What a difference 29 years make! Copeland (now Cumberland Council) have gone from resisting a nuclear dump plan for low to intermediate level radioactive wastes to being the key partner in the UK government’s plan for burial and abandonment of high level nuclear wastes.
Back in February 1997 the Whitehaven News tells us that NIREX (now Nuclear Waste Services) wanted to send Copeland Councillors on a nuclear dump fact finding trip to Sweden. The nuclear dump in 1997 was for the burial of low to intermediate level wastes, the plan now is for high level wastes including 140 tonnes of plutonium to be buried in the sub-sea area off the Lake District coast.
In 1997 Copeland Council said a big fat NO to going on an all expenses paid trip to Sweden and wanted assurances from NIREX that its waste disposal proposals “are not cost led” ie was West Cumbria merely politically expedient?
We roll on a month later to the Editorial of the Westmorland Gazette, March 1997, the WG covers the South Lakes area and the headline is No to Nirex….
“The Westmorland Gazette
COMMENT
No to Nirex
IF NIREX thought West Cumbria was a soft option in its search for a site for an underground nuclear waste dump, its fingers have been badly burned.
Environment Secretary John Gummer’s dismissal of Nirex’s appeal against refusal of planning permission for a rock characterisation facility (RCF) at Gosforth, is acknowledgement of the deep public concern felt throughout the county.
The RCF was needed to establish whether the site was suitable for the underground storage of low and inter- mediate level nuclear waste. Planning permission was refused by Cumbria County Council in 1994 and a lengthy public inquiry followed, running from Sep- tember 1995 to February 1996.
Opponents of the RCF, led admirably by the county coun- cil, wanted the inquiry to consider the whole question of nuclear waste disposal, but were turned down by Mr Gummer. This led to fears that the RCF would be given the go-ahead and would turn out to be a ‘Trojan horse’ in the establishment of a long-term under- ground nuclear dump.
In the event, however, Mr Gummer has found sufficient planning grounds on which to reject the NIREX appeal though, perhaps significantly, he does also comment on some of the wider issues involved. He says he is concerned about the scientific uncertainties and technical deficiencies of the Nirex proposals; about the process of site selection; and about the “scope and adequacy of the environmental statement.”
These further comments by Mr Gummer amount to a very clear message to Nirex, that if it wants to establish an underground dump for nuclear waste, it would be well advised to start looking elsewhere.”
More info:
Whitehaven News 6/2/97
Copeland says no to Nirex trip to Sweden
COPELAND COUNCIL has snubbed Nirex by turning down an invitation to visit nuclear waste facilities in Sweden and Finland.
The decision comes after recent local and national criticism of Nirex’s approach towards a safety case for its preferred underground dump site at former Longlands Farm near Sellafield.
Some councillors and officers already have been abroad with Nirex to look at radioactive waste operations. But this time the decision is that “the invitation be declined.” In addition the council is following the lead of Cumbria County Council and calling on environment sec- retary John Gummer to re-open the rock lab inquiry and not to determine the planning application until Nirex pub- lishes its 1997 scientific report.
Widespread news coverage of a leaked Nirex memo and concerns about the suit- ability of the Longlands site prompted Brian White, Copeland’s head of devel- opment and environment, to tell council- lors: “None of this is helpful to the image Copeland strives to project regard- ing the attractions of our part of the country…The subject of socio-economic benefit or disbenefit has been mentioned as being of particular concern along with the loss of some public confidence in Nirex…The council’s position with respect to Nirex has been consistent. Public safety is paramount though the negative influence that a possible deep repository for nuclear waste would have on the socio-economic fabric of the area is also a factor. Local confidence and trust are important considerations and explain why the council still believes that retrievability would have to be a feature of any future repository.”
Last night the council’s development services committee was being advised formally to conclude that recent events have dented local confidence in Nirex and for the council to seek an assurance from Nirex that its waste disposal proposals are not cost led.
On the same page of the Whitehaven News ….
W/N 6/2/19
Heavy rainfall causes new leak at Sellafield
HEAVY rainwater which fell at Sellafield overnight on Monday evening washed some contamination from the roof of a storage tank building within the separation area.
The contamination was traced to a valve bulge on top of the building which is used in liquor transfer operations and was detected when it drained to the site’s rain- water lagoon.
The volume of rain was such that there was a backup in the drainage system and some of the contamination spilled onto the ground. The area concerned has been bar- riered off. No member of the workforce was affected nor were there any wider environmental consequence, said a BNFL spokesman.
Because this event falls within the cri- teria laid down for a formal report to Min-
ister, the relevant Regulatory Authorities and Government Departments have been informed as have local members of Parlia- ment and the Local Liaison Committee.
This was provisionally assessed as Level 2 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (1 to 7).
The Magnox reprocessing plant B205 was returning to normal yesterday follow- ing Sunday’s incident involving a release of activity in the operational area of the building.
The activity was detected routinely through installed monitors which led to a withdrawal of the relatively small number of people who were in the building at the time.
All six workers affected during the event were successfully decontaminated. Further initial monitoring confirmed there was no abnormal dose impact, although in line with standard procedures, further monitoring was initiated.
The plant is currently undergoing a major refurbishment programme and the event occurred whilst workers were dis- mantling the redundant dissolver charge machine.
A small area surrounding the scene of the incident remains to be cleaned but this is expected to be completed shortly.
There was no release of activity outside the plant. A full investigation is underway. This event has been reported to Ministers in line with agreed incident reporting pro- cedure. Regulatory Authorities have also been informed as have local members of Parliament and the Local Liaison Committee.
The event has been provisionally classified as a level 2 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (1 to 7).
Lakes Against Nuclear Dump 
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