Theresa May has been called on to halt US Air Force shipments of highly enriched uranium from a Scottish airport because of safety concerns. Paul Monaghan, SNP MP for Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross, said he had drawn the prime minister’s attention to research claiming that the Wick John O’Groats airport runway is 1,600ft too short. The government recently spent £8 million upgrading the airport for the uranium transportation. Dr Monaghan said the research found that US air force C17 Globemaster aircraft required a runway length of 7,600ft to take off safely and that the one at Wick was 6,000ft long. As a result planes are routed through RAF Lossiemouth in Moray to be drained of fuel before heading to Wick. They refuel at Lossiemouth on the return leg. The shipment of 700kg of highly enriched uranium from Dounreay nuclear facility in Caithness, which is being transported by up to nine flights, is the largest ever movement of highly toxic fissile material out of the UK.
Times 1st Oct 2016 read more »