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Nuclear Waste

Sellafield

Algae Control In Nuclear Power Plant Of Sellafield. After the installation of multiple LG Sonic Industrial Wet Systems in a nuclear power plant of Sellafield (UK) the water visibility in the storage ponds improved significantly. As a result of the ultrasonic systems there has been an exceptional reduction in blue-green algae and chlorophyll levels in the storage ponds. The Challenge: Improve Water Visibility In Storage Ponds. Sellafield, a nuclear fuel reprocessing and nuclear decommissioning site, handles nearly all radioactive waste generated by 15 operational nuclear reactors in the United Kingdom. In 2015, the UK government has started a major clean-up of stored nuclear waste in Sellafield because of the bad condition of storage ponds. One of the main causes of bad conditions in the storage ponds was poor visibility in the water due to algae growth.

Power Online 15th Aug 2018 read more »

Sellafield

Sellafield in court on health and safety charges – after worker allegedly exposed to plutonium. Sellafield is the subject of a prosecution brought by the Office for Nuclear Regulation under the Health and Safety at Work Act following an incident at the Seascale plant on February 5 last year. It is alleged that a worker was exposed to plutonium. Sellafield Ltd is alleged to have failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all its employees, including Jonathan Greggain, “in relation to the risks arising from hand working within glove boxes”. No plea to the charge was entered. A timetable for the case was set and a three-week trial was provisionally pencilled in for March.

Whitehaven News 16th Aug 2018 read more »

In Cumbria 17th Aug 2018 read more »

ONR 16th Aug 2018 read more »

Craig Morris, prosecuting on behalf of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), said it had lined up 20 witnesses, including a number of medical staff who handled the contamination after the event. James Ageros QC, representing Sellafield by telephone, said he thought it was “highly unlikely” that a large number of medical witnesses would be required to attend a trial. Judge James Adkin set a provisional trial date of March 25 next year at the same court. A plea and trial preparation hearing will take place on November 2.

Energy Voice 17th Aug 2018 read more »

Mirror 16th Aug 2018 read more »

Cavendish Nuclear is testing a new mapping system at the Sellafield plant which it says promises to transform decommissioning. The company is taking advantage of a breakthrough in fast neutron detection technology to develop a lightweight system that combines simple electronics with algorithms developed by Cavendish Nuclear. It provides rapid and highly-accurate modelling of plutonium deposits inside gloveboxes, pipes and valves used to process nuclear material. Janet Fletcher, head of products and services at Cavendish Nuclear, said: “Innovation in the use of technology is transforming the ease with which redundant plant can be mapped for the build-up of plutonium.”

Carlisle News & Star 16th Aug 2018 read more »

Energy Live News 16th Aug 2018 read more »

Radwaste

Dr Allan Duncan: David Lowry criticises James Lovelock’s view of nuclear energy as a bridging technology and describes the associated radioactive waste as being radiotoxic and hazardous to the biosphere for hundreds of thousands of years. It is, of course, hazardous to the biosphere only if not effectively disposed of deep underground. It is the failure, over four decades, to complete development of final disposal facilities that first needs to be bridged before committing ourselves to any more nuclear power.

Times 17th Aug 2018 read more »

This Two Billion Year-Old Natural Reactor May Hold The Key To Safe Nuclear Waste Disposal. The Oklo-reactor in Gabon, Africa is one of the most intriguing geological formations found on planet Earth. Here, naturally occurring fissile materials in two billion year-old rocks have sustained a slow nuclear fission reaction like that found in a modern nuclear reactor.

Forbes 14th Aug 2018 read more »

Sellafield

A BUDDING nuclear physics expert was given a tour of Sellafield after sharing his advice on decommissioning with site bosses. School pupil Samuel Boardman, 11 had wowed decommissioning leaders with a letter detailing how he would deal with emptying the highly-hazardous ponds. Samuel, from north Wales, came up with a proposal using similar techniques to those already being used. So impressed was Dorothy Gradden, the head of the legacy ponds at Sellafield, she offered Samuel and his family the chance to come and see the site for himself.

NW Evening Mail 15th Aug 2018 read more »

Radwaste

Letter David Lowry: I admire the vigour of James Lovelock (“He’s 99 and one of our greatest thinkers”, Aug 14). But for a man prepared to think outside the box, he is surprisingly old-fashioned when it comes to his fervent support for nuclear power. He dismisses those who take a more critical view of nuclear as “outrageous hypocrites” of the green movement who base their misperceptions on “so many lies”. I have studied nuclear energy professionally for 40 years. Lovelock is misguided to assert that nuclear can be used as a bridging energy technology while we “make our minds up about other things to do” (to provide energy services). He overlooks the fact that generating electricity using nuclear power creates radioactive waste, some of which remains radiotoxic and hazardous to the biosphere for hundreds of thousands of years. That’s a bridge having to carry a very heavy legacy load.

Times 16th Aug 2018 read more »

Dounreay

Secretary of State meets the team decommissioning Dounreay. Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark MP met new graduates as they embark on science and engineering careers at Dounreay. He talked with the new starters and some of the site’s existing apprentices who are helping to take apart ageing facilities while learning critical skills that could be transferable to other industries in the future. Mr Clark also met armed officers from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary who protect the site 24 hours a day. His visit came after he saw the site earmarked for the UK’s first satellite launch pad located around 40 miles from the former fast reactor research site in Caithness. With decommissioning well advanced, Dounreay and its partners including the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) have worked closely with Highlands and Islands Enterprise to support the space proposal as part of efforts to ensure sustainability and growth for the area beyond the closure of the site.

Dounreay 13th Aug 2018 read more »

Uranium

The presence of natural nuclear reactors 2 billion years ago beneath Africa sounds like a hoax, but it actually happened – they are the only known natural nuclear reactors to have existed. By studying the behavior of the elements produced, scientists are learning lessons for the storage of waste from modern reactors. The remains of the Gabon reactor in Oklo were first discovered in 1972, and since then 17 reactor sites have been found nearby. Scientists examining the site as a potential uranium mine realized the metal’s isotope ratio was different from anywhere else on Earth, indicating induced fission of uranium-235. The deposit also contained the products of induced radioactive decay such as neodymium-143 and ruthenium-99. A study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes an examination of these products. Although the radioactive decay chain initiated during fission is well studied, we know less about how the resulting isotopes behave if released into the environment. With so many sites, and different conditions at each, the Oklo reactors provided Dr Evan Groopman of the US Naval Research Laboratory and co-authors with a rich natural laboratory.

IFL Science 13th Aug 2018 read more »

Nuclear Waste/Bradwell

Andy Blowers: It’s interesting to see how government works. The other day I was invited to give evidence to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. They were pondering the Draft National Policy Statement for Geological Disposal Infrastructure. Arcane, perhaps, but undoubtedly important and a riveting topic for anyone concerned with the future of our environment. Although I said what I wanted to say, I felt my words went into a void, rather like the geological void that was the topic of debate. Recently the Government published its policy for the development of a deep geological repository in which to bury all the most dangerous nuclear wastes created by its military and civil nuclear programmes. That something needs to be done is not in doubt but a repository must be in suitable geology, safely engineered and must achieve public support – conditions unlikely to be forthcoming in the near future. The problem of managing the wastes that already exist will be difficult enough. But, the idea that a repository can also be used to accommodate the unknowable quantity of dangerous wastes from a new build programme is surely preposterous. Yet this is what the Government proposes, stating its belief that ‘effective arrangements will exist to manage and dispose of the waste from new build power stations’. How can they possibly know? There is no foreseeable solution to the problem of wastes from new nuclear power stations, other than leaving them in stores scattered around our coasts at vulnerable, low-lying sites like Bradwell for the indefinite future. If Bradwell B is ever built these wastes will be left, according to the Government’s own estimates, until at least the turn of the twenty-third century, that is seven generations from now. The future physical conditions on the site and the state of society so far away is simply undefinable. It is unethical and should be unthinkable to present such an intractable problem to our children, grandchildren and generations beyond. New build wastes take a very long time to cool before they can be ready for disposal. On current evaluations it could require between 60 and 140 years before disposal. So, let’s assume that Bradwell B starts generating in 2030 and continues for 60 years until 2090. It will then be between 2150 and 2230 before all its wastes could be disposed of, assuming, of course, there is a repository available. The simple truth is we have absolutely no idea how to estimate, let alone manage, the spent fuel and other dangerous wastes that will arise from a new nuclear power station at Bradwell. But we do know that the site is liable to flood and to be exposed to sea- level rise, coastal processes and storm surges as climate change proceeds.

Mersea Life August 2018 read more »

BANNG 2nd Aug 2018 read more »

Bradwell

A band of BANNG representatives, including myself, attended the June meeting of the LCLC at Mundon. The LCLC looks at what is happening at the Bradwell A site with regard to decommissioning and the future of the site. The big issues discussed were: the entry of the site into Care & Maintenance (C&M); the long-term presence on site of the Intermediate-Level waste (ILW) store and of the highly radioactive graphite reactor cores. It was questioned how the site could really be said to be in C&M when it would still have activities ongoing. The ILW store would require to be opened from time to time to accept deliveries of the 164 ILW casks still to come from Dungeness and Sizewell (making Bradwell a regional nuclear waste store); and the highly radioactive reactor cores would continue to remain on site for the long-term. This prompted questions: were the plans to monitor the site remotely from Sizewell during the C&M stage appropriate?; what about the effects of public spending restraints on site security?; would cuts to police numbers affect the ability of Essex Police to respond to any incident at the site? The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) tried to reassure the meeting that the site will not be permitted to enter C&M until the agency is satisfied with the safety case and it was known that Magnox and the police would be able to respond to events. It was hoped to move the wastes to the national repository within 65-85 years. Andy Blowers pointed out that a repository does not yet exist, no-one knows when it will exist – or if it will exist at all. In any event, it is unlikely that wastes from Bradwell A will be high in the queue when Sellafield has first call on the repository.

Mersea Life July 2018 read more »

BANNG 11th July 2018 read more »

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