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 granted.
Announcing approval for the use of a limited amount of MOX fuel at the power station, the Swedish Environment Minister Lena Sommestad said “ The limited licence is an exception and does not mean a changed policy for treatment of Swedish nuclear waste “.
After contracts were signed with BNFL in the mid ‘70’s to reprocess around 140 tonnes of spent fuel, the Swedish Government subsequently reversed its spent fuel policy of reprocessing in favour of the direct disposal of its spent fuel. Alarmed by Swedish plans in 1996 to have its spent fuel returned to Sweden unreprocessed, BNFL promptly reprocessed the fuel, well in advance of its scheduled reprocessing date in the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP). A portion of the 800kg of plutonium recovered at THORP as a result of reprocessing the Swedish spent fuel will now be converted to MOX fuel at SMP in what the Swedish Governmnent sees as the safest way of managing their plutonium waste.
A CORE spokesperson said today “ Sweden’s decision to accept a limited amount of MOX purely on waste management grounds ridicules BNFL’s claims for the merits of MOX as reactor fuel. With BNFL and its UK Government sponsors refusing to renegotiate contracts, customers who would rather shun MOX altogether are left with no option but to take back their plutonium in the form of exorbitantly expensive MOX fuel “.
With Japanese orders for MOX conspicuous by their absence, the limited Swedish order together with those from Swiss and German utilities account for a relatively small percentage of SMP’s total orderbook. BNFL plans to ship the MOX fuel to Europe over the coming years using the port of Workington and the second-hand Atlantic Osprey.
CORE’s spokesperson added “ this Swedish order is unlikely to go down well in some areas of West Cumbria and particularly in Workington where locals have already complained about BNFL’s future use of an insecure port and a ship lacking in the most basic safety features required for plutonium transports “.
For further information contact CORE on 01229 833851.