In the very early hours of Sunday, July 29, the federal government carried out a highly secretive transport of spent nuclear fuel. Helicopters and hundreds of police accompanied trucks from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology’s reactor at Lucas Heights to Port Kembla in Wollongong. The spent fuel was loaded onto the BBC Austria, owned by Briese Schiffahrt, a shipping line condemned across the world for dangerous and illegal practices. The cargo is heading for the La Hague facility in France to be reprocessed, with a contractual agreement for waste generated from this process to be sent back to Australia. Any transportation of nuclear materials carries risks, but Briese has a particularly terrible safety record, including leaking oil from vessels, losing cargo overboard and failing to follow basic navigation rules. In 2015, French nuclear giant Areva (now Orano) chartered the controversial Briese ship BBC Shanghai to bring reprocessed spent fuel waste back to Australia. This was despite the ship having recently been detained in Australia and Spain, and banned from carrying government cargo in the United States, for failing safety inspections.

Green Left 15th Aug 2018 read more »

A WORKER at Hinkley Point B power station has just become the first ever female nuclear fuel flask transporter driver in the country. Liz Dunn, who is employed by Workplace Solutions, has worked at the EDF Energy site for six years. She achieved this unique accolade after replying to a vacancy advertised on an internal notice board and in doing so, she has fulfilled a lifelong dream. “I have been interested in large lorries and vehicles since I was a child,” said Liz, who lives in Bridgwater.

Bridgwater Mercury 15th Aug 2018 read more »

Police Scotland is expecting a £4 million windfall from external organisations for protecting nuclear waste shipments and policing sporting events. The force has made almost £1 million this year so far for providing logistical support for nuclear waste transfers and policing football matches. The ongoing logistical support — known as Operation Ailey — is understood to involve traffic management and public order protection for nuclear waste travelling from the decommissioned Dounreay nuclear plant for reprocessing at Sellafield in Cumbria.

Herald 11th Aug 2018 read more »

Researchers sent a nuclear waste container on a 14,500-mile odyssey by truck, barge, cargo ship, and train in an effort to understand how well radioactive fuel would stand up to travel. That’s important to find out because one day, the goal is to store all the radioactive fuel that’s used up and spit out by nuclear power plants in the US at a central, underground repository. There’s still a political struggle over where that repository will be, so right now, spent nuclear fuel doesn’t move much around the US. It mostly sits in storage at nuclear power plants or sometimes travels between power plants owned by the same company, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the government agency that oversees the nuclear industry.

The Verge 3rd Aug 2018 read more »

Researchers sent a nuclear waste container on a 14,500-mile odyssey by truck, barge, cargo ship, and train in an effort to understand how well radioactive fuel would stand up to travel. That’s important to find out because one day, the goal is to store all the radioactive fuel that’s used up and spit out by nuclear power plants in the US at a central, underground repository. There’s still a political struggle over where that repository will be, so right now, spent nuclear fuel doesn’t move much around the US. It mostly sits in storage at nuclear power plants or sometimes travels between power plants owned by the same company, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the government agency that oversees the nuclear industry.

The Verge 3rd Aug 2018 read more »

Researchers sent a nuclear waste container on a 14,500-mile odyssey by truck, barge, cargo ship, and train in an effort to understand how well radioactive fuel would stand up to travel. That’s important to find out because one day, the goal is to store all the radioactive fuel that’s used up and spit out by nuclear power plants in the US at a central, underground repository. There’s still a political struggle over where that repository will be, so right now, spent nuclear fuel doesn’t move much around the US. It mostly sits in storage at nuclear power plants or sometimes travels between power plants owned by the same company, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the government agency that oversees the nuclear industry.

The Verge 3rd Aug 2018 read more »