February 8, 2008

 

Dear Mr Owen,

On January 31’s edition of “Pawb a’i Farn” on S4C where you were a guest on the panel, nuclear energy was discussed. While discussing nuclear waste, you said with conviction:- “They know what to do with the waste”.

What therefore is your response to the fact that the THORP nuclear waste reprocessing plant in Sellafield has shut down three days prior to the “Pawb a’i Farn” programme? THORP had to shut in April 2005 after a leak equivalent to half an Olympic swimming pool of liquid nitric acid containing uranium and plutonium was discovered. This lethal liquid had leaked undiscovered for eight months despite the presence of closed circuit television. BNFL was fined £500,000 for their safety breaches. THORP was shut down for two years.Since reopening, THORP has only reprocessed one batch of spent nuclear fuel. Further work was stopped when an underwater lift that takes the fuel for reprocessing broke down.

At the same time, the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has published a scathing report on Sellafield. The report reveals that every step of the THORP reprocessing work is in crisis. The most dangerous problem is the failure of equipment needed to cool the waste. This could at worst lead to an explosion scattering radioactivity across much of the country, causing hundreds of thousands of death by cancer.

The report adds there are “poor housekeeping standards” in the waste stores, that vital safety inspections are “not fully effective”, and it condemns “lack of focus” on “emergency arrangements and fire safety”.

All this is happening at a very sensitive time for the nuclear industry as it tries to persuade investors to build new nuclear power stations. As the nuclear expert Dr John Large says:-

“The Government wants to build new nuclear power stations, but the backend of the process, which deals with their waste, is a shambles”.

Do you still believe, Mr Owen, that “they know what to do with the waste”?

 

Yours faithfully,

Dylan Morgan, People Against Wylfa B- PAWB