UK Given 60 Days to Expedite Nuclear Waste Inspection

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 31, 2004 (ENS) - The European Commission has ordered British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. to clean up an old nuclear waste pond at its Sellafield facility to a standard that will allow international inspectors to see whether or not any of the radioactive material has been diverted to make bombs.

The EU executive Tuesday gave the state-owned company that operates Sellafield until June 1 to present an overall plan that ensures adequate accounting for the nuclear material in question, as well as physical access to the Cumbrian nuclear processing plant or face fines.

Loyola de Palacio, the EU Vice-President responsible for Energy and Transport, said the UK must comply with the provisions of the Euratom Treaty and permit the inspections.

"This problem has been known for a long time, but no concrete initiative has been taken by the operator to rectify it," said the vice president. "The situation had therefore become untenable for the Commission. It calls into question the credibility of our safeguards, which our team of inspectors has been carrying out for 50 years in accordance with very high standards."

An open air spent nuclear fuel storage pool at Sellafield (Photo courtesy U. Wales, Aberystwyth)

The open air pond contains uranium, plutonium, and other radioactive wastes such as caesium and strontium.

In accounting terms, the Commission said Tuesday, "it is impossible to determine accurately the quantities of material stored, and on-the-spot inspections cannot take place because of the high level of radiation and poor visibility in the part of the facility concerned."

Estimates for uranium in the pond range between 300 and 450 metric tons, and there may be as much as 1.3 tons of plutonium but it is impossible to tell because pond visibility is restricted by algae.

Confidential British Nuclear Fuel (BNFL) documents leaked to the London "Sunday Herald" last July indicate that the company does not know precisely how much radioactive material is in the pond.

BNFL documents published by the newspaper and dated 1999 give a glimpse of what corrosion and decay have done to the underwater waste. “Individual elements have also fallen from various process operations," the company wrote. "Poor pond visibility and accumulated sludge in the pond make it difficult to retrieve spilt fuel and undertake visual inspections."

BNFL's Sellafield nuclear facility on the Cumbrian coast (Photo courtesy BNFL)

Recognizing that technical difficulties prevented an immediate solution, the Commission has regularly requested BNFL, the last time in March 2003, to submit an overall plan detailing the measures needed to put an end to the situation.

In the past, BNFL has made commitments to remedy the problem, but has so far failed to come up with a formal action plan or adopt the measures needed to put an end to the infringement once and for all.

Now the EU executive has lost patience with the delay and is demanding an action plan within 60 days.

In addition, the UK authorities are required to submit to the Commission every six months a report on progress towards implementing the plan.

Greenpeace says it supports the European Commission's move to force BNFL to clean up the B30 spent nuclear fuel pond at Sellafield but it is a move that should have been made years ago.

Greenpeace nuclear campaigner Jean McSorley said, "The UK Government and BNFL have prevaricated for years about this waste, despite the fact that they knew there was a huge problem. The Commission has also failed to act on this for the past 14 years, and during that time has repeatedly told the European Parliament and the Council that the situation at Sellafield was fine."