The intentions of the West Cumbrian Masterplan, posing under the guise of Britain’s Energy Coast, have been thrown into disarray with the revelation that a long established local wind farm will be scrapped to make way for a new nuclear power station. The revelation was made to a Cumbria County Council Forum meeting yesterday evening … [Continue Reading]
‘Near Miss’ at Sellafield’s High Level Waste (HLW) Storage Tank Complex
Details of an incident involving a loss of vital cooling to the storage tanks that currently hold some 1000 cubic metres of highly radioactive liquid waste are now beginning to emerge. News of the incident was first divulged last week by Sellafield Limited’s new Managing Director Bill Poulson of Nuclear Management Partners Ltd (NMP), the … [Continue Reading]
Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP). Lame Duck and Toxic Liability
The Government response (2nd April 2009) to a Parliamentary Question from MP Michael Meacher this week confirms the economic and production failures that have become synonymous with the crippled SMP. A Table provided in the response shows that SMP, with an original annual production rate of 120 tonnes of Mixed Oxide fuel (MOX, in which … [Continue Reading]
Plutonium Pariahs of the High Seas
The UK’s two armed nuclear ships sailed from the port of Barrow-in-Furness at midday today (Friday 27th February) bound for Cherbourg. The Pacific Heron and Pacific Pintail, both operated by Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL) are due in the French port within the next few days to collect a cargo of plutonium MOX fuel produced … [Continue Reading]
‘Trust us’ said the nuclear industry and its unions …
‘Not likely’ will be the response from those who saw the advert on the front page of this week’s Whitehaven News (12th February) helpfully placed by the consortium that now runs the UK’s Low Level Waste dump near the village of Drigg just south of Sellafied. LLW Repository Limited’s advert implores workers who tipped nuclear … [Continue Reading]
NDA Announcement on Land Sale for New Build
The support of the latter and the connivance of the former in the promotion of new build at or near Sellafield further condemns West Cumbria to another 50 years or more of nuclear domination, degradation, accident and terrorist action, and will do little for jobs or the local economy in the long term. CORE’s spokesperson … [Continue Reading]
New Plutonium ship arrives at Barrow to join nuclear fleet
Over six months later than promised, the Pacific Heron docked at Sellafield’s shipping terminal at Barrow-in-Furness this evening (11th June). Built by the Mitsui Shipbuilding & Engineering Co at the Tamano shipyard in Japan, the Pacific Heron replaces the Pacific Teal – one of two armed nuclear ships – which was sent to a Dutch … [Continue Reading]
Second Call – 20th Low Level Radiation and Health Conference 7th & 8th June 2008
Saturday JUNE 7TH, 2008 9.30-10:Registration 10.00 Welcome To Ambleside Session Chair: Dr Ruth Balogh, Director Centre for Health Research & Practice Development University of Cumbria 10.15:Theme 1: Radiation Risks Radiation-induced bystander effects ¡V latest news. Dr Carmel Mothersill (McMaster University, Canada) 10.35 What are Non-Targeted Effects of Ionizing Radiation and How Might They Impact Radiation … [Continue Reading]
Imminent Plutonium Shipment
Sellafield is planning to ship a cargo of dangerous plutonium under armed escort to France in the next few days. The cargo of plutonium, in the form of weapons-useable dioxide powder – a highly prized terrorist material – will be secretly transported from Sellafield in French vehicles to local docks and onto the NDA’s ship … [Continue Reading]
Further trouble for comatose THORP
Still not fully open since the leakage accident in April 2005, hopes to restart THORP soon have been dented by the mechanical failure earlier this week of the elevator system which feeds fuel from the plant’s feed pond into the main plant for reprocessing. , Despite THORP re-start approval having previously been given by HSE’s … [Continue Reading]