Guardians of our Common Seas - Lofoten mot Sellafield

Underground radioactive waste repository

2012-01-20T11:12:00.002+01:00

The West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership, which is running the public consultation on the search for a site for a deep underground radioactive waste repository, has issued a statement about its work

West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership is running the consultation until March 23.

The partnership, which involves a range of local organisations, was set up to help Allerdale, Copeland and the county councils decide whether or not the area should take part in the Government’s search for a site.

Although there would still be a right to withdraw from this process during the search for a possible site, the decision that needs to be made now is an important one.

Higher-activity waste is currently stored above ground, the majority of it at Sellafield.

Geological disposal is based on the idea that radiation can be contained for extremely long periods by a combination of engineered underground structures and the surrounding rocks.

A repository would be located between 656ft and 3,280ft underground.

The underground facilities could be anywhere between approximately one and four times the size of the Sellafield site.

It is estimated that the surface facilities would be around 0.6sq miles and they could be either above the underground facilities or up to 6.2miles away, possibly further.

The partnership has spent more than two years looking at a wide range of issues, including bringing in independent experts and commissioning research.

The partnership has considered issues such as the possible negative and positive impacts of a repository and what additional community benefits there could be.

The consultation document sets out much more detail and comes with a response form for people to give their views.

If there is a decision to take part in the search for somewhere to put a repository, the councils would have the right to withdraw from the process up until the point where any construction starts.

At the end of the public consultation a large, representative opinion poll will be conducted to gauge opinion in West Cumbria on whether the area should take part in the Government’s search for a suitable site for a repository.

The partnership is made up of representatives of councils and organisations such as the National Farmers’ Union, Cumbria Tourism, the Lake District National Park Authority and the Cumbria Association of Local Councils.

A series of community events to help people understand issues around the potential underground disposal of radioactive waste will be held.

The events also include discussion sessions and will be held at the Carnegie Theatre in Workington next Tuesday; St Herbert’s Centre in Keswick on Wednesday; and the Kirkgate Centre in Cockermouth on Friday, February 10.

All events will run from 1pm to 7pm, with discussion sessions at 2pm, 4pm and 6pm.

The full consultation document is available at www. westcumbriamrws.org.uk or by emailing contact@west cumbriamrws.org.uk

Source: Times & Star

Sellafield decommissioning cost

2011-10-30T23:29:00.000+01:00

British media have ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the cost was of decommissioning the nuclear site at Sellafield in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the cost in each year to 2016.

Charles Hendry (Minister of State (Renewable Energy), Energy and Climate Change; Wealden, Conservative)

Decommissioning at Sellafield includes all activities from post operational clean out, waste treatment, maintenance of facilities and interim storage before final disposal. The following table sets out what the cost of decommissioning the nuclear site at Sellafield was in each of the last five years, alongside the projected costs in the 2010 spending review period.

Sellafield decommissioning cost

    £ million
2006-07     447
2007-08     584
2008-09     662
2009-10     660
2010-11     662
2011-12     762
2012-13     837
2013-14     813
2014-15     741

Nuclear security mission to Sellafield and Barrow completed

2011-10-29T10:50:00.000+02:00

Guardians of our Common Seas, Bellona and Sellafield Ltd. had a conference i Brussels 3 March 2010. In this meeting we spoke for the need of international inspection of Sellafield.

A team of nuclear security experts led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has visited the UK to assess civil nuclear security arrangements. This follows a commitment made in advance of President Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit in April 2010.

The International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) Mission assessed the UK’s laws and regulations around nuclear material and nuclear facilities. The Mission Team also assessed compliance with the International Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials and the IAEA’s guidelines on nuclear security.

The Mission Team visited the Sellafield civil nuclear site and Barrow port, which is used for the transport of civil nuclear material, to see first-hand how these measures are implemented in practice.
The IAEA concluded the state of civil nuclear security is sufficiently robust. This is both in the context of the legal and regulatory framework and how this is implemented at the Sellafield site and the Barrow port.
Lord Marland of Odstock, Minister for Energy and Climate Change, said:
“We are the first nuclear weapons state to open its doors to the international experts to assess our civil nuclear security regime.

“This shows the world our commitment to nuclear security and to learning from others. I encourage other countries to follow suit and invite the IAEA to carry out such a mission.

“I am grateful for the work of the IAEA and this report from the IPPAS Mission Team, who identified many examples of good practice within the civil nuclear security regime and a number of valuable recommendations and suggestions.

“We will work with the nuclear regulator, Sellafield Ltd and the NDA to use this report to ensure that we continue to develop and improve our security regime.”

Notes for editors

Prime Minister David Cameron endorsed the commitment made by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who had invited an IAEA IPPAS mission to Sellafield as part of the UK’s approach to the President Obama-led Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington in April 2010.
The objectives of this IPPAS Mission to the UK were to assess the UK’s legal and regulatory framework on the physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear facilities and its compliance with IAEA guidelines, and to see how these measures are implemented at the Sellafield site and at Barrow for the transport of nuclear material.
The Mission Team’s work has resulted in a ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ report that contains site-specific information and, for reasons of national security, cannot be made publicly available. However, certain information can be anonymised and used to good effect by being shared and used by the IAEA to develop even better ‘best practice’ worldwide.
About 60 IPPAS Missions, over 15 years, have been carried out across the world and all recipients have benefitted from this international advice. UK nuclear security experts from the Office for Nuclear Regulation have been involved in about 20 of these missions.
The IPPAS Mission to the UK included representatives from eight different member states (Netherlands, US, Canada, France, Slovenia, Germany, Lithuania and Sweden) with a range of expertise in the various areas related to nuclear security, for example legislative and regulatory practices, physical protection, personal and information security, transport security, security management and culture, policing, and contingency planning.

Source: Department of Energy and Climatechange UK

Meget gledelig sikkerhetskontroll gjennomført ved Sellafield

2011-10-29T10:38:00.000+02:00

Lofoten mot Sellafield arrangerte et møte i Brüssel 3. mars 2010 hvor deltakelse fra EU, Storbritannia, Nordisk Råd og det norske Miljøverndepartement var til stede. Da krevde vi internasjonal inspeksjon. I slutten av mars samme år annonserte daværende statsminister Gordon Brown at ha ville gjennomføre en sikkerhetsgjennomgang ved Sellafield-anlegget.

(fotofra møtet i Brüssel: fra venstre Per-Kaare Holdal, biskop Tor B. Jørgensen, fylkesråd for miljø i Nordland Marit Tennfjord og politisk rådgiver i Miljøverndepartementet Audun Garberg) Foto kan brukes fritt ved å oppgi Lofoten mot Sellafield.

Et team av kjernefysisk sikkerhet eksperter ledet av International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) har besøkt Storbritannia for å vurdere sivilt kjernefysisk sikkerhet ordninger.
The International sikkerhetsbyrået Advisory Service (IPPAS) Mission vurderte Storbritannias lover og regler rundt kjernefysisk materiale og atomanlegg. IIPAS vurderte også samsvar med den internasjonale konvensjon om fysisk beskyttelse av kjernefysisk materiale, og IAEAs retningslinjer om kjernefysisk sikkerhet.
IPPAS-teamet besøkte Sellafield's sivile kjernefysiske området og Barrow port, som brukes til transport av sivil kjernefysisk materiale, for å se hvordan disse tiltakene er gjennomført i praksis.
IAEA konkluderte at status for sivil atom-sikkerhet er tilstrekkelig robust. Dette er både i sammenheng med det juridiske og regulatoriske rammeverket og hvordan dette er implementert ved Sellafield området og Barrow port.
Herre Marland av Odstock, minister for energi og klimaendringer, sa:
"Vi er de første atom-staten til å åpne dørene til den internasjonale eksperter til å vurdere vår sivile kjernefysiske sikkerhetsregime.
"Dette viser verden vårt engasjement for atomsikkerhet og for å lære av andre. Jeg oppfordrer andre land til å følge etter og invitere IAEA til å gjennomføre et slikt oppdrag."
"Jeg er takknemlig for arbeidet til IAEA og denne rapporten fra IPPAS Mission Team, som identifiserte mange eksempler på god praksis innenfor den sivile kjernefysiske sikkerheten regime og en rekke verdifulle anbefalinger og forslag.
"Vi vil arbeide med kjernefysiske regulator, til Sellafield Ltd og NDA bruke denne rapporten for å sikre at vi fortsetter å utvikle og forbedre sikkerheten regime."
Statsminister David Cameron godkjente forpliktelsene som ble laget av tidligere statsminister Gordon Brown, som hadde invitert en IAEA's IPPAS oppdrag til Sellafield som en del av Storbritannias tilnærming til President Obama-ledede Nuclear Security Summit avholdt i Washington i april 2010.

Formålene med denne IPPAS Mission til Storbritannia var å vurdere Storbritannias juridiske og regulatoriske rammeverket om fysisk beskyttelse av kjernefysisk materiale og nukleære anlegg og dets samsvar med IAEA retningslinjer, og å se hvordan disse tiltakene er iverksatt på Sellafield stedet og på Barrow for transport av kjernefysisk materiale.

The Mission teamets arbeid har resultert i en konfidensiell rapport som inneholder site-spesifikk informasjon, og av hensyn til rikets sikkerhet, kan den ikke gjøres offentlig tilgjengelig. Imidlertid kan visse opplysninger skal anonymiseres og brukes med god effekt ved å være deles og brukes av IAEA for å utvikle enda bedre "beste praksis" over hele verden.

Den IPPAS teamet i Storbritannia inkluderte representanter fra åtte forskjellige medlemsland (Nederland, USA, Canada, Frankrike, Slovenia, Tyskland, Litauen og Sverige) med en vid kompetanse innen ulike områder knyttet til kjernefysisk sikkerhet, for eksempel lovgivende og regulerende praksis , fysisk beskyttelse, personlig og informasjonssikkerhet, transport sikkerhet, sikkerhet ledelse og kultur, politiarbeid og beredskap.

- Vi i Lofoten mot Sellafield understreker at dette er gjennomgang av det som går på sikkerhetsrutiner og ikke den tekniske sikkerhetenved anlegget, sier Per-Kaare Holdal.

Sellafield starts inquiry after Japanese nuclear waste flasks contaminated

2011-10-23T21:50:00.000+02:00

Sellafield has launched an investigation into how the surface of three nuclear waste containers shipped to Japan became contaminated with radioactive material. The containers were part of a cargo of 76 canisters of vitrified high-level waste. They were found to be contaminated when they were unloaded at the Rokkasho storage facility in northern Japan. Sellafield says that, following subsequent checks, two containers turned out to be within Japanese radiation limits but one was above the threshold.

There was no sign of contamination when the canisters left Sellafield inside three sealed flasks.
A Sellafield spokesman said: “Initial inspections have been carried out on the first containers to be unloaded and the measured surface contamination results exceeded the acceptance criteria for storage in Japan. Further checks are being carried out while investigations into the cause take place in the UK and Japan.”

The shipment is the second consignment of highly-active waste returned from Sellafield to Japan.
It left Barrow docks in August on board the nuclear transport ship, Pacific Grebe, and arrived in Japan on September 15. Anti-nuclear campaigners cite Japanese press reports that one of the containers had surface levels of beta and gamma radiation 50 times over the limit.

Martin Forwood, campaign co-ordinator for Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment, said: “This will be of significant concern to Japanese workers who have to handle this highly-toxic and dangerous material. The unknown source of this surface contamination makes a mockery of the industry’s claims that high-level waste shipments pose no risk.”

Around 1,000 canisters of high-level waste are due to be returned to Japan over the next 10 years.

Source: Cumberland News

Historic Radioactive Sludge retrieved from 60 year old tank

2011-10-20T18:42:00.000+02:00

More than 1000m³ of radioactive sludge dating back to the 1950s has been retrieved from one of the oldest facilities on the Sellafield site, two months ahead of the schedule set out on the Sellafield Plan which was launched this summer.

The achievement represents another step forward in delivering its risk and hazard reduction programme at Sellafield.

The retrieved sludge was a product of the early liquid effluent treatment processes associated with the first reprocessing activities at Sellafield and, until 2005 was stored in 6 large concrete tanks.
The first tank was emptied in 2005 and a further two have been safely emptied since Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) took over the management of Sellafield Ltd.

The sludge has been successfully removed from an aging concrete tank and placed in a modern, high integrity vessel, ready for processing through Sellafield’s effluent plants. The sludge will then be mixed with cement in stainless steel drums and solidified to provide a safe, stable waste form ready for long term storage. This process will take about two years to complete, after which the next tank will be emptied.

Ian Hudson, NDA’s Head of Programme for Sellafield said: “The sludge in the old sea tanks represented one of our main environmental and safety hazards, so retrieval of this material is a big step forward for us all. Though we still have two tanks to empty, we have now got to the point that almost 80% of the radioactive inventory of the facility has been removed. This is good progress against NDA’s key mission of High Hazard Reduction.”

Sellafield Plan envisages end of nuclear reprocessing there by 2018

2011-09-30T20:24:00.000+02:00

"The planned clean up of the Sellafield site must be successfully completed", said Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan TD.
Commenting on new plans published by Sellafield and endorsed by the UK`s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Minister Hogan stressed the importance of reducing the risks from the Sellafield site and bringing to an end the nuclear reprocessing operations there.

Used nuclear fuel elements

The Minister said: "It is my understanding that this plan emphasises the reduction of risk and hazard at Sellafield and that it envisages the end of nuclear reprocessing there by 2018. Successive Governments here have objected to the risks from Sellafield as well as to the environmental damage caused by reprocessing activities, in particular the discharges of radioactive waste into the Irish Sea."

The Sellafield Plan outlines a wide range of current and planned decommissioning and clean-up programmes for the various facilities on the Sellafield site. These facilities host ongoing commercial operations as well as a large and varied inventory of radioactive waste, some of it stored in ageing facilities which are acknowledged by the UK authorities to represent a risk that must be reduced.

The plan envisages the ultimate closure of Sellafield, which has been a long-term goal of Irish Government policy. According to the newly published time-line this outcome will take more than 100 years to achieve. Sellafield intends to publish annual targets and reports to allow progress to be observed.

Minister Hogan commented: "The successful implementation of this plan is going to require long-term sustained commitment from both Sellafield and the UK authorities. For our part, the Irish Government will be monitoring the implementation of the plan closely. We look forward to the numerous clean-up targets being met in the years to come."

Quelle: Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Ireland

Waste Vitrification Plant Line 3 open again

2011-09-22T22:17:00.001+02:00

Waste Vitirification Plant (WVP) line 3 has been safely returned to full operations within a few days of the original schedule following an outage spanning 18 months.

This major achievement now enables further significant hazard and risk reduction on the Sellafield site by contributing to highly active liquor (HAL) stocks reduction and represents a key milestone, not only for WVP but for Sellafield Ltd, NMP, NDA, UK Government and overseas stakeholders and customers.

Innovative and effective methods were found by the teams to safely deliver the shield doors improvements and vitrification assistance projects alongside other additional plant improvements.

Todd Wright, Managing Director, Sellafield Ltd said: "This is an exceptional achievement and my personal congratulations go to the team that has worked so hard to return the line to full operations. NMP, NDA and Sellafield Ltd are all fully committed to hazard and risk reduction across the Sellafield site and the successful operation of the vitrification plant is a key driver in ensuring we achieve that goal."

Dr Ian Hudson, the NDA's Head of Programme for Sellafield said "The ability to continually process highly active liquor through the vitrification plant is a key activity for Sellafield in NDA's business plan as it directly supports the priority task of high hazard reduction.

Source: Sellafield Ltd.

Stuart MacVean leaving Nuclear Management Partners

2011-09-19T18:40:00.003+02:00

Stuart MacVean has filled the role since Nuclear Management Partners succeeded BNFL as Sellafield’s parent body company in 2008. He is returning to the United States to take up a high profile position at the Savannah River complex.
Photo: Behind from left: British Ambassador in Norway Jane Owen, Robbie Huston, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). Front from left: Per-Kaare Holdal, Guardians of our Common Seas and Stuart MacVean, Director Spent Fuel Management , Sellafield Ltd and also representing Nuclear Management Partners (NMP).

Sellafield Ltd is bringing in another American boss to take charge of reprocessing. The new Director, Scott Sax, who is due to join the site at the end of the month to start his new job as director of spent fuel management. Mr Sax comes to Sellafield as his replacement from the Washington River Production Solutions where he’s been chief operating officer. He draws on 27 years as a senior level project manager, most of them at nuclear sites. Lately he’s managed America’s sole US fuel reprocessing facility on behalf of the US Department of Energy.

Sellafield managing director Todd Wright says: “Scott is known for his record in driving step-changes in performance while improving safety in hazardous environments. “A great deal has been achieved within spent fuel management in the two-and-a-half years Stuart has been director.

“Thorp reached the 600 tons fuel shearing milestone while the stores inventory retrieval project which is making one of the greatest reductions in hazard at Sellafield was completed ahead of schedule. “Thorp’s medium active salt free evaporator was brought online and work is ongoing in the Calder asbestos strip. Stuart puts this down to team spirit and a flexible approach demonstrated by his workforce,” Dr Wright added.

Source: Whitehaven News.

The most important or the biggest problem nuclear site ?

2011-09-11T10:25:00.000+02:00

Sellafield Question asked by Baroness Worthington

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in view of the recently announced closure of the MOX reprocessing plant at Sellafield, what plans they have for securing investment and new jobs in the local area.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Baroness Wilcox): Sellafield is recognised as the most important nuclear site in the UK, employing over 10,000 people. That priority has seen record levels of investment from the latest government spending round, which will lead to the acceleration of decommissioning work at the site. The closure of the MOX plant is of course regrettable, but Sellafield Ltd is actively working with the 600 people who will lose their jobs at this time, and everyone in the area is doing their very best to see that these people find jobs very quickly.

Baroness Worthington: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for her Answer and it is welcome that new jobs are being sought. However, my Question leads to the longer-term future for the site. Sellafield is a unique site in the UK and I believe that it could become the home of world-leading research into the use of next-generation nuclear reactors. Such reactors, as well as being more efficient in their fuel use, generating no long-lasting waste, can be designed to burn up existing stockpiles of plutonium held at the Sellafield site. In light of this, is there more that the Government can do to support R&D into new nuclear designs that will help to ensure that we develop the safest and most efficient new reactors?

Baroness Wilcox: First, I welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Worthington, and her new interest in nuclear, and I hope that she will feed in her views to the Government and allow us to help her where we can. I hope that she will share her vision of the new approach, which I think she was hoping would be based on thorium. On her Question, if we can turn a liability into an asset, this Government will explore every possibility. The Government consulted earlier this year on their preferred policy option for dealing with the plutonium stockpile, and will confirm their position later this year.

Lord Winston: My Lords, does the Minister not regard it as a crying shame that this country, which after all pretty well started the invention of nuclear power for peaceful uses, is now annually investing less than £25 million a year in research into nuclear fission, which is way behind all our major competitors? That makes us the poorhouse for developing further in the way that my noble friend has just mentioned.

Baroness Wilcox: The noble Lord, Lord Winston, is right that we have not been investing as we should. We have been in government for only a year and we are ¦277trying our best to get ahead as fast as we can. I know that he is doing wonderful work with Imperial College, and it is to people like him that we look to show us the way ahead.

Lord Razzall: Following on from the Question from the noble Baroness, Lady Worthington, rather than jumping the gun like Usain Bolt, may I ask my noble friend whether there are residual liabilities under the processing contracts at the MOX plant at Sellafield in relation to cleaning up the plant? If so, who is going to bear them?

Baroness Wilcox: There are residual liabilities, and we will have to work out exactly what we are going to do. Can we turn the existing plutonium stocks from the MOX plants from a liability into an asset? That is an area that we must look at and see what we can do. The Government consulted earlier this year on their preferred policy option for dealing with all those stockpiles and will confirm their position later this year. I thank my noble friend for his question.

Lord Taverne: My Lords, in dealing with the future of nuclear sights, will the Government draw the public’s attention to the fact that most fears about radiation are enormously exaggerated?

Baroness Wilcox: I fully agree with my noble friend’s statement.

Lord Grantchester: Does the Minister agree that there would be great benefit to the area and the UK if the existing plutonium stock stored at Sellafield could be converted into an asset? With the right kind of advanced reactor, the plutonium could be completely consumed while making new fuel from thorium, which could be used in increasing carbon-free electrical generation capacity, generating 20 per cent more than the UK is currently using. Could the Minister confirm that this would be of huge benefit to jobs in Cumbria?

Baroness Wilcox: It would be of huge benefit to everyone if we can get this off the ground, absolutely. I really am very grateful, as is my noble friend Lord Marland, for the noble Lord’s personal interest in this subject. I understand that he is going to Sellafield soon and we would very much like to hear his views on his return.

Baroness Wall of New Barnet: Will the noble Baroness and the Government do all that they can to encourage the creation of new jobs in these areas, as my noble friend has suggested in her Question? Will she also confirm that the number of apprentices already at Sellafield is the way forward in creating those new jobs and building a future for that area?

Baroness Wilcox: I agree with the noble Baroness, particularly about apprenticeships, which I know are very close to her heart. UK Trade and Investment is looking at this area and seeing what it can do to help, the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership is working extremely well, the docks at Warrington have been opened for the new containers, and a lot of apprenticeships are, I understand, being sought in that area. So yes, I do agree with her.

Is there enough focus on security?

2011-09-08T11:50:00.001+02:00

In May, five people were caught breaking into a British nuclear reprocessing facility in Sellafield in an attempt to steal atomic materials.

In 2009 alone, 215 atomic materials, reserved for power generation or other commercial purposes, were stolen or disappeared, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Some of the stolen material is suspected of having been used for assassinations. In November 2006, a former spy for the Soviet Union’s intelligence agency was poisoned to death in London. A tiny amount of polonium-210 was found in his body, a rare case showing the use of atomic materials for homicide, British investigators said.

“The impact of nuclear terrorism in one country is not limited to that country. It poses a grave safety threat to its surrounding countries,” he said, underscoring international cooperation on the issue.

Vi må leve med atomtrusselen fra Sellafield enda i 7 år

2011-08-19T00:00:00.000+02:00

Foto fra venstre: Robbie Huston, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Mark Basset, Office for Nuclear Regulation, Steve Walker, Sellafield Ltd, Per-Kaare Holdal, voktere av vår felles blå åker (Lofoten mot Sellafield) og ambassadør Jane Owen.

Det var to hovedtema som det ble gitt en orientering om i den britiske ambassade i dag fra Sellafield-ledelsen og Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Det var konsekvenser av den britiske regjeringens vedtak om nedleggelse av MOX-anlegget ved Sellafield og det andre var fremtiden til de om lag 1000 kubikkmeterne med flytende høyradioaktivt avfall som lagres i gamle tanker ved Sellafield.

Tidligere har målet vært at innen 2015 skulle mengdene lagret høyradioaktivt avfall til et såkalt buffernivå på 200 kubikkmeter. Informasjonen fra ledelsen i dag var at dette nivået ikke blir nådd før omkring 2020 og ikke fullstendig tømt i 2023, fem år senere enn man før har planlagt.
Det betyr at vi må fortsatt leve med atomfrykten og faren for en atomeksplosjon som Statens Strålevern har beskrevet som kan bli 7 ganger Tjernobyl.

- Vi kommer til å følge dette opp og planlegger en tur til Sellfield til neste år for å følge dette opp. Vi oppfordrer politikerne til å øke trykket overfor politikerne i Storbritannia og få tømt disse tankene snarest, sier Per-Kaare Holdal før han går videre i møte med Miljøverndepartementet.

Sellafield dissappointed again

2011-08-17T19:16:00.003+02:00

A meeting to day with the management from Sellafield and Nuclear Decommissioning Authority about regulatory strategy for management of HAL stocks at Sellafield was a disappointment.

They are not going to empty the high-level radioactive tank until 2023. It will therefore still for many years pose a tremendous threat to Norway and we would encourage the government and the departement of environment to increase the pressure to British politicians.

To close a part of Sellafield - the MOX plant

2011-08-10T22:46:00.000+02:00

Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster has claimed another casualty, as Britain has announced it is closing a plant producing nuclear fuel for reactors.

Britain's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority says it will close a facility in Sellafield, one of only two commercial plants in the world producing so-called mixed oxide nuclear fuel, after the shutdown of the reactors in Japan eliminated its only customers for the plutonium-based fuel, an article in Nature magazine said.

"The reason for this [closure] is directly related to the tragic events in Japan and their ongoing impact on the power markets," NDA head Tony Fountain said. The decision leaves the British nuclear industry with the problem of what to do with the world's largest single stockpile of plutonium.

The troubled Sellafield plant has a long history of technical problems that have reduced its output of fuel from the intended 560 tons to just 15 tons since it opened in 2001.
In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, only 17 of Japan's 54 nuclear reactors are currently operational, leaving Sellafield without a customer for its only product.

NDA Statement on future of the Sellafield Mox Plant

2011-08-03T17:39:00.000+02:00

Since securing new commercial arrangements for SMP in April 2010, the NDA has monitored progress to ensure that operations continue to improve and are delivering value for money. A key objective for the NDA is to manage its commercial operations, so as to ensure that the costs of delivering our mission to the UK taxpayer are kept to the minimum

Working with Japanese customers, the NDA has been reviewing the future of SMP in the light of the impact on the Japanese nuclear industry of the tragic earthquake in March and the likely effect on the SMP programme and associated commercial arrangements.

The NDA Board has now assessed the changed commercial risk profile for SMP arising from potential delays following the earthquake in Japan and subsequent events and has concluded that in order to ensure that the UK taxpayer does not carry a future financial burden from SMP that the only reasonable course of action is to close SMP at the earliest practical opportunity.

The decision to close SMP is no reflection on the SMP workforce which has continued to improve SMP operating performance.

The NDA will work closely with Sellafield Limited to mitigate any employment impacts from this decision, including the potential for redeployment given the level of activity planned across the site over coming years in the new Sellafield Plan.

The NDA will continue to store Japanese plutonium safely and securely under international safeguards and further develop discussions with the Japanese customers on a responsible approach to support the Japanese Utilities’ policy for the reuse of their material.

The NDA’s decision on SMP is a commercial matter which relates to this facility only. Separately, the Government has been consulting on the policy options for dealing with the UK’s Plutonium stockpile, including possible re-use as MOX fuel. The NDA awaits with interest the outcome of this consultation.

UK Government require stress test

2011-07-20T12:25:00.001+02:00

The UK Government has decided that it will require all nuclear operators (not just nuclear reactors) to carry out the stress test analysis and report this to Government. All information arising will be collated and followed up under Government and Regulatory channels, though only the nuclear reactor information will be formally onward reported to EC in accordance with the stress test requirement.

In other words, the EC stress test does not require it, but Government has asked that it is carried out & followed up anyway.

- To help explain - one of the main reasons for this is that EC only currently has competency over nuclear reactors under the Nuclear Directive. The second Directive, on which agreement was reached at the beginning of July, will extend EC's competency to fuel cycle facilities and radioactive waste. I'm not sure when the fuel and waste Directive comes into force, say a spokemen for NDA to us in The Guardians of our Common Seas.

Radioactive waste from Sellafield to Japan again

2011-07-16T12:30:00.000+02:00

A second shipment of radioactive waste is set to be transported from Sellafield to Japan on schedule – despite the country still suffering the after-effects of March’s deadly tsunami.

Three flasks of Highly Active Waste (HAW) are currently in a marshalling area at the west Cumbrian site, waiting to be carried by rail and sea to the Far East.

The material is waste from spent fuel reprocessed at Sellafield for the Japanese nuclear industry.
International Nuclear Services (INS) is responsible for the shipments and has already completed one return to Japan and one to Holland.

It was feared the Japanese returns could be under threat following the tsunami and the subsequent disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

But Sellafield bosses say they have received reassurances from the Far East that the programme will continue as planned.

Sellafield vitrified residue returns programme manager Will Watson said to New&Star: “Since the tragic events on March 11, we have been working closely with INS to support our customers in Japan through this difficult time. Such close collaboration has helped secure the reassurances needed by all parties that the second Japanese return can progress to its original schedule.”

Source: News & Star

Sellafield will after all be subjected to a stress test

2011-07-08T12:07:00.000+02:00

THE BRITISH government said the Sellafield nuclear plant will after all be subjected to a stress test in the wake of the Fukushima emergency, reversing its previous assertion that the plant would not be examined.
“The focus of the tests is on nuclear power plants, and the stress tests will also be applied to UK facilities in the nuclear fuel cycle, including Sellafield,” a British government spokeswoman in Brussels said yesterday to Irish Times.

The news was first that the Sellafield plant in Cumbria would not be subjected to a stress test.

Although the tests on nuclear power plants are being organised at an EU-level, the spokeswoman said to Irish Times that the examination of the Sellafield plant would be carried at a “domestic level” in Britain. She added that the Sellafield test would be carried out by Dr Mike Weightman, chief inspector of Britain’s Office of Nuclear Regulation.

Mr Hogan welcomed the clarification, saying it was always the Government’s understanding that the tests would be applied to Sellafield.

“When I met Chris Huhne not long after the serious nuclear accident in Japan, we had a useful discussion on nuclear safety issues. I underlined the continuing concerns we have about safety at Sellafield,” he said in a statement.

The tests will assess the resilience of nuclear installations throughout Europe to earthquakes, tsunamis, aircraft crashes, power failures and human error. The risk of terrorist attack will be examined separately.
As well as nuclear reprocessing, Sellafield has the largest inventory of radioactive waste anywhere in Europe, some of which is stored in ageing facilities acknowledged by the UK authorities to require active hazard-reduction programmes. It simply makes sense that such a facility would undergo these safety tests.

Ireland may help to put the UK back on track in its use of clean, renewable energy

2011-06-19T14:19:00.000+02:00

Plans to link electricity grids offer the UK a chance to meet its clean energy targets – but threaten to blight Irish beauty spots
Ireland's unspoiled, windswept west coast could become the focus of a new wave of wind farm construction in the wake of a high-level diplomatic meeting to be held tomorrow in London.

UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, Taoiseach Enda Kenny and other senior members of the British-Irish Council will gather to discuss a plan to expand electricity grid connections throughout the British Isles. In particular, they want to build new inter-connectors to link the electricity grids of Ireland and Britain in order to transmit power from new windfarms in Ireland to England.

The aim of the plan, created by the British government, is to open up remote regions that could provide Britain with more power generated by wind farms, as well as by tide and wave plants, and so reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

"The west coast of Ireland has some of the fiercest winds in Europe," said Charles Hendry, the UK energy minister, who will be attending the meeting. "They whip in off the Atlantic which makes it is an ideal location for wind farms. However, the Irish market for electricity is less than a tenth of that of Britain. That means that companies cannot afford to build wind farms in Ireland because there is no market for their power. We want to put that right."

The construction of wind farms in Ireland that would supply power to neighbouring countries could help to put the UK back on track in its use of clean, renewable energy. Britain has recently been criticised for falling short of its targets for constructing wind power plants and for cutting its carbon emissions. Importing clean power could help to resolve the problem.

A link connecting the grids of Ireland and Britain is currently under construction and will stretch from Rush North Beach, Co Fingal, to Barkby Beach, north Wales. The Irish Sea Inter-Connector will cost £500m and have a capacity of 500 megawatts. However, under the scheme to be discussed tomorrow, other new links would also be built. This would open up a market for electricity for wind farms on the west coast of Ireland whose power could be transmitted under the Irish Sea.

Developments like these would be controversial, however. Construction of wind turbines generates strong opposition and plans to build clusters in mainland Britain have been greeted with fury. Opponents say wind turbines rarely work to capacity; spoil some of the country's most beautiful landscapes; and kill large numbers of wild birds.

Supporters argue that wind farms help to reduce dependence on carbon-emitting fossil-fuel plants and are non-polluting. Nevertheless, the prospect of giant turbines peppering the wild, craggy coasts of the Dingle Peninsula, Kerry and Galway will provoke a furious response.

Hendry rejected the idea that the turbines would be controversial in Ireland, however. "It will be up to the Irish government and the Irish people to decide if they want to build them. This is a voluntary programme and it could bring significant wealth to the country with very little downside."

The All Islands electricity plan is not confined to Ireland and Britain. The British-Irish Council meeting – which will also be attended by Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, and leaders of local governments in Wales, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man – will consider a number of proposals to modernise the British Isles' electricity grid network. Some of these focus on existing sources, in particular onshore and offshore wind turbines, while others anticipate the construction of new forms of energy generation such as wave and tidal power. The islands of Islay and Orkney have already been targeted as promising sites for tidal plants. However, all sites suffer from the problem of remoteness, an issue targeted by the plan to be discussed tomorrow.

"Some of the best resources for generating tidal power lie in waters off the Channel Islands," said Hendry. "But as things stand at present, there is no way to get that power to mainland Britain. We need to look at building a new inter-connector with France, taking it from the new nuclear power station currently being built at Flamanville, via the Channel Islands, to the UK. When the tides are right at Jersey and Guernsey, we could take electricity from their wave generators, and when they are not providing power, take it from Flamanville."

Hendry added that earlier discussions with delegates indicated that the plan would be well received tomorrow. Once the various proposals had been discussed, detailed analysis would be carried out over the next 18 months with the aim of turning them into specific projections that could be launched in 2013.

Source: Robin McKie, science editor - guardian.co.uk, Saturday 18 June 2011 22.40 BST

A significant milestone at Sellafield

2011-06-18T14:03:00.005+02:00

The first UK power reactor has reached a significant milestone as the unique golf ball design reactor comes to the end of its 20 years of decommissioning.

A significant milestone has been reached as the well known iconic landmark with its unique golf ball design at Sellafield has completed its last campaign to decommission the facility.

The final section of the Outer Ventilation Membrane (OVM) was safely removed from the reactor’s concrete bioshield at the end of May, marking the successful completion of the final reactor decommissioning campaign.

Ian Cowan, WAGR project manager said: “Completion of Campaign 10 is a significant milestone for the WAGR Decommissioning project and draws to a close twenty years of work to safely dismantle, process and place into passive storage an industrial scale power generating nuclear reactor”.

The Windscale Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (WAGR) was built in the early 1960’s to serve as a test bed for further development of advance fuel and other components and to provide operational experience of power production and was the forerunner to the UK’s second generation of power reactors. It was owned and operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and later by Babcock International Group plc which, up until January 2011, managed the decommissioning project.

Chris Halliwell, head of Programme Delivery Sellafield remediation and Decommissioning Projects/Windscale said: "This is a fantastic achievement and the culmination of many years’ work from Sellafield Ltd, UKAEA and its subcontractors.
“It is a true demonstration of the UK's ability to fully decommission nuclear power stations in a safe, sustainable and cost effective manner, and it augurs well for the decommissioning of other high-hazard facilities on the Sellafield site."

Dr Ian Hudson, NDA head of Programme for Sellafield said. "As we progress the clean up mission it is important that major milestones such as the successful completion of this campaign are achieved as soon as practically possible, and that we maximise our expertise to improve performance. Maintaining momentum on lengthy programmes is equally important and again reflected in the successful conclusion of this phase of the decommissioning of WAGR."

In anticipation of the UK’s likely nuclear decommissioning needs the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) decided in 1981 to decommission WAGR as the national demonstration exercise for power reactor decommissioning.

The first years of the decommissioning project were spent designing the necessary components, modifying the structure and installing the equipment but in 1999 it was decided that the dismantling of the reactor core and pressure vessel should begin after the project team had completed all testing of the principle methodology to remotely dismantle the components.

The decommissioning campaigns 1 to 6 were complete by 2002 with the reminder of the campaigns being progressed up until Campaign 10, the outer ventilation membrane and thermal columns which were decommissioned in May of this year.

This invaluable knowledge of dismantling and decommissioning skills, will be used in other high-hazard reduction projects across the Sellafield site and the wider nuclear industry.

Peter Law, Windscale senior project manager, added: “The WAGR project team should be immensely proud of their achievements. Completion of the reactor dismantling has required a great deal of technical ingenuity and persistence and has proven the decommissioning of power reactors soon after shutdown can be safely achieved with currently available technology.”

Source: Sellafield Ltd.

One sick worker shut Magnox plant

2011-06-12T14:40:00.000+02:00

ONE worker’s sickness led to the closure of a major reprocessing plant – and cost Sellafield’s operators at least half a million pounds in lost production.

The Magnox nuclear fuel reprocessing plant (B205) was forced to shut for nearly five days last weekend after a specialist shift team leader went sick. There were not enough suitably qualified staff to take charge over the plant’s daily three eight-hour shifts.

Hundreds of people work in the Magnox plant but it requires shift leaders qualified to DAP standard (a “duly appointed person”) to supervise and ensure safety.
Nobody was available in the case of B205.

The plant had only recently resumed reprocessing after a “drip tray” incident, which caused it to shut for weeks.

It costs £100,000 a day to staff B205 whether open or shut, but the company was unable to give an estimated cost of lost production which might be recovered during the rest of the reprocessing campaign depending on performance.

Sellafield Ltd said that the plant was kept safe and new DAPs would be trained.
West Cumbria Stakeholders Group chairman, David Moore, said: “It should not have happened. You shouldn’t have to close an important reprocessing plant just because somebody is off sick.
“I am told that B205 had to be shut down due to insufficient senior manning levels. It flags up an issue which has to be resolved.

“With a workforce of over 10,000, you’d think enough people would be trained up so the site can cope with situations like this.

“The closure will have come at a significant cost to the company, you just can’t switch off B205 and switch it right back on again, it’s not as simple as that.”

It is understood that after talks with the unions, Sellafield Ltd will be training up more DAPs to avoid similar recurrences.

Peter Clements, Prospect site staff union representative, said: “There should be more but we are working out something to enable more training. The situation has been resolved.”

Sellafield Ltd described the sudden shutdown “as a pro-active and conservative approach to ensuring our plants are only operated when the highest levels of safety specialist cover is available.
“Team leaders in the affected plant are trained to what is known as Duly Appointed Person status, a highly-skilled role that requires extensive and lengthy training, which ensures that the highest level of safety coverage is available at all times.

“Due to sickness absence, the required DAP cover was not available over the weekend and as a consequence the company took the decision to temporarily stop operations at the affected plant.
“A programme of both training and recruiting of personnel is on-going in this area. Restart of the plant, which is presently working ahead of the planned schedule, is already under way.”

Source: North West Evening Mail

Norsk atomavfall, norsk ansvar

2011-06-08T18:34:00.001+02:00

Norsk høyaktivt atomavfall må ikke sendes til det franske atomanlegget La Hague. Det krever 8 organisasjoner som i dag laserte et opprop mot forslaget.

8 organisasjoner, som til sammen representerer nesten 100.000 medlemmer, lanserer i dag et opprop mot planene om å sende norsk høyaktivt atomavfall til det franske La Hague-anlegget. Oppropet overrekkes lederen i Energi- og miljøkomiteen, Erling Sande (Sp) på Stortinget kl. 12:00

- Behandling av atomavfall i La Hague fører til store utslipp av radioaktivt avfall både til luft og vann. Å sende norsk atomavfall til dette anlegget er helt uakseptabelt, sier Truls Gulowsen i Greenleace.
Det et utvalg ledet av Insitutt for Energiteknikk (IFE) som har foreslått å sende det norske atomavfallet til La Hague. En samlet norsk miljøbevegelse protesterer mot planene, som de blant annet mener vil skade kampen mot Sellafield.

- La Hague er akkurat samme type atomanlegg som Sellafield. Om Norge sender sitt atomavfall til La Hague-anlegget, vil det åpenbart skade arbeidet mot Sellafield, sier Per-Kaare Holda, i organisasjonen Lofoten mot Sellafield. Han får støtte av fagsjef Nina Jenssen i WWF.
- Å sende det norske atomavfallet til La Hague vil føre til farlige sjøtransporter av høyaktivt atomavfall. Det kan vi ikke godta, sier fagsjef Nina Jensen i WWF.

Leder i Norges Naturvernforbund, Lars Haltbrekken er enig.
- Behandling av brukt atombrensel, enten det skjer i det britiske Sellafield-anlegget, eller det franske La Hague, er svært forurensende. Vi ber om at regjeringen heller setter fortgang i arbeidet med å bygge et nytt sentralt, lager for det norske avfallet her til lands, sier Haltbrekken.

Lars Haltbrekken (Naturvernforbudnet): tlf. 91 61 21 91

Truls Gulowsen (Greenpeace): tlf. 90 10 79 04

Snorre Slettvold (Miljøvernforbundet): 90 08 88 48

Per-Kaare Holdal (Lofoten mot Sellafield): 91106045

Nina Jensen (WWF): 991 69 694

Bitte Vatvedt (Nei til atomvåpen): tlf 95 08 08 26

De åtte organisasjonene som står bak oppropet er Norges Naturvernforbund (NNV), Verdens Naturfond (WWF), Greenpeace, Framtiden i våre hender (FIVH), Norges Miljøvernforbund (NMF), Nei til Atomvåpen (NTA), Lofoten mot Sellafield, og Internasjonal kvinnelige for fred og frihet.

Gledelig atom-utvikling med påfølgende CO2-utfordringer

2011-05-30T23:44:00.000+02:00

Den tyske regjeringen er enig om å stenge alle atomkraftverkene i landet innen 2022, opplyser miljøvernminister Norbert Röttgen. De fleste av kraftverkene skal være ute av drift i 2021, men tre av dem skal holdes i reserve i ytterligere ett år i tilfelle av kraftmangel.

Enigheten ble oppnådd på et møte mellom lederne for koalisjonspartiene på kontoret til statsminister Angela Merkel i Berlin. Dette vedtaket er en konsekvens av den store frykten blant tyske velgere for at Tyskland skal rammes av en atomulykke, en frykt som er styrket etter ulykken i Fukushima etter tsunamien i Japan.

Tyskland blir med vedtaket det første større i-landet som tar konsekvensen av truslene som atomkraft utgjør. De sju eldste kraftverkene ble stengt allerede umiddelbart etter ulykken i Japan. Partilederne ble enige om stengningen etter at et panel bestående av biskoper, partiledere og andre samfunnstopper lørdag anbefalte å stenge atomkraftverkene i løpet av de neste ti årene. Panelets detaljerte forslag for å erstatte de 22 prosentene av energien som atomkraftverkene står for i Tyskland, blir offentliggjort mandag. Blant forslagene er bygging av gasskraftverk og vindmølleparker.

Det er en meget gledelig utvikling i Tyskland, noe som vi håper verdens ledere merker seg. Det må satses på fornybar energi og ren energi. Her har Norge også et ansvar som energileverandør.

Utslippene av klimagassen CO2 økte i Norge med 2,6 millioner tonn i fjor, til 45,4 millioner tonn. Det er det høyeste utslippet av CO2 siden utregningene startet i 1973.

Ifølge Det internasjonale energibyrået IEAs beregninger som avisa The Guardian har fått innsyn i, førte ny økonomisk vekst med seg en økning i CO2-utslippene på 1,6 gigatonn. Det er den høyeste utslippsøkningen på ett år hittil. IEA mener de årlige energirelaterte utslippene ikke bør overstige 32 gigatonn i 2020. Ifølge IEAs beregninger var utslippene i 2010 på 30,6 gigatonn, og rundt tre firedeler av økningen var i framvoksende økonomier.

Norge er i dag en stor gasseksportør og vi bør gå foran i teknologiutviklingen når det gjelder gasskraftverk. Det finnes norsk- og utenlandsk teknologi som ivaretar energiproduksjon av gass som har 100 % CO2-fangst. Vi bør derfor satse stort på å få satt denne teknologien i produksjon sett også ut fra den negative utviklingen av norsk og internasjonale CO2-utslipp. Oxyfuel-teknologi er en teknologi som øker utnyttelsesgraden opp mot 50% i et gasskraftverk og har 0-utslipp av CO2. Denne teknologien bør i første omgang bli satt i prøvedrift for i neste omgang satt i drift i områder med energibehov.

THE BRITISH authorities have decided to exclude the Sellafield

2011-05-29T20:49:00.000+02:00

THE BRITISH authorities have decided to exclude the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria from an imminent round of stress tests on European nuclear installations.

The move comes despite indications to the Norwegian Minister for Environment Erik Solheim and the Irish Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan from British energy secretary Chris Huhne that the stress tests would include Sellafield.

We ask the Norwegian Minister for Environment Erik Solheim to follow this up as soon as possible.

Voluntary tests on Europe’s 143 nuclear reactors follow the Fukushima nuclear emergency in Japan, which raised questions as to whether previous safety audits were thorough enough.

The tests, which begin next month, will examine the resilience of nuclear installations to earthquakes, tsunamis, air crashes and human error. A group will also be set up to deal with the risk of any terrorist attack on a nuclear plant.

Vi håper miljøvernministeren setter inn umiddelbare tiltak

2011-05-29T16:56:00.000+02:00

Lofoten mot Sellafield oppfordrer miljøvernminister til å ta nødvendige og umiddelbare tiltak for å sikre at den britiske regjeringen inkluderer reprosesseringsanlegget ved Sellafield i runde av stresstester som skal gjennomføres på europeisk atomanlegg i neste måned.

Det er uakseptabelt at den britiske regjeringen ensidig beslutte å utelukke Sellafield fra stress tester som skal undersøke muligheten av kjernefysiske anlegg for å tåle jordskjelv og andre miljøtrusler, inkludert angrepet av terrorister.

Vi har siden 2007 fokusert på trusselen om radioaktive nedfall over Norge fra Sellafield som tilsvarer flere ganger et Tjernobyl-nedfall. Det er derfor meget nødvendig at Sellafield blir sikret på best mulig måte også sette ut fra hvilke tragiske konsekvenser dette kan få i Japan.