Local group CORE (Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment) has learned from an unamed source at the plant that the Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) has come close to losing its initial MOX fuel contract because the agreed delivery date can no longer be met. The loss of SMP’s first contract would be acutely embarrassing for … [Continue Reading]

Angry overseas customers are threatening to pull out of their contracts with the THORP reprocessing plant at Sellafield because of BNFL’s attempts to impose stringent ‘cost- escalating adjustments’ to their contracts. Reported in the current edition of Nuclear Fuel (a nuclear industry publication), German utilities, which represent THORP’s largest European customer, are threatening to commit … [Continue Reading]

The Swedish Government has reluctantly given approval to the Oskarshamn power station to use MOX fuel produced at the Sellafield MOX plant (SMP). The decision follows earlier pressure and damage claims amounting to around £10M against the Swedish Government by the power station’s owners if a licence to use MOX fuel at Oskarshamn was not … [Continue Reading]

Still smarting from the negative publicity surrounding the return shipment of rejected plutonium fuel (MOX) from Japan to Sellafield last month, BNFL is planning to ship plutonium fuel to Europe with reduced levels of safety and security for the dangerous cargo. In a press statement yesterday, BNFL announced that the Port of Workington will be … [Continue Reading]

Three years after leaving Barrow under a storm of protest, and one year after the events of September 11th, BNFL’s embarrassing and controversial cargo of weapons-useable plutonium fuel is due to arrive back in the town’s docks tomorrow morning under renewed protest and after a ten-week voyage that has attracted worldwide condemnation. An intense security … [Continue Reading]

Hopes of gaining any MOX orders for Sellafield from Japan are fading rapidly says CORE, with the announcement by nuclear power utility TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) yesterday that Japan’s MOX (pluthermal) programme has been delayed for the forseeable future. TEPCO’s president Nobuya Minami conceded “ We personally hurt the public’s trust in us. We … [Continue Reading]

Publishing its proposals for the regulation of radioactive discharges from Sellafield, the Environment Agency (EA) claims that lowering some discharge limits will reduce potential radiation doses to those living around Sellafield, and to the general public at large. A CORE spokesperson said today “ This is clearly untrue, given that the Agency itself has confirmed … [Continue Reading]

Describing yesterday’s White Paper details as a step in the right direction, CORE believes that the transfer of BNFL (and UKAEA) liabilities to the new Libilities Management Agency realistically represents little more than ‘moving the Sellafield deckchairs around’ at great public expense. Welcoming the potential for a more transparent management of BNFL’s liabilities by the … [Continue Reading]

In announcing the early closure of their Magnox power stations at Calder Hall and Chapelcross in a press statement today, BNFL has blamed low prices in the wholesale electricity market. Whilst poor economics will play some part in the closures, the principal reason for closing Calder Hall is clearly the costly and physically difficult problem … [Continue Reading]