nuclear-news

Anxiety about nuclear weapons transport paused for 2 hours

Herald 16th July 2018 , AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a freight train carrying nuclear
material ran a stop signal near to Kingussie on Friday night. The service
was carrying spent fuel from the Dounreay Power Station to the
decommissioning site at Sellafield, Cumbria. It came to a stop after
travelling past a red light before being moved to a “position of safety” by
concerned officials. Direct Rail Services (DRS), the company which handles
shipments between the two sites on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority (NDA), said they understand there was no risk of collision due to
the error.

However, concerns have been raised as to why a train loaded with
radioactive material was allowed to sit there for almost two hours. An
investigation has since been launched into the circumstances of the
“highly-disturbing” incident. DRS has been transporting spent fuel between
the two sites for a number of years. The material is taken from Dounreay to
Georgemas Junction and loaded on to the train to Carlisle and then onto
Sellafield.

Tor Justad, chairperson of the Highlands Against Nuclear
Transport group, said: “We’ve been campaigning for these shipments to be
stopped and for the material to be kept on site. Storing nuclear material
is hazardous enough but it’s when you go to transport it that accidents can
happen. And obviously an incident like this is highly-disturbing. We know
that low-level radiation is emitted from these canisters so to hear that
the train was sitting at Kingussie for hours is concerning.”
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16356092.investigation-launched-after-train-carrying-nuclear-material-ran-stop-signal-at-kingussie/

July 18, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK