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Letter: Data withheld on nuclear waste storage

Data withheld on nuclear waste storage The Guardian Hugh Richards 3 February 2009 We as taxpayers are being asked to take responsibility for significant amounts of spent fuel – something omitted by Rivaz. Spent nuclear fuel contains most of the radioactivity from the new reactors, but neither government nor its regulators have assessed its “disposability”, or the health effects of managing it. The Nuclear Industry Association says a repository dealing with legacy wastes could readily accommodate the smaller volumes of easier-to-handle wastes from the new nuclear plants.

But the spent fuel from EDF’s planned European pressurised reactors in England would be hotter and more radioactive than that from the EPR at Olkiluoto, in Finland. There are serious doubts it could be disposed of in the deep geological repository for legacy waste, but the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has only recently received the detailed information from EDF that will allow it to make the assessment. Having asked for a copy of that information, I have been told by the NDA that it was submitted in confidence under contractual arrangements, and agreement to the release of the information has not been granted. Thus data directly relevant to independent assessment of health detriments during the storage, retrieval, encapsulation, emplacement and subsequent abandonment of spent fuel, is being withheld by the company concerned……………………………..I have asked the energy department to publish the data, but the secretary of state is busy promoting nuclear power by “reducing regulatory risks for investors”. He is also the “sole justifying authority” that will decide whether benefits from new reactors outweigh any health detriments, a somewhat dangerous conflict of interests.

Letter: Data withheld on nuclear waste storage | Environment | The Guardian

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium

February 4, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK