Scottish ministers have the power to halt plans to dump nuclear waste on Aboriginal land in Australia which could breach human rights, according to government advisors. Documents obtained by The Ferret reveal that expert advice sought by ministers stated that the Scottish Government could prevent the export of radioactive waste from the UK under a swap arrangement involving the Dounreay nuclear complex in Caithness. The revelations have prompted campaigners to call for the Scottish Government to step in and stop the waste dumping, which they see as a potential desecration of sacred Aboriginal lands in south Australia. The Scottish Government and its regulator, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), have insisted that regulating the waste shipment is not their responsibility – but Sepa’s former chief executive says this is wrong. Nuclear fuel was sent from an Australian research reactor to Dounreay for reprocessing in the 1990s. The resulting radioactive waste, amounting to 51 cemented drums, was originally due to be returned to Australia for disposal. But under the terms of a waste substitution deal in 2014, Scottish and UK governments agreed that the drums should stay at Dounreay because of the difficulties of transporting them around the globe. Peter Roche, an anti-nuclear campaigner and member of Nuclear Waste Advisory Associates, pointed out that environmentalists were opposed to nuclear waste being transported around the world. “It should be stored in above ground stores on the site where it is produced,” he said. “And should certainly not be sent back to Australia if it is likely to pose a potential risk to the rights of Aboriginal communities near the two proposed storage sites in Australia.” He added: “The Scottish Government should accept that it bears some responsibility for this waste and tell the UK government to halt the proposed shipment.”

The Ferret 19th Feb 2019 read more »

SHARE your thoughts about policing in Cumbria at an event at Sellafield on Thursday. Cumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall, will be at the site on Thursday from 10.30am to 11.15am at B314 foyer and the main foyer B409 Canteen from 11.45am to 1.15pm. Mr McCall is really keen to speak to as many people as possible across the county and wants to hear their views about policing. He said: “Public surgeries such as these help to give me a real feel for what people are experiencing out in our communities.

Whitehaven News 18th Feb 2019 read more »

We were surprised to read in a Whitehaven News article, that the Copeland councillor, David Moore, who is responsible for the borough’s position on nuclear matters, appears not to have understood how the new search process for a site to bury the nation’s nuclear waste will work. He states: “They [landowners] are obliged at some point to ask for local authority support, but they can still take it forward without local authority support” In fact that is not correct. Landowners can form a Working Group to have initial discussions without a relevant principal local authority, but they cannot form a Community Partnership without one, and therefore the process will be halted at an early stage without local authority support. The Working with Communities framework published in December 2018 states: “In order for the Community Partnership to form and operate, at least one relevant principal local authority must agree to participate.” In addition, what David Moore fails to mention is that while a landowner, or a parish council can volunteer for the process, once the relevant local authority has joined, the landowner or parish becomes powerless to withdraw.

Cumbria Trust 17th Feb 2019 read more »

Concerns over the possible location of a nuclear waste dump in the Mourne and Slieve Gullion mountains was expressed by councillors at the Municipal District of Dundalk meeting last week. Cllr Mark Dearey noted that the Mourne area had been identified by the UK authorities as being suitable for the long term depositary of nuclear waste due to its granite mountains. It was one of a number of sites identified as being geologically suitable for the underground storage of nuclear waste. ‘The local authority would have to agree to be a host,’ he said. He felt that ‘the prospect of any local authority agency agreeing to be host is so close to zero’ so that it was case for vigilance but not alarm.’ Newry and Mourne Council had passed a proposal that they would not host a nuclear dump and were calling on all ten local authorities in Northern Ireland to do the same.

Irish Independent 16th Feb 2019 read more »

Tánaiste Simon Coveney said the Government has been following “with concern” reports that the UK proposes to use the Mourne mountains as a storage area for nuclear waste. He will discuss the issue with Northern Secretary Karen Bradley when he meets her later this week. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said he understood that the Scottish Assembly ruled out such “deep geological storage of nuclear waste” there but that the Northern Ireland Assembly had agreed. Raising the issue in the Dáil, Mr Ryan said it was not clear “what the parties in government in Northern Ireland have agreed or why they did so”. But he asked “what if anything is the Government doing about this”.

Irish Times 13th Feb 2019 read more »

SELLAFIELD Ltd has selected Tiger robotic vehicles, built by Fareham-based Saab Seaeye to work in one of the most hazardous environments on the planet. The announcement came after the Tiger had worked consistently in the highly-corrosive conditions for nine months, transferring waste material stored in spent fuel ponds, during which time it only needed to pause for routine maintenance. Sellafield has now ordered four Tigers for this challenging role. The Tiger’s durability means that there is limited need for intervention by operators for maintenance purposes, considerably reducing their exposure in this hazardous environment.

Southern Daily Echo 12th Feb 2019 read more »

California-based Deep Isolation claims to have the answer to the world’s spent nuclear fuel problem, with more than 30 countries playing host to a growing stockpile of radioactive waste. Based out of California, the company has developed technology it claims can solve a problem its CEO Elizabeth Muller argues is second only to climate change in terms of its environmental severity. Capitalising on advances in drilling technology, the solution involves storing the spent nuclear fuel in corrosion-resistant canisters and placing them in drillholes deep beneath the earth at sites near where the waste was produced so as to minimise costs.

Compelo 12 th Feb 2019 read more »

RADIOACTIVE waste could one day be stored deep beneath the Pembrokeshire countryside. Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) – set up by the government – is on the look-out for a suitable site in which to dispose of radioactive waste. England and Wales have been divided into sub-regions, three of which include parts of Pembrokeshire, which could potentially house an underground geological disposal facility (GDF). St Davids and its surrounding coastline, up to North Wales, and an area starting at St Brides Bay and leading south-east to Swansea are among the regions being assessed for their suitability.

Western Telegraph 12th Feb 2019 read more »

Cheltenham has been chosen as one of 10 places in the UK where meetings will be held about the future of the underground burying of radioactive nuclear waste. After more than 60 years of waste being produced by nuclear power stations in the UK, The Government have now said that they need to start safely managing it. They’re now trying to work out where’s best to build a geological disposal facility (GDF), which will allow them to safely dispose of the waste hundreds of metres underground.

The Breeze 8th Feb 2019 read more »

Gloucester Live 7th Feb 2019 read more »

Wales shouldn’t be a nuclear dumping ground. That’s the view of Plaid Cymru’s shadow energy minister Llyr Gruffydd AM, who was responding to an invitation sent to council leaders across Wales and England asking them to host Nuclear Waste disposal facilities. The invitation, by Bruce McKirdy, Managing Director of Radioactive Waste Management Limited, includes financial inducements to cash-strapped local authorities to become part of the process.

Plaid Cymru 7th Feb 2019 read more »

The Daily Mirror says fears are mounting across Northern Ireland that tourist hotspots may be turned into a “dumping ground” for nuclear waste. It says spots across Northern Ireland, including the Mourne Mountains, the Causeway Glens, the Sperrins and Lough Neagh are being examined by a government firm hoping to find a permanent place for the UK’s radioactive material. Shauna Corr reports that thousands have signed a petition against a Geological Disposal Facility in the Mournes, while Newry Mourne and Down Council has voted to write to Westminster saying it will never consent to a site in the area. Friends of the Earth’s Declan Allison tells the paper: “We’ve heard some terrible ideas before but this is plutonium-fuelled madness.

BBC 8th Feb 2019 read more »