[NukeNet] Scotland: Oil industry plan to bury polonium-210 in Scotland triggers health fears

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Oil industry plan to bury polonium-210 in Scotland triggers health fears
A new radioactive waste dump to store deadly polonium-210 - the isotope used to murder former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko - is being planned in Scotland.

The offshore oil industry wants to bury hundreds of tonnes of toxic drilling waste on the mainland. But critics claim the planposes a serious health hazard to members of the public.

Polonium-210 is already a major contributor to critical public doses of radiation from shellfish such as mussels and whelks. In its pure form, it is more than a million times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide, the poison once used to execute prisoners in gas chambers, and cancausefatalinternalinjuriesor cancer. Polonium-210 is one of several radioactive isotopes in the oil waste.

Dr John Large, an independent radiation consultant, said Naturally Occuring Radioactive Material (NORM waste) from oil and gas exploration had a low levelofradioactivitycomparedto nuclear waste. But it could still act like a "dirtytime-bomb"whenitbecomes exposed to air.

He warned: "You have to be very wary about disposing of material like this in landfill. It can spread into the potable water supply and be taken up by plants.

"And there's a danger that, if it is dumped in a field, it will be ploughed up or travel to the surface.

"There it would disperse into the atmosphere as it decayed, creating a plume of radioactive particles which would be inhaled by residents living nearby.

"It would pass directly from their lungs into their blood and, in the longer term, cause cancers like leukaemia."

Theoffshoreoilindustryhas launched a search for on-shore dump sites after the UK's national repository at Drigg in Cumbria closed its doors to North Sea waste.

Rig operators have also been ordered to halt the dumping of radioactive material at sea under new European environment laws.

The "green" clampdown could also force the offshore industry to recover almost 5,000,000 tonnes of waste, also known as scale, already dumped on the seabed and bring it ashore. Since the oil boom began in the 1960s, radioactive waste has routinely been jettisoned from drilling platforms.

The UK Oil and Gas Operators' Association (UKOOA) said a national repositoryforScotlandwas"theonly sustainable option" for the future.

It admitted: "If nothing is done to provide alternative onshore disposal routes there is the potential for stockpiling and consequent problems with public relations, licensing and ultimate disposal.

"There could be a serious problem in accommodatingallthesolidwaste currently discharged offshore in a UK onshore disposal facility."

Scotlandhasonlyoneonshore decontaminationfacilitywhichroutinely disposes of NORM waste: Scotoil Services in Aberdeen.

Alexa Chaffer, UKOOA's spokesman, added: "There are currently no alternative routine disposal options for this material within the sphere of radioactive waste disposal in the UK.

"Though we realise that in many cases landfill is not the preferred option of waste disposal, it provides us with assurance of business continuity and also offers a solution to the clearly emotive issue of sea discharge of NORM scale while other disposal routes are further researched."

Stuart Hay, head of research with Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "Scotland's oil industry impacts on the environment and having to deal safely with contaminated cutting oils and sludges is just one of many problems. It is vital that the relevant authorities are involved in all decisions regarding these types of wastes."

Byron Tilly, Radioactive Substances Unit manager with Scottish environment watchdog SEPA, said the UKOOA was keeping the agency informed of its progress with waste disposal.

"Proposals will be scrutinised before any decision is made which allows such a disposal to take place."

8:32pm Saturday 25th August 2007



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