[NukeNet] Scotland: Dounreay 'will pollute for decades'

[The Roy Process]

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      Dounreay 'will pollute for decades'
      RADIOACTIVE particles from the Dounreay nuclear plant will pollute beaches for decades to come and the environment will never be completely cleaned up.

      These are the conclusions of the latest expert study of the hundreds of thousands of fragments of nuclear fuel known to have leaked into the sea from the Caithness plant since the 1950s.

      The revelations have sparked anger from environmentalists, who say nuclear power has left Scotland with a "terrible legacy". Dounreay's operator, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), admitted that the behaviour that led to the leaks was "just not acceptable".

      Political arguments over nuclear power are bound to intensify with the energy policy agreed by the Scottish Labour conference in Oban this weekend, when delegates decided not to reject a new nuclear programme.

      The new study is by the Dounreay Particles Advisory Group (DPAG). "Particles will continue to be washed on to local beaches for some decades," it says. "It is impractical to aim to return the environment to a pristine condition."

      Trying to retrieve all the particles could be counter-productive, the report warns. "Disturbance of the sea bed could cause mobilisation and fragmentation of large particles, increasing the likelihood of particles reaching the public."

      Nevertheless, the report urges that "serious consideration be given to the targeted removal of significant particles". The UKAEA is seeking tenders for robots that could retrieve the particles.

      The DPAG report estimates that there are about 1000 "significant" particles in the sea. The most radioactive particle found so far "could have had life-threatening consequences if ingested".

      The report calls for the foreshore adjacent to Dounreay to be closed to the public and for monitoring of nearby beaches Sandside, Scrabster, Crosskirk, Brims Ness, Thurso, Melvich, Murkle, Peedie and Dunnet to be stepped up.

      Fishing within two kilometres of Dounreay's waste pipe has been banned since 1997. The UKAEA faces prosecution for the pollution, as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has submitted a report to the procurator fiscal.

      The report reveals one source was a series of hitherto unknown fires between 1969 and 1979. Other sources include the infamous Dounreay shaft, site of a "violent explosion" in 1977. "Up to several hundred thousand particles" have been discharged since 1959.

      "This is the terrible legacy that Scotland's failed nuclear experiment has left us with," said Duncan McLaren, of Friends of the Earth Scotland. "It should remind us why we should not countenance new nuclear power stations."

      UKAEA spokesman Colin Punler said: "The particles are a legacy of practices from the 1950s which we regard today as just not acceptable.

      "It's never going to be possible to retrieve every particle," he added. "But we need to reduce the risk to the minimum by going after the largest particles."

      7:44pm Saturday 25th November 2006



      By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor


     
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