UK scraps advisory body that warned of nuclear risks

Health and Safety Executive (HSE)  disbands nuclear body that warned of risks

The Guardian Rob Edwards and Terry Macalister 17 Feb 09

An expert advisory committee has been quietly scrapped after it warned that the safety of Britain’s ageing nuclear plants was being put at risk by poor performance, delays and budget cuts.

The Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee (NuSAC), which has been offering critical advice to Britain’s health and safety watchdog for nearly 50 years, was disbanded without any public announcement.

Former members of NuSAC are now worried about the lack of independent safety advice at a time when the government is embarking on a big expansion and clean-up of nuclear power.

Some former members privately suspect that NuSAC was shut down in October because it could have hampered government plans for a new programme of nuclear reactors. “This was just the time to get rid of a potential pest and spanner in the works of the brave new world of nuclear regulation and build,” said one.

Some of NuSAC’s recent criticisms, particularly on potential shortfalls in the funding of nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management, were forthright………………………NuSAC consisted of 19 safety experts, including scientists, academics, trade unionists and business executives, none of whom were paid. It reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and was chaired for the past four years by Stephen Vranch, a chemical engineer from Jacobs Engineering……………………………

In an unpublicised report last July, NuSAC warned that programmes to deal with radioactive waste from decommissioning the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria and other old nuclear plants had suffered “substantial slippages”.

The slippages were caused by the “poor performance” of nuclear plants, delays in developing waste processing and budget restrictions, the report concluded. “There remains a lack of confidence that the high hazards are being tackled to a robust programme,” it said.

February 17, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

US using British atomic weapons factory for its nuclear programme

US using British atomic weapons factory for its nuclear programme guardian.co.uk 9 feb 09  Joint warhead research carried out at Aldermaston• Work breaches nuclear treaty, campaigners warn

The US military has been using Britain’s atomic weapons factory to carry out research into its own nuclear warhead programme, according to evidence seen by the Guardian.

US defence officials said that “very valuable” warhead research has taken place at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire as part of an ongoing and secretive deal between the British and American governments.

The Ministry of Defence admitted it is working with the US on the UK’s “existing nuclear warhead stockpile and the range of replacement options that might be available” but declined to give any further information.

Last night, opposition MPs called for a full parliamentary inquiry into the extent of the collaboration at Aldermaston and campaign groups warned any such deal was in breach of international law. They added that it also undermined Britain’s claim to have an independent nuclear weapons programme and meant British taxpayers were effectively subsidising America’s nuclear programme…………………………….

Congress has stopped funding research into RRW but campaigners believe the US military may have used facilities in the UK to get around the restrictions at home.

“Billions of pounds have been poured into the Atomic Weapons Establishment over recent years to build new research facilities,” said Hudson. “If these are being used to support US programmes outside Congress’s controls on spending, it raises even more serious questions about why the British taxpayer is paying for a so-called ‘independent deterrent’.”

US using British atomic weapons factory for its nuclear programme | World news | The Guardian

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive

February 11, 2009 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK | Leave a comment

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 | Leave a comment