A decision at Copenhagen yesterday by members of the OSPAR commission to give priority attention to moving away from reprocessing and towards the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel was shunned by the UK and French governments. Despite attempts by all other members of OSPAR to ensure the protection of our shared marine environment, the UK and French members refused to vote for the proposal. A CORE spokesperson said today “ We have come to expect that the UK will put BNFL’s polluting business interests before the interests of protecting the environment, and yesterday was no exception.. Our Government, along with that of France, is now politically and morally isolated on this issue – even BNFL’s own European customers voted for the proposal which in itself is the best indication that reprocessing at Sellafield is unacceptably pollutive and has no future “. Under the new agreement, Sellafield’s radioactive discharges have to be reviewed as a matter of priority with a view to implementing a non-reprocessing method of dealing with highly radioactive spent fuel from reactors. A tried and tested alternative method of dealng with spent fuel is to store it in custom-built, above-ground dry stores. If implemented at Sellafield it would lead to significant construction work and new jobs in conditioning the currently pond-stored fuel ready for dry storage and in operating the stores. CORE added that such a move would not mean the closure of Sellafield but a shift in direction for BNFL towards waste management work in which the company’s expertise lies and for which there is increasing national and international demand unlike that for reprocessing. Whilst the original motion from the Danish Government to the OSPAR commission called for the immediate end to reprocessing, yesterday’s diluted decision represents a major move forward in protecting the environment and is welcomed wholeheartedly by CORE as another nail in BNFL’s reprocessing coffin. For further information contact CORE on 01229 833851 or mobile 0789 999 1146.