The 17th November saw the unprecedented use of Cumbria’s main roads for the transport of plutonium fuel (MOX) from Sellafield to Barrow. Arriving at Barrow docks in the early afternoon in a French security vehicle, the heavily escorted MOX transport was routed from Sellafield via the M6 motorway, turning off close to Kendal onto the main A590 road through Ulverston during Friday afternoon’s peak traffic period.
Prior to the convoy’s arrival at Barrow’s Anchor Line Basin, the town’s dock system was subjected to a major security clamp-down. The cargo of 4 MOX fuel assemblies containing around 90kg of plutonium was driven onboard the British Nuclear Group ship Atlantic Osprey – a converted roll-on roll-off cargo vessel – which sailed that night for Cherbourg en route to the Swiss Beznau nuclear power station. The Irish Government had banned the ship from its territorial waters.
Similar MOX shipments to Switzerland had been made by the ship in 2005 and in April this year using the port of Workington which has been specifically designated by BNG for its MOX trade to Europe. As Workington was unavailable due to dock repairs, BNG was forced to switch last week’s shipment to Barrow, a move which necessitated not only the long road journey through Cumbria but also the use of a Barrow dock never before used for such a shipment. Located some distance from BNG’s own dedicated shipping terminal at Ramsden Dock (which has no ro-ro facility), the less secure Anchor Line Basin had to be used. This side-dock, which has few of the safety equipment features available in the BNG Terminal, had required days of work by port operatives before the shipment to clear mounds of marine engineering junk that has blocked the unused ro-ro entrance to the dock over the last decade.
Despite objections from local residents near the dock, the shipment will have received clearance from the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) who appear to have been satisfied with the unprecedented plan to use the roads and a less than suitable dock. Such approval comes just days after the warning by the Director General of the Security Services MI5 about the serious, sustained and growing threat from terrorists which ‘may include the use of radioactive materials and nuclear technology’. The clandestine nature of this MOX transport was evident by confirmation from Barrow Borough Council’s Chief Executive that his Council had not been formally consulted or advised of any shipment.
This Swiss MOX fuel has been on Sellafield’s order book for many years but, because of the continuing failure of the Sellafield MOX Plant, has only recently been produced. Given the fuel’s late production, local observers have questioned the urgency of the transport and the competence of the plan when, for the sake of waiting for a fortnight, the shipment could have been made with a greater level of security and safety from Workington’s dedicated dock on its re-opening.