Halt the Dumping of Hinkley Mud in the Severn Estuary
NRW in their Position Statement** now admit there was
leakage of nuclear spent fuel in 1969 into the spent-fuel cooling pond and that Magnox
were convicted of not maintaining the effluent filters on liquid discharges
from the ponds.
The effluents included
plutonium and EDF have now agreed to use alpha-spectrometry to assess the sediments for it.
NRW and EDF repeatedly
refused this previously, claiming gamma-spectrometry was adequate. Neil McEvoy AM was ridiculed for demanding it
and the Environment minister accused critics of “scaremongering” over nuclear contaminants
in the Hinkley mud.
A virtual
meeting of opposition groups on 15 June received a presentation Prof. Keith
Barnham of Imperial College, with his evidence on Hinkley Point's plutonium discharges in the
1970s and 80s.
Friends of
the Earth Barry&Vale are opposing the mud dumping both on the basis of
nuclear contamination and also that sea dumping of construction of materials
is banned under international treaties to which the UK is committed. In this case, EDF could use or dispose of the
excavated material on their huge construction site, so cannot argue an
exception.
Max Wallis of
the FoE group says: “the NRW are clearly wrong to ignore this basic ban on sea-dumping by
declaring it ‘out of scope’. Welsh
politicians need to tell NRW that we have the power and the duty to apply the
international ban on dumping in Welsh seas.
End of.”
NRW requirement on
Plutonium sampling using alpha spectrometry reads:
8. The chosen sample location for plutonium
should be explained. Clear justification on the number of stations in relation
to risk will need to be provided. In addition, each core chosen for such
analysis will require subsamples to be taken from all depths. Alpha spectroscopy will be used to determine
the plutonium (Pu-239+240) and americium (Am-241) isotopes. Alpha spectroscopy
will be undertaken on cores which are also used for the gamma spectroscopy in
line with ISO 185891, to enable direct comparison of results from each analysis.
After contamination by nuclear fuel-element ruptures in 1969 etc., the cooling ponds were emptied to sea over many years (the license limited the total radioactivity released) till 2014. For many of these years, the filters were not maintained, so potentially letting through radioactive particles. NRW's answer given to the NFLA objection says:
The Environment Agency is aware of an
incident in the R1 fuel pond in the late 1960s which led to a release of
fission products into the pond. The pond has now been treated and emptied of
effluent and sludge.
Discharges are matter for Magnox Ltd, but the
Environment Agency is aware of these historic events that may have led to
higher levels the Hinkley Point A pond excursion in the late 1960s. The EA also
prosecuted Magnox for poor maintenance of effluent filters at Hinkley Point A
(and Bradwell) in June 2001. They (Magnox Electric) were fined £100,000 plus
£28,000 costs.
