N-Base Briefing 175

N-BASE BRIEFING 175 - 10th April 1999

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Dumping continued despite warnings

A scientist warned the government the controversial waste shaft at Dounreay was unsafe and unsuitable in 1967 - yet dumping continued for another 10 years until it was closed after an explosion in the shaft in 1977 threw radioactive waste onto the surrounding area. Estimates now put the cost of emptying the shaft and making it safe at least GBP250 million.

The shaft was initially dug to allow access to the tunnel for the site's waste discharge pipeline into the Pentland Firth. It was authorised as a dump in 1959. Mr Jim Dawson, a scientist with the government's Institute of Geological Sciences (now known as the British Geological Survey), investigated the shaft in 1967 and concluded it was unsuitable because " it is unlined, too near the coast, and the disturbed nature of the bedrock makes this area unsuitable for waste disposal."

The 1967 report had been kept secret until last month, prompting Scotland Against Nuclear Dumping convener Lorraine Mann has called on the government to release all files and reports concerning Dounreay to give the public full access to all available information.

New contamination found in dump

New radioactive contamination has been found in a disused dump used for building waste at Dounreay from the 1950s to the 1970s. The dump is outside the licensed site boundaries and concern about erosion of the dump near the foreshore has led site operators UKAEA to carry out urgent work to new plans to move part of the infill further inland and remove loose material. Seventeen pieces of contaminated material were found on the surface of the dump - including a piece of iron contaminated with caesium, plutonium and americium with activity levels up to 86,000 Bq per kilogram.

Aerial survey's good and bad news

The results of a aerial survey of 130 square kilometres of land around Dounreay has revealed a new area of contamination near Forss Water and Knockglass which has levels of 397 Bq per kilogram. The survey found some areas of contamination resulted from either the Chernobyl accident in 1986 or from the nuclear weapons tests in the 1960s. Contamination areas attributable to Dounreay were found along the coastline between Dounreay and Crosskirk, on land to the south and east of the site. The survey was carried out by AEA Technology and the Canadian company Sander GSL and Exploration Ltd using a specially equipped helicopter.

MOX shipment

A shipment of plutonium mixed oxide fuel is expected to leave St Petersburg in Russia for Halifax in Canada later this year. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd says the shipment will be soon - environmental groups expect it to be May or June. The shipment will pass through the Baltic and North Sea before entering the Atlantic.

Spillage at Sellafield

There has been a spillage of 80 litres of radioactive uranyl nitrate liquid in the B268 chemical separation plant at Sellafield.

Mobile phone studies

The UK government has told the National Radiological Protection Board to identify new areas of research required to try and answer the question of whether or not the use of mobile phones is threatening to users' health. This followed an initial report that a study by researchers from Bristol University and published in the International Journal of Radiation Biology had found no damaging effects of using mobile phones. There may be localised heating of brain tissues caused by microwave radiation, but the study found no evidence this harmed short-term memory.