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Safety scares at Sellafield threaten to undermine nuclear ‘renaissance’

Safety scares at Sellafield threaten to undermine nuclear ‘renaissance’ The Guardian, terry Macalister 17 May 09 Managers insist 14-month radioactive leak and loss of toxic containers pose no threat to public safety

New safety scares at Britain’s largest atomic site – including a 14-month radioactive leak and the loss of two toxic containers – are threatening to undermine confidence in the government’s nuclear renaissance.

Nuclear Management Partners, which runs Sellafield complex, admitted a spillage found in January, the day before Gordon Brown visited, was “level two”, the worst since a 2005 accident that saw then-owners British Nuclear Fuels Ltd fined £500,000………………………………

Environmentalists said the latest scares would further undermine public confidence. “Never mind swine flu, this pandemic of nuclear carelessness poses a far greater risk to us all, and highlights the sloppy housekeeping that is endemic at Sellafield,” said Martin Forwood of Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment.Local anti-nuclear campaigners said they were very disturbed that Sellafield Ltd was “clinging to the hope” that the lost cans had been moved to another secure facility on the site.

But they were even more worried that the consortium had so far offered no explanation as to how remotely controlled robots could have effected such a removal service unobserved by managers and workers alike, or by the site’s security services.

A continuing hunt is on to find the materials, which were stored in a “cave” with such high levels of radioactivity that the canisters can only be moved only by robots. NMP said it needed to understand how the materials had been moved to ensure that there could be no repeat.

Safety scares at Sellafield threaten to undermine nuclear ‘renaissance’ | Business | guardian.co.uk

May 18, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized