N-Base Briefing News January 2001

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27th January 2001

Yet another power problem

The power supply at the fuel cycle area of Dounreay has suffered another problem. Radiation monitoring devices at the reprocessing, fuel fabrication and waste complex failed for 20 minutes on Tuesday after a fuse was blown following problems in a diesel compressor in the boilerhouse. This latest problem follows a 90 minute loss of power in the same area in December and in 1998 there was a 16 hour complete loss of power after a contractor's mechanical digger cut an underground cable and the site's backup systems failed.

Nukem to take over from AEA

It is reported that the German company Nukem Nuclear is likely to take over the vital safety work at Dounreay presently undertaken by AEA Technology. AEAT is getting out the nuclear business after a drop in profits and the Germany company is favourite to take over the health physics department at the Caithness site. The work includes offsite monitoring and the monitoring and health checks on all workers at the complex.

Strike talks

Last minute talks are underway to try and avoid a strike by 100 members of the AEEU union over a pay dispute.

Arctic shipments

Discussions are underway for a possible trial this summer to test the viability of using the northern Arctic route for shipments of vitrified high-level reprocessing wastes from Europe to Japan. The Japanese power industry is apparently in discussions with the Murmansk shipping company to use the Russian fleet of nuclear ice-breakers to open the way for the ships carrying the wastes. A test voyage is possible this summer with the first full transport taking place in 2002. Using the route along Russia's north Arctic coast would not only be cheaper, as it is much shorter than the traditional routes used, for example around Africa or South America, but it would also avoid the international protests by countries along these existing routes. The proposal is likely to be strongly opposed and a major hurdle will be getting the agreement of the International Maritime Organisation. There are three especially adapted and armed British ships used for the high level waste shipments and it is not known what additional changes might be needed to meet the demands of using the Arctic route.

Krypton discharges

A memo from British Nuclear Fuels and leaked to Cumbrians opposed to a Radioactive Environment (CORE) suggests that the company used its influence to stop the Japanese installing equipment to remove kypton-85 discharges from the Rokkasho reprocessing plant which is due to be completed by 2005. BNFL has been under pressure to stop krypton discharges at Sellafield for many years but has argued that either the technology does not exist or would be too expensive to develop. The leaked memo, from a senior public relations adviser in 1996, says the company should use "every effort" to persuade the Japanese "not to fit krypton-85 removal equipment as this is damaging to our own position." Plans to install krypton removal technology at Rokkasho were later dropped .

Magrox plans dropped

British Nuclear Fuels has announced that it is dropping plans to develop a new Magrox fuel for two of the Magnox reactors. The company had hoped the new fuel could be used in the Wylfa and Oldbury reactors, so extending their operational life until 2016 and 2013 respectively - and producing vital income for the company. The new fuel would have been able to be reprocessed in the Thorp reprocessing plant at Sellafield - allowing the closure of the B205 Magnox reprocessing plant around 2012, which is a central part of the UK's attempts to meet its international obligations on radioactive discharges under the OSPAR Convention. The company is now likely to consider alterations to the Thorp plant which may allow the existing Magnox fuel to be put through the plant.

Transports ban lifted

BNFL has welcomed the news that the ban in Germany on spent fuel transport to Sellafield has been lifted and the first shipment for two years has been approved by regulators.

Tireless repairs start

Repairs on the nuclear submarine HMS Tireless have started in Gibraltar. The submarine limped into the port last May after a serious problem developed in its reactor coolant system - a problem which has now been found in other UK nuclear submarines. Work has now started on repairing the weld in the cooling system and the Ministry of Defence says the work should be finished in March. The spokeswoman denied an agreement had been made with the Spanish Government that the vessel would be towed back to the UK if repairs were not completed by the anniversary of its arrival - 19th May. Meanwhile the European Union Ombudsman is investigating whether the submarine's presence in Gibraltar breaks EU radiation public protection rules.

New Minister

Mr Peter Hain has been appointed as the new energy minister at the Department of Trade and Industry, replacing Mrs Helen Liddell who has become Scottish Secretary of State. Mr Hain said that his membership of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament would not affect the way he dealt with the civil nuclear industry in the UK. He said he fully supported the government's energy policy and its support for nuclear energy. Among the decisions Mr Hain inherits is the decision on the future of the 25 tones of plutonium fuel at Dounreay which was subject to public consultation last year.

New Zealand protests

The New Zealand Government is to lodge formal protests with the UK, France and Japan over a shipment of plutonium fuel. The Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal are carrying plutonium MOX fuel for Japanese reactors. The vessels left France earlier this month and are travelling via the Cape of Good Hope and are due to pass through the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand foreign minister Phil Goff said that while the chance of an accident was small it could not be discounted.

New Faslane managers

Babcock International is to take over the management of the Faslane nuclear submarine base on the Clyde which is the base for the UK's Trident submarines. Babcock already own and run the Rosyth naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth.

Waste leaves

Three hundred and sixty spent fuel rods from the Lucas Heights reactor in Sydney left Botany Bay this week for France where the highly enriched uranium will be reprocessed.

Depleted uranium row continues

The Ministry of Defence has said the risks from depleted uranium shells were "trivial" compared with the risks from combat. Even if a DU particle was inhaled or embedded in your body, the MoD said the risk of developing cancer over the next 50 years was only "slightly increased". It is also reported that the MoD is to ask the Committee on the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment to investigate the health risks of using DU tipped shells. Fourteen Labour MPs have signed a House of Commons motion calling for DU ammunition to be scrapped while the World Health Organisation is to investigate the health risks of depleted uranium after a formal request from the Iraqi government.

20th January 2001

Waste shipments via the Arctic ?

The Japanese and Russian Governments are reported to be about to announce a proposal to transport high-level reprocessed nuclear waste from Europe to Japan via the Russian arctic coastal route. The government are expected to announce a joint project to build a special vessel to undertake the shipments around Norway and along the north coast of Russia, through the Bering Straight and into the Pacific. This route would be shorter than the using the Panama Canal, or going round either Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope - the routes used to date for shipments of high-level wastes and plutonium fuel to Japan. It would also avoid the protests from many countries on these routes. However, the dangers to the Arctic in the event of an accident and the difficulty of recovering either the vessel or the waste containers will ensure strong opposition to the proposal.

Another particle

Another radioactive 'hotspot' particle has been found on the foreshore below Dounreay. The particle was found earlier this month during routine monitoring on the foreshore between the Dounreay Fast Reactor and the Prototype Fast Reactor.

Fuel to return to Germany

The deadline for the return of plutonium fuel to Germany has been confirmed in the House of Commons by Department of Trade minister Mrs Helen Liddell. The fuel from the abandoned Kalkar SNR-300 fast reactor in Germany was taken to Dounreay in the mid-1990s because of problems at the store in Belgium where it was being kept and also the forlorn hope of UKAEA managers that the UK Government would allow the fuel to be used in the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) at the Caithness site. The German nuclear industry paid GBP1 million to build a new store at Dounreay for the fuel. The PFR reactor was facing closure as the government considered cutting finance for the project and the hope was the UKAEA would be allowed to use the 'free' German fuel, but the plan was rejected. Last year the USA considered using the Kalkar fuel in its Fast Flux Test Facility but this plan was also abandoned. Speaking in the Commons, Mrs Liddell said the Kalkar fuel had to leave Dounreay by 31st December 2001. It is likely the fuel will be put into store at the Hanau complex.

Water problems

The water supply at the Dounreay complex was lost in an accident earlier this month. UKAEA says there was no risk to safety and dismissed claims by Scotland Against Nuclear Dumping that the incident had been 'covered-up' by the authority.

Factory fire

New concerns have arisen about a fire in 1999 at the Royal Ordnance Speciality Metals factory in Featherstone, Staffordshire, where depleted uranium was stored and used in weapons production. Despite official reassurances, the Fire Brigades Union has raised concerns about the health of its members who helped fight the fire. The Prison Officers Association is also concerned for its members who work in a nearby prison which was affected by contaminated fumes from the fire.

Clear tests

No traces of depleted uranium has been found in tests on five French soldiers who served in the Balkans conflicts and who are now suffering from cancers.

Shells contained plutonium

The USA and UK have admitted that depleted uranium shells used in Iraq and the Balkans also contained plutonium, which is only produced by the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. The US and UK authorities have denied using reprocessed uranium, saying that the uranium had been accidentally contaminated with plutonium when it was stored in containers previously used to store reprocessed material.

European concerns

The European Parliament has voted for the suspension on the use of depleted uranium shells and NATO has called for a full investigation of the illnesses suffered by Balkan veterans, although the alliance insists there is no convincing evidence of a link to the use of depleted uranium. There is also an inter-government argument over whether troops in the European Rapid Reaction Force should be allowed to use depleted uranium shells.

Museum charged

The Natural History Museum in London has admitted a charge that levels of radioactivity in natural rocks in its exhibitions breached safety regulations. The museum said visitors were not in any danger when visiting the mineral gallery where the rocks were on display.

Submarine invaded

Greenpeace activists who tried to board the nuclear submarine HMS Tireless in Gibraltar were arrested by police and later fined GBP350 each. The submarine has been the centre of controversy after it limped into the port last May following a serious loss of coolant accident. While the UK wants to repair the submarine in Gibraltar there is considerable local concerns over safety.

Flyers warned

A study of 6,000 flight attendants has shown a 30 per cent greater risk of developing breast cancer and double the risk of skin cancers because of exposure to cosmic radiation. Researchers say exposure on a four-hour flight at 30,000ft was the same as having one chest x-ray.

Submarines concerns

Clackmannanshire Council has called for a full public inquiry into plans to dismantle the nuclear submarine HMS Renown at the Rosyth naval base on the Firth of Forth. Councillors were considering an environmental impact study for the dismantling the submarine prepared by Rosyth operators, Babcock Rosyth Defence. The proposal is seen by the Ministry of Defence as a trial pilot project and would be the first ever attempt to dismantle a nuclear submarine.

Australian waste

A shipment of 360 used nuclear fuel rods is due to be taken through the streets of Sydney next week and loaded onto a vessel before going to France for reprocessing. The reprocessed wastes will be returned to Australia. The spent fuel from the Lucas Heights reactor in the suburbs of Sydney were due to be shipped to Dounreay for reprocessing but the closure of the plants at the Caithness site for safety reasons and the ending of commercial reprocessing stopped that plan.

Waste shipments

A new shipment of plutonium MOX fuel manufactured in Belgium left France on Friday en route for Japan. The Pacific Teal and Pacific Pintail left the port of Cherbourg while their sister ship, the Pacific Swan, left the South Atlantic and entered the Pacific with her cargo of high-level reprocessing wastes under the close scrutiny of the Chilean Navy. The Chilean government told the French, British and Japanese ambassadors of its concerns over the shipment. The Japanese group Green Action, which last year exposed the fake monitoring data for British MOX fuel, has said there are similar concerns over this latest shipment of MOX fuel from the company Belgonucleaire. The group is taking legal action to stop the Belgium fuel being used in the Tokyo Electric Power Company's reactors.

13th January 2001

Technetium protests

Ireland and the Nordic countries have continued their protests at discharges of technetium-99 from the Sellafield complex and the Environment Agency's decision to delay a planned reduction from 90TBq to 10TBq until 2006. The deputy director for the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, John Cunningham, said: "We consider technetium discharges as unnecessary and they should be stopped". Public enterprise minister of state Joe Jacob also criticised the delay in reducing discharges. The Norwegian environment minister, Siri Bjerke, pledged to work with other countries to try and reduce technetium-99 discharges: "We can work for other and better ways to handle the waste."

Decision delayed

The Highland Council and Scotland Against Nuclear Dumping have both criticised the delay in a government decision on the public consultation on how to treat 25-tonnes of plutonium fuel at Dounreay. A decision had been expected last summer. Highland convener David Green asked why there was such a rush in the consultation period when they were still waiting for a decision. SAND spokesman Lorraine Mann said she though a decision may be being delayed until after a general election.

Radon warning

One in seven private water wells in Devon were found to have high levels of radioactive radon in an 18-month government study.

New plans

British Nuclear Fuels last week submitted a new business plan for its plutonium Mox fuel SMP plant to the UK Government. The company has to prove the economic case for the plant before the government can approve the plant starting work. BNFL claims new 'customer commitment' although it refused to say whether this mean new contracts, claiming this information was commercially confidential.

Bradwell sabotage

New tougher security checks on staff are being introduced at all the UK's nuclear power stations following a security scare in 1999. Details of the June 1999 scare have been revealed in the Guardian newspaper. A security guard at the Bradwell reactor in south-east England hacked into the site's computer system and triggered an alert that an intruder was in the complex.

Waste shipment protests

The Pacific Swan, carrying high-level vitrified reprocessing wastes from France to Japan, is due to round Cape Horn this weekend. The shipment has been criticised by Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Uruguay while in Argentina a court has ordered the government to ensure the vessel does not enter its waters although the Foreign Ministry said the vessel was allowed to come within 12 miles of the coast under international shipping agreements.

Another shipment

Two shipments of plutonium Mox fuel are expected to leave France for Japan next week onboard the Pacific Teal and Pacific Pintail.

Depleted uranium controversy continues

The international controversy over the use of shells containing depleted uranium has continued with a number of countries expressing concerns over the health of their soldiers taking part in the Gulf War and Bosnian and Kosovo conflicts. In the UK the Ministry of Defence has bowed to pressure and offered voluntary health checks for troops who served in the Balkans - a decision which annoyed Gulf War veterans who have been excluded from the checks. The Royal Navy announced it was stopping the use of depleted uranium shells on its vessels - a decision forced upon it when the American manufacturer said it was ceasing production in favour of more expensive alternatives. However the UK Government has insisted it will keep depleted uranium as part of its armoury while ordering new trials at the Dundrennan testing range on the Solway Firth near Kirkcudbright - another decision which has increased existing concerns among local residents. Highland councillors are to seek re-assurances that depleted uranium shells have not been used at firing ranges in their area. The Nuclear Free Local authorities have called upon all the UK's depleted uranium to be declared a radioactive waste and securely stored pending final disposal. "In different circumstances, from civil aircraft accidents, munitions factory fires, to weapon testing on open ranges, depleted uranium contamination has raised serious concerns about health implications", the NFLA said.

7th January 2001

Sodium work starts

Work has started on disposing of the 1,500 tonnes of radioactive liquid sodium coolant from the Prototype Fast Reactor at Dounreay. A new GBP17 million plant to treat the highly dangerous sodium has been built by NNC Ltd and Framatome in the former turbine hall of the reactor. Initially the 600 tonnes in the secondary coolant system will be dealt with before work starts of the more radioactive 900 tonnes in the reactor's primary cooling system. The sodium is treated with hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide which neutralises it before the radioactive salty residue is discharged through the liquid waste pipeline into the Pentland firth.

Strike threat

One-hundred-and-seventeen craftsmen, supervisors and engineers employed at Dounreay by the UK Atomic Energy Authority are to be balloted on possible strike action. The employees are members of the AEEU union and are likely to reject a three per cent pay offer. The result of the ballot will be known later this month.

Decommissioning deal

The UKAEA has signed a co-operation agreement to exchange information with the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The agreement is to share information on decommissioning nuclear facilities. A similar agreement has been signed by the two bodies with the French Commissariat a L'Energie Atomic.

Particle's pathway

The UKAEA has claimed that a radioactive particle found early in December near the Dounreay Castle originated from the sea and not from the plant's fuel cycle discharge chimney or any other pathway. In a report to be submitted to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the UKAEA says it investigated 12 possible pathways by which the particle could have reached the area around the castle, which is open to the public. The conclusion was that it was either blown from the sea by strong winds or could have been deposited there during very high tides. Scotland Against Nuclear Dumping spokeswoman Lorraine Mann was highly critical of the report saying to was impossible to have thoroughly investigated 12 possibilities in a couple of weeks. She said it was 'typical of Dounreay complacency'. UKAEA's claim that this radioactive particle was carried inland by the action of the wind or sea may focus attention on the possibility of other, as yet undiscovered, particles being carried inland.

Waste concerns

The Nuclear Free Local Authorities wrote to the Health and Safety Executive in December urging it to use its regulatory powers to insist that British Nuclear Fuels clear the backlog of high-level liquid wastes at Sellafield by 2010. The HSE has set a target of 2015 for the work but the call from the NFLA follows a report by the Irish Radiological Protection Board expressing concern over the safety of the existing storage facilities for the waste.

Targets missed

British Nuclear Fuels has admitted the Thorp reprocessing plant will fail to meet its production targets for the third year running and the plant would not meet its 7,000 tonne target for its first 10 years in operation. Last year Thorp reprocessed an estimated 348 tonnes compared to a target of 800 tonnes.

Plant cleared

At the end of December the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate said British Nuclear Fuels had met all 15 safety recommendations for the plutonium fuel Mox Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Sellafield which was at the centre of the fake quality control data scandal. BNFL will now re-commission the controversial plant in the hope of it re-opening by this summer.

Drug tests

Random alcohol and drug testing is to be introduced this year for staff at the Sellafield complex.

Fire

There was a fire in the high-level liquid waste vitrification plant, Vit Line 2, on Christmas Eve. Workers were evacuated and the fire was put out within an hour by the complex's own firemen supported by the local Cumbrian fire brigade.

Radioactive watches

A number of wrist watches from France have been recalled because they contain steel contaminated with radioactive cobalt-60. A 'precautionary advice' notice was issued by the National Radiation Protection Board in the UK advising anyone who had purchased a watch in a Carrefour store between 26th October and 9th November 2000 to either contact the supplier or take the watch to the NRPB. Details can be found on the NRPB web site at www.nrpb.org.uk/R4-00.htm

New depleted uranium concerns

The controversy over the use of depleted uranium shells by NATO forces in Kosovo and in the Gulf War has been greatly increased over the past few weeks with the publication of a UN Environment Programme report showing increased radiation levels where the shells were used in the Balkans. Also Sweden and Italy have both called for a full investigation of the health effects of the shells with tips containing depleted uranium and European Union president Romano Prodi has suggested the use of the shells should be banned. There is concern at the number of soldiers who have contacted leukaemia since the conflicts and many believe the use of depleted uranium shells may be a factor in the development of Gulf War Syndrome. In Scotland the new controversy has again highlighted the use of depleted uranium shells at the Dundrennan testing range on the Solway Firth. Over 6,400 rounds of DU shells have been fired at the range since 1982 and the Ministry of Defence last year announced a new monitoring programme following widespread concerns.

Waste shipment via Cape Horn

A shipment of 76.8 tonnes of vitrified high-level reprocessing wastes left France on 19th December for the Japanese port of Mutsu from where it will be taken to the Rokkasho Mura waste storage facility. The 192 glass blocks of nuclear waste are being shipped on board the armed merchant vessel Pacific Swan which is expected to clear Cape Horn soon and enter the Pacific. The transport has raised concerns in a number of South American countries and there are also likely to be protests by Pacific island states.

Importing waste

The Russian lower parliament, the State Duma, has approved an Atomic Energy Ministry plan to import nuclear waste in the hope of raising money to pay for cleaning up radioactive contamination at numerous sites in the country. The move has been condemned by environmentalists who argue that Russia already has a vast nuclear waste problem without importing more wastes.

Prosecution

The Health and Safety Executive is to prosecute the UK Atomic Energy Authority and AEA Technology following a safety scare at Harwell last September. Army bomb disposal officer had to be called in after an emergency while staff were trying to recover silver by electrolysis and created a potential explosive chemical reaction.

Decommissioning Sovereign

The Ministry of Defence has said it is likely to decommissioning the nuclear submarine HMS Sovereign because of reactor problems. The vessel completed a GBP192 million refit three years ago but problems with its reactor have forced the MoD to admit decommissioning the vessel may be cheaper than continuing to try and complete repairs.

Waste protests

The first shipment of Japanese spent fuel arrived at the Rokkasho reprocessing plant in December.

Radioactive tags

Researchers have discovered records showing that the former East German security forces in the Stasi used radioactive tracking of alleged dissidents. A number of techniques were used, including using a radioactive spray on floors which stuck to the shoes of anyone who entered the room and which could be traced using geiger counters.

Decommissioning costs

The Ministry of Defence has said the estimated cost of decommissioning the UK's nuclear defence facilities has risen from GBP10 billion to GBP32 billion.

New phone research

Research in the USA failed to find a link between mobile phone usage and brain tumours, although the researchers from six medical centres said more work was needed before mobile phones could be said to be safe.

Relaxing regulations

The US Department of Transport is proposing to re-classify some material with low levels of radioactive contamination as 'not radioactive' for transportation purposes. In addition the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking the National Academy of Sciences to consider a proposal to allow low-level wastes to be used in the production of consumer goods.

Mox concerns

A study by the Oxford Research Group, commissioned by Greenpeace, has raised concerns over the safety of plutonium MOX fuel to be used by Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company in its Fukushima-1 reactor in April. The Mox fuel was manufactured in Belgium at a facility which the ORG says has poor quality control procedures.