Briefing 76 - May 1995
76.1 NEW HOPE FOR DOUNREAY REPROCESSING PLANT ?
There was new hope for the future of the D1204 research reactor
reprocessing plant at Dounreay in April with confirmation that the US
Government was considering using the plant to deal with thousands of
Highly-Enriched Uranium (HEU) spent fuel elements. The US Department
of Energy has suggested using Dounreay to reprocess HEU fuel from
overseas reactors as one possible option for dealing with some of the
estimated 18,000 HEU spent fuel elements throughout the world.
The HEU fuel was originally supplied by the US to overseas reactors
and the spent fuel returned to the United States. But in 1988 environmental
concerns stopped the importation of spent fuel and Dounreay took over a
relatively small but lucrative business reprocessing the HEU fuel for research
reactors threatened with closure because of lack of storage space.
However, UK policy to return radioactive waste from reprocessing to the
country of origin was unpopular with a number of countries and the US
was opposed to reprocessing as it freed more weapons-grade material and
also concerned that its policy of encouraging reactor operators to change
from weapons-grade HEU fuel to low-enriched uranium would be
undermined by the imports ban. Also reprocessing was expensive
and only considered as a last resort.
In August 1994 the US arranged an `emergency' shipment of 153
spent HEU fuel elements from Austria, Sweden, Denmark and the
Netherlands reactors facing closure from storage shortages. After
lengthy legal action to try and stop the shipments because a proper
environmental assessment had not been carried out, the fuel was eventually
allowed into the US for storage at the highly polluted Savannah River plant
in South Carolina. The D1204 HEU plant at Dounreay was `mothballed' in
August 1994 for lack of work as reactor operators hoped the US would renew
importing their spent fuel.
However, ministers and officials from the UK Department of Energy along
with Dounreay have been strongly lobbying the US Energy and State
Departments for the Scottish plant to be used as part of a revised US
non-proliferation policy. The publication in March 1995 of a Draft
Environmental Assessment (DOE/EIS-0218D) by the US Department of
Energy shows their work has not been wasted.
The Draft EIS suggest three policy options: (a) importing all, or most of the
HEU fuel into the US for storage (or possible reprocessing);(b) facilitate the
storage or HEU fuel in the country of origin, with technical and financial support,
or if this is not viable, support the reprocessing of the fuel at Dounreay (or
possibly the Cogema plant at Marcoule in France);(c) a combination of the
two options, with the US importing fuel from poorer countries or those
considered greater proliferation threats, and Dounreay or France reprocessing
fuel from western/developed countries. Up to 10 years work could be
available for Dounreay.
An additional problem highlighted in the Draft EIS is the waste from
reprocessing. Only some countries with nuclear power programmes have
waste storage facilities for this high/intermediate level waste so the US would
have to accept the waste from these countries if their fuel is reprocessed.
Also any reprocessing of the HEU fuel, whether in the US, UK or France,
will be strongly opposed by environmental and non-proliferation concerns.
The US DoE is organising public meetings to discuss the Draft EIS and a
final EIS is expected to be published in September.
76.2. DOUNREAY'S WEAPONS LINKS
Despite often repeated official denials there was any link between operations
at Dounreay and the UK's nuclear weapons programme more evidence has
recently emerged to confirm direct links to the Atomic Weapons Establishment
(AWE) at Aldermaston in England.
A special fast reactor fuel plant was built at Aldermaston as early as the 1960s
to manufacture plutonium fuel for Dounreay's two fast reactors. The existence
of the plant was revealed recently in a report from the government's Advisory
Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (ACSNI). The plant at the
top-secret nuclear weapons factory is closed and a decommissioning contract
will soon be awarded.
Last year UKAEA admitted that Dounreay had supplied weapons-grade
Highly-Enriched Uranium (HEU) fuel for the Herald research reactor at
Aldermaston used to simulate nuclear explosions and reprocessed its spent
fuel for over 25 years until the reactor was closed in 1987. An AWE
spokesman said the Herald reactor "tested the effects of a simulated nuclear
event on various materials used in the construction of warheads."
(John O'Groat Journal 8.7.94) He confirmed that the reprocessed
HEU belonged to the Ministry of Defence.
UKAEA weapons group operated the Aldermaston plant until 1973
when the Ministry of Defence took over responsibility. UKAEA also
supplied the plutonium to Aldermaston from the Windscale (now Sellafield)
site which it also operated. Warhead tests are now carried out in Aldermaston's
Viper reactor. Dounreay says it has not been directly involved in
weapons work.
76.3. PLUTONIUM LEAK AFTER ACCIDENT
A major release of plutonium-239 dust into the atmosphere from
Dounreay could have been much more serious in different weather
conditions. A south-easterly wind took the radioactive dust out to
sea. A calm day would have deposited the dust over the plant, or a
westerly wind would have taken it over the nearby town of Thurso.
The 20 megabecquerels of pu-239 was released after an accident on
Saturday 11th February in the D1206 reprocessing building in the section
handling recovered plutonium dust. It is understood a "glove-box" pressurised
and blew open ripping the seals. The release amounted to about six months
of routine pu-239 discharges from the plant, although only two percent of
discharge limits. Several workers have been tested for exposure to
plutonium.
Workers at Dounreay are widely reported to be concerned that safety
levels have dropped because of commercial pressures. One worker
commented: "This would not have happened five years ago. Now its
about how much money it costs when there is a shutdown."
76.4. NEW SUBMARINE COOLANT PLANT
The Trident nuclear submarine test reactor facility next to Dounreay, HMS
Vulcan, is building a new UK£2.5m plant to treat radioactive coolant water
from its PWR2 prototype pressurised water reactor after the two-year
refuelling starts in 1996.
Liquid waste from HMS Vulcan is discharged into the Pentland Firth via the
Dounreay pipeline while intermediate and low level solid wastes is stored at
either site. Spent fuel from HMS Vulcan, like all submarine reactors, is not
eprocessed but held in storage.
76.5. OTHER DOUNREAY NEWS
5.1. No more cancer studies: No further detailed Government studies are to be
carried out into the increased level of leukaemia in children around Dounreay.
Although monitoring of any new cases of cancer around Dounreay will continue,
Government researchers have said future work should concentrate on existing
studies on cancer cases around all UK nuclear sites. A recent study around
Dounreay found evidence of a new leukaemia cluster (See Briefing 75.3).
5.2. Cancer death link legal battles: The widow of a former Dounreay worker
is to continue her legal case alleging that her husband died after radiation
xposure. Mr Alex Gillen died of leukaemia in 1962 and was convinced an
1959 incident while removing irradiated fuel from a reactor at Dounreay
was responsible. Dounreay says Mr Gillen's radiation film badge did not
support his statements. Meanwhile two women who had leukaemia when
they lived near Dounreay have had to drop their legal claim for compensation.
Legal aid support has been stopped for Mandy McVean and Sharon
Coghill and they must now wait for new evidence if they are to continue
their case. Ms Coghill said: "I still believe that my illness was caused by
Dounreay's activities...I do not believe for a minute that this was a co-incidence."
(Press and Journal 18.1.95).
5.3. Help for Chernobyl: A UK£2.5m European Union contract to undertake
a feasibility study into decommissioning the Chernobyl reactors, including
further measures to protect the No 4 reactor which blew-up in April 1986,
has been awarded to AEA Technology's commercial division - which is
scheduled to be privatised in the near future. AEA Technology is also
beginning decontamination work on the Bohunice A1 reactor in Slovakia
following an accident in 1991.
5.4. A good year ?: In 1993 reprocessing at Dounreay increased by 70
per cent. A total of 4.8 tonnes of fast reactor fuel and 2.5 tonnes of
research reactor fuel were treated at the plant.
5.5. Staff lose safety review work: The contract to carry out safety
reviews of operations at Dounreay has been won by Rolls Royce and
Associates, the operators of the nearly Trident submarine facility,
instead of the UKAEA's own staff.
5.6. Plutonium to Sellafield: The 37th shipment of plutonium nitrate,
recovered from reprocessing at Dounreay, was shipped from the nearby
port of Scrabster in April to the Sellafield plant in north-west England.
The plutonium was shipped on the European Shearwater, owned by
Sellafield operators, BNFL, who took legal action to stop Greenpeace
protesting against the shipment.
5.7. Big increase in plutonium discharges: Liquid discharges of plutonium
241 from Dounreay increased 100-fold in 1993 compared to 1992.
Atmospheric discharges also increased by over 20%. In 1992 14
gigabecquerels (0.3% of authorised limits) were discharged into the sea
compared with 1,300 GBq in 1993 - nearly 9% of the limit. Air discharges
increased from 1.2% of the limit in 1992 to 26% in 1993. The figures
reflect a relatively quiet year for reprocessing in 1992 and the big increase
in work in 1993. Discharges are expected to increase further over the
next 5-8 years.
76.6 WASTE SHIP'S WORLD TRIP
The first shipment of high-level radioactive waste from Europe to Japan left
France on 23rd February and arrived in Japan two months later after a hugely
controversial journey. The 14 tonnes of waste, produced from reprocessing
Japanese spent fuel, was vitrified in 28 glass blocks and was the first of dozens
of similar trips expected as the reprocessing wastes from Cogema's plant at
La Hague and BNFL's Sellafield are returned to Japan and other overseas
customers.
The waste was loaded in Cherbourg onto the BNFL ship Pacific Pintail,
which took plutonium from France to Japan two years ago. The route
taken was via Cape Horn and the Pacific, unlike the previous plutonium
shipment which when via Africa and the Indian Ocean. Numerous countries
along the four or five potential routes, such as through either the Panama or
Suez canals, either protested against the shipment or banned it from their
territorial waters and Chile was among the countries to order the ship to
change course and stay outside its waters. The ship was shadowed
throughout its journey by the Greenpeace ship Solo.
76.7. NEWS FROM SELLAFIELD
7.1. THORP contracts cancelled: Two German nuclear operators have paid
UK£100m in compensation to cancelled reprocessing contracts at BNFL's
THORP plant at Sellafield. Changes in German law, which now allow
storage of spent fuel, and the high cost of reprocessing convinced the
operators cancellation of the contracts was worthwhile. It remains to be
seen if other operators follow. The contracts were for RWE's
Gundremmingen and the Kruemmel reactor owned by KKK (GmbH).
7.2. Importing nitric acid: Over 180,000 gallons of contaminated nitric
acid for the Sellafield reprocessing complex is to be imported into the
UK from the United States. The nitric acid, contaminated with uranium,
is waste from the closed Hanford military reprocessing complex in the
US and will be sent to the UK in up to 50 shipments. Operators, British
Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) will put the acid through its Magnox reprocessing
plant to separate out the uranium and then re-use the nitric acid in the same
plant. The deal means the US solves a major waste problem and BNFL
needs less new nitric acid.
7.3. Ships not rail: BNFL has decided to increase shipments of European
spent fuel direct to Sellafield's port of Barrow rather than rely on rail and
ferry transport across the English Channel. It is estimated that European
shipments to Barrow will increase from an average of two to 60 a year.
The re-named BNFL ship European Shearwater (See News in Brief)
will be used for the shipments which began in October. BNFL said it had
decided to use sea transport rather than rail and ferry because it needed a
"secure alternative" because of doubts over the future of channel ferries,
especially the Nord Pas de Calais which has been used for spent fuel
shipments in recent years after environmental and union actions closed most
other routes. Environmental groups, in particular Greenpeace, have often
disrupted both trains and ferries carrying spent fuel. BNFL's new plans
will make similar action much more difficult.
7.4. Irish court case: Legal action against Sellafield in Ireland by four
residents of Dundalk has been allowed by the High Court in Dublin.
The action claims pollution from Sellafield reaches the Irish coast
causing health concerns. They want the THORP reprocessing
plant closed.
76.8. SCOTTISH NUCLEAR REVERSES WASTE POLICY
In a surprise about-turn, Scottish Nuclear (SN) has abandoned plans for
dry storage of its spent fuel which it claimed would save it UK£45m a year.
Shortly after Environment Minister Mr John Gummer said the Government
had no objections in principle to dry storage as an alternative to
reprocessing - and just before its own plans for a dry store were
expected to be approved - SN announced in February a new deal
with BNFL for reprocessing and storing its fuel at Sellafield. SN also
sold the plans for the dry stores to BNFL who will now probably
ensure they are never used.
Following the decision of two German nuclear operators to cancel contracts
with Sellafield (See above) BNFL were anxious to improve prospects for
its new THORP reprocessing plant. If SN had gone ahead with the dry
stores it would have represented a severe blow to BNFL and reprocessing
in general. It now seems BNFL was desperate enough to offer SN such
a cheap deal they could not refuse. Environmental concerns played little
or no part in SN's commercial decision.
The UK£4bn deal means THORP's order-book after 2005, which dropped
to around 30% after the German cancellations, increases to about 40%.
Under earlier contracts SN had already agreed to send 1,148 tonnes of
spent fuel to Sellafield for reprocessing. Under the new deal a further 550
tonnes will be reprocessed and another 1,044 tonnes will be stored at
Sellafield until 2006 when a decision on whether to reprocess it will be
made.
Meanwhile Nuclear Electric has signed a UK£14bn contract in April
with BNFL to reprocess and manufacture fuel for its Magnox and advance
gas-cooled reactors. The contract is a re-negotiated deal with Nuclear
Electric and represents a reduction of UK£100m in projected BNFL
profits.
76.9. RESTRICTED INQUIRY INTO DUMP PLANS
A public inquiry in plans for a radioactive waste repository close to the
Sellafield reprocessing plant in north-west England will begin in June.
The government's nuclear waste disposal company NIREX plans a
huge underground dump and wants to excavate an underground laboratory
to test the geology of rocks and water-flow in the area. The laboratory
and dump is opposed by the local regional council and environmental
groups whose demands for a full wide-ranging inquiry into all aspects
of nuclear waste disposal has been rejected by the Government. Instead
there will be a local inquiry restricted solely to local planning matters.
A report by the Royal Society (an association of UK scientists) questioned
the choice of Sellafield as the site of the UK underground dump for
low-level radioactive waste. The report also recommended that the site
should be extended westwards under the Irish Sea coast for dumping
high-level waste, even though these wastes are excluded from the brief
given to NIREX. Doubts were expressed about the geology of the area
and the Royal Society said Sellafield was not the best choice except a
political stand-point as there is likely to be less public opposition and
no problem of land acquisition.
A report from geological consultants commissioned by Cumbria County
Council has concluded that the East Anglia region of eastern England
was a much better site for a nuclear waste dump. Ground-water at the
Sellafield site could be forced to the surface, the consultants believe.
Another report published by NIREX last year shows that the geology
of a site close to Dounreay was much more suitable than Sellafield.
76.10. SAFETY CONCERN AT NUCLEAR WEAPONS PLANTS
Serious safety concerns at the UK's four nuclear weapons production sites
have been raised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). "Serious
inadequacies" in safety were found at the sites and they would have been
refused a licence if they were not military establishments exempt from
normal civil nuclear controls.
Standards were so poor HSE inspectors halted production of warheads
for the Trident nuclear submarine programme and at another site inadequate
precautions were being implemented to prevent a chain reaction. The nuclear
weapons site are operated by a private company, Hunting-BRAE Limited,
a consortium of Hunting plc, AEA Technology (the operators of Dounreay)
and Brown and Root. A number of enforcement orders were issued by
HSE inspectors to rectify the plants' most serious omissions out of a
list of 65 deficiencies.
76.11. SUPERPHENIX NOW EXPERIMENTAL REACTOR
After a four year shut-down due to of safety concerns, the Superphenix
fast reactor in France was restarted last year as a `testing plant' for burning
plutonium and other long-lived wastes. A six-year test programme has
been approved at an estimated annual cost of UK£12m. However,
there are industry reports that the German, Belgium and Italian nuclear
interests in Superphenix all want out of the expensive project. If the
experiment works it will be after 2000 before Superphenix produces
more plutonium than it produces - and then it will consume only a
small fraction of France's plutonium.
76.12. NEWS IN BRIEF
12.1. Nuclear - cancer link studies: A Health and Safety Executive study has
concluded that there is not a link between a father's exposure to radiation at
work and childhood leukaemia, undermining a 1990 report by the late
Professor Martin Gardner which found such a link. Also cancer
researcher Dr Leo Kinlen has published new evidence supporting his
theory that leukaemia is a virus caused when large numbers of people
move into an area, i.e. construction workers at major nuclear sites and
areas used to evacuate children from cities in the Second World War
supported his previous research.
12.2. Greenpeace take lid off Cap La Hague: A report on radioactive
discharges and waste production at the Cap La Hague reprocessing
plant in northern France published by Greenpeace states that the
plant's annual discharge limit is about three times the total liquid
discharges from all nuclear reactors world-wide.
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