operator British Nuclear Group was fined GBP500,000 plus costs at Carlisle Crown Court this week for the undetected leakage of 83,000 litres of highly active dissolved nuclear fuel and nitric acid which closed in Thorp reprocessing plant in April 2005. The liquid had been leaking for an estimated eight months before it was discovered. The director of nuclear safety for the Health and Safety Executive, Dr Mike Weightman, said the British Nuclear Group had fallen "significantly short of the required standards for a considerable period of time before the leak was discovered." (Whitehaven News 19/10/06, www.hse.gov.uk)

Shaft assessments

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has published an assessment of the technical proposals for the isolation of the controversial waste shaft at Dounreay. In general SEPA's consultants, Donaldson Associated Ltd, have approved of the work being carried out to pump special cement grout into the ground rock to isolate the shaft. The report says the project approaches the limit of current practice worldwide because of its complexity and the stringent technical requirements imposed on contractors by the UKAEA. The full report is available at www.sepa.org.uk

Can't start

The Swedish Nuclear Inspectorate (SKI) has ruled that the Forsmark 2 reactor cannot be restarted without further information on inspections. (www.ski.se)

Nothing found at Murkle...

The first ever radiation monitoring of the beach at Murkle, between Thurso and Dunnet Bay, has found no radioactive 'hotspot' particles that have contaminated other sections of the north Caithness coastline. (Caithness Courier 11/10/06)

...but particle at Sandside

The 69th radioactive 'hotspot' particle to be found at the Sandside beach was recovered by UKAEA monitors on 8th October. (Caithness Courier 11/10/06)

Crash clean-up

Radioactivity in the Spanish village of Palomares is to be cleaned-up 40 years after two American atomic bombs fell there following a mid- air collision between a B-52 bomber and a refuelling tanker. The US Department of Energy and Spain's Centre for Energy and Environment Investigation (CIEMAT) signed an agreement for the work earlier this month. The high-explosive in the bombs detonated in the accident spreading radioactive material including plutonium over the countryside. (Herald 09/10/06)

Risks altered

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) changed a press release on radioactive contamination at Dalgety Bay after pressure from the Scottish Executive according to media reports. The original SEPA report on radon contamination at the popular coastal area said the highest risk of a member of the public coming into contact with the radon was "1 in 90 per year" and the most likely effect would be a skin burn. However, the Sunday Herald obtained emails under the Freedom of Information Act that showed major changes were made after the intervention of Scottish Executive officials. The '1 in 90' reference was dropped from the press release which stated the likelihood of harm to the public was low and skin burns 'may result'. References to erecting warning notices were also dropped from the press release. (Sunday Herald 08/10/06)

Alliance

The nuclear services company Areva has formed an agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan to develop new 1,000MW nuclear power reactors. (www.niauk.org)

Purchase

Toshiba has completed the purchase of the BNFL subsidiary Westinghouse Electric for a reported USD16 billion. Toshiba has bought 77 per cent of the company and the Shaw Group another 20 per cent for over USD1 billion. Associated Press 17/10/06)

Pre-licensing

The Health and Safety Executive has said it expects its four-phase pre-licensing procedure for new nuclear power reactors to last over three years. (www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/reactors/proposals.htm)

NDA helicopter

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is advertising for companies to provide helicopters to transport its staff to nuclear sites around the UK. (Whitehaven News 12/10/06)