Sellafield 220108 226080675 2008-07-16T19:10:25Z Old Moonraker 233102 /* Calder Hall nuclear power station */ "editing fossil" discovered [[Image:Sellafield-1515b.jpg|thumb|The Sellafield facility on the Cumbrian coast, United Kingdom]] '''Sellafield''' is the name of a nuclear site, close to the village and railway station of [[Seascale railway station|Seascale]], operated by Sellafield Ltd, but owned since [[1 April]] [[2005]] by the [[Nuclear Decommissioning Authority]]. Previously Sellafield was owned and operated by [[BNFL]]. Sellafield is located on the coast of the [[Irish Sea]] in [[Cumbria]], [[England]]. It houses the [[Thorp nuclear fuel reprocessing plant]] and the [[Magnox]] [[nuclear reprocessing|nuclear fuel reprocessing plant]]. It is also the site of the remains of '''Calder Hall''' Magnox [[nuclear reactor technology|nuclear power station]] &mdash; the world's first commercial nuclear power station,<ref name=Kragh>{{cite book|last=Kragh|first=Helge|title=Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth Century|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton NJ|date=1999|pages=p286|isbn=0691095523}}</ref> which is now being decommissioned, as well as some other older nuclear facilities. In 1981 Sellafield was re-named; from Windscale to Sellafield in a bid by the Atomic Energy Authority to change the public profile of nuclear energy. The site is served by [[Sellafield railway station]]. ==History== [[Image:Svc3.jpg|thumb|450px|Looking over the facility out to sea.]] Sellafield was originally a [[World War II|Second World War]] [[Royal Ordnance Factory]], [[ROF Sellafield]] that, with its sister factory, [[ROF Drigg]], at [[Drigg]], produced [[trinitrotoluene|TNT]]. After the war, the [[Ministry of Supply]] adapted the Sellafield site to produce [[nuclear weapon]]s materials, principally [[plutonium]]. Construction of the nuclear facilities commenced in 1947 and the site was renamed "Windscale" to avoid confusion with the Springfields uranium processing factory near Preston. With the creation of the [[United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority]] (UKAEA) in 1954, ownership of Windscale Works passed to the UKAEA. The first of four Magnox reactors went operational in 1956 at Calder Hall, adjacent to Windscale, and the site came to be Windscale and Calder Works. Following the breakup of the UKAEA into research (UKAEA) and production (BNFL) arms in 1971, the major part of the site was transferred to BNFL. In 1981 BNFL's Windscale and Calder Works was renamed "Sellafield" as part of a major reorganisation of the site.<ref>{{cite web | title=History of Sellafield| work=Sellafield Web Page | url=http://www.sellafield.com/content.php?pageID=112&decade=1980| accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> The remainder of the site remained in the hands of the UKAEA and is still called Windscale. Two air-cooled, graphite-moderated Windscale reactors constituted the first British weapons grade [[plutonium-239]] production facility, built for the British [[nuclear weapon]]s programme in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Windscale was also the site of the prototype British [[Advanced gas-cooled reactor]]. Since its inception Sellafield has also been host to a number of [[Nuclear reprocessing|reprocessing]] facilities, which separate the [[uranium]], [[plutonium]] and fission products from spent nuclear fuel. The uranium can then be used in the manufacture of new nuclear fuel, or in applications where its density is an asset. The plutonium can be used in the manufacture of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for [[thermal reactor]]s, or as fuel for [[fast breeder]] reactors, such as the Prototype Fast Reactor at [[Dounreay]]. All these processes, including the cooling ponds require water. The NDA (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) has taken over the licence once held by BNFL which allows them to extract a maximum of 18,184.4 m3 a day ( over 4 million gallons) and 6,637,306 m3 a year (figures from the [[Environment Agency]]) from [[Wast Water]] to use on site. ==Major plants== ===The Windscale Piles=== Following the decision taken in January 1947 for the UK to develop its own nuclear weapons,<ref>{{cite web | title=The Role Of Nuclear Weapons And Its Possible Future Missions | work=NATO Academic Forum | url=http://www.nato.int/acad/fellow/94-96/sutyagin/01-03.htm | accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> Sellafield was chosen as the location of the plutonium production plant,<ref>{{cite web | title=History of Sellafield| work=Sellafield Web Page | url=http://www.sellafield.com/content.php?pageID=112&decade=1940| accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> with the initial fuel load into the Windscale Piles commencing July 1950.<ref>{{cite web | title=History of Sellafield| work=Sellafield Web Page | url=http://www.sellafield.com/content.php?pageID=112&decade=1950| accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> By July of 1952 the separation plant was being used to separate plutonium and uranium from spent fuel. Unlike the early US reactors at [[Hanford Site|Hanford]], which consisted of a graphite core cooled by water, the [[Windscale fire|Windscale Piles]] consisted of a graphite core cooled by air. Each pile contained almost 2000 tonnes of graphite, and measured over 24 feet high by 50 feet in diameter. Fuel for the reactor consisted of rods of uranium metal, approximately 1-foot long by one [[inch]] in diameter, and clad in [[aluminium]]. ====The Windscale fire==== {{main|Windscale fire}} The piles were shut down following a fire in Pile 1 on [[10 October]], [[1957]] which destroyed the core and released an estimated 750 [[becquerel|terabecquerels (TBq)]] (20,000 [[curie]]s) of radioactive material into the surrounding environment, including [[Iodine]]-131, which is taken up in the body by the thyroid. Consequently milk and other produce from the surrounding farming areas had to be destroyed. Following the fire Pile 1 was unservicable, and Pile 2, although undamaged by the fire, was shut down as a precaution. In the 1990s, the [[UKAEA]] started to implement plans to decommission, disassemble and clean up both piles; the decommissioning is now partially complete. However, Pile 1 still contains about 15 tonnes of highly unstable uranium fuel, and final completion of the decommissioning is not expected until at least 2037.<ref>[http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/267995/Getting+to+the+core+issue.htm ''The Engineer'', 14 May 2004]</ref> ===The first generation reprocessing plant=== This reprocessing plant was built to extract the plutonium from spent fuel as part of the effort to build the UK's atomic weapons.<ref>{{cite web | title=EC: Sellafield must clean up nuclear waste pond | work=Bellona | url=http://www.bellona.no/en/energy/nuclear/sellafield/wp_5-2001/21738.html| accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> It operated from 1951 until 1964, with an annual capacity of 300 tonnes of fuel (or 750 tonnes of low burnup fuel). Following the commissioning of the Magnox reprocessing plant, it was itself recycled to become a pre-handling plant to allow oxide fuel to be reprocessed in the new plant, and was closed in 1973. ===Calder Hall nuclear power station=== [[Image:Calderhall.jpeg|thumb|200px|Calder Hall unit 1.]] '''Calder Hall''' was the world's first nuclear power station to deliver electricity in commercial quantities (although the 5&nbsp;MW "semi-experimental" reactor at [[Obninsk]] in the Soviet Union was connected to the public supply in 1954).<ref name=Kragh/> The design was codenamed PIPPA (Pressurised Pile Producing Power and Plutonium) by the UKAEA to denote the plant's dual commercial and military role. Construction started in 1953.<ref>[http://www.britishnucleargroup.com/content.php?pageID=262&tab=1 The Nuclear Businesses<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> First connection to the grid was on [[27 August]] [[1956]], and the plant was officially opened by [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]] on [[17 October]] [[1956]].<ref>{{cite web | title=History of Sellafield| work=Sellafield Web Page | url=http://www.sellafield.com/content.php?pageID=112&decade=1950| accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> When the station closed on [[31 March]] [[2003]], the first reactor had been in use for nearly 47 years.<ref>{{cite web | title=First nuclear power plant to close | work=Guardian Unlimited | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,2763,918724,00.html| accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> Calder Hall had 4 [[Magnox]] reactors capable of generating 50 [[Watt#Watts electrical and thermal|MWe]] of power each. However, in its early life, it was primarily used to produce weapons-grade [[plutonium]], with two fuel loads per year, and electricity production as a secondary purpose.<ref>{{cite web | title=Should the United States supply light water reactors to Pyongyang? | author=Peter Hayes | work=Nautilus Pacific Research | url=http://www.nautilus.org/archives/pub/ftp/napsnet/papers/hayes1193.txt| accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> From 1964 it was mainly used on commercial fuel cycles, but it was not until April 1995 that the UK Government announced that all production of plutonium for weapons purposes had ceased. The four Calder Hall cooling towers were demolished by controlled explosions on Saturday [[29 September]] [[2007]]<ref>{{cite web | title=Sellafield towers are demolished| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/7019414.stm| accessdate=2007-09-29}}</ref> ===Windscale Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (WAGR)=== {{main|Advanced gas-cooled reactor}} The Windscale Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (WAGR)<ref>{{cite web | title=History | work=Project WAGR | url=http://www.ukaea.org.uk/wagr/history.htm| accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> was a prototype for the UK's second generation of reactors, the [[Advanced gas-cooled reactor]] or AGR, which followed on from the [[Magnox]] stations. The WAGR golfball is, along with the Pile chimneys, one of the iconic buildings on the Windscale site (Windscale being an independent site within the Sellafield complex). Construction was carried out by [[Mitchell Construction]] and completed in 1962.<ref>Indictment: Power & Politics in the Construction Industry, David Morrell, Faber & Faber, 1987, ISBN 978-0571149858</ref> This reactor was shut down in 1981, and is now part of a pilot project to demonstrate techniques for safely decommissioning a nuclear reactor. ===Magnox reprocessing plant=== In 1964 the [[Magnox]] reprocessing plant came on stream to reprocess spent nuclear fuel from the Magnox reactors.<ref>{{cite web | title=History of Sellafield| work=Sellafield Web Page | url=http://www.sellafield.com/content.php?pageID=112&decade=1960| accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> The plant uses the "plutonium uranium extraction" [[Purex]] method for reprocessing spent fuel, with [[tributyl phosphate]] as an extraction agent. The Purex process produces uranium, plutonium and fission products as output streams. Over the 30 years from 1971 to 2001 [[B205]] has reprocessed over 35,000 tonnes of Magnox fuel, with 15,000 tonnes of fuel being regenerated.<ref>{{cite web | title=Continued discharges from Sellafield for ten more years| work=Bellona | url=http://bellona.no/bellona.org/english_import_area/energy/nuclear/sellafield/25306| accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> Magnox fuel is reprocessed since it corrodes if stored underwater, and routes for dry storage have not yet been proven.<ref>{{cite web | title=RWMAC's Advice to Ministers on the Radioactive Waste Implications of Reprocessing | work=RWMAC | url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/rwmac/reports/reprocess/16.htm | accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> ===HALES=== Highly Active Liquor Evaporation and Storage (HALES) is a department at Sellafield. It conditions nuclear waste streams from the Thorp and MAGNOX reprocessing plants, prior to transfer to the Windscale Vitrification Plant (WVP). ===Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant=== {{main|Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant}} Between 1977 and 1978 an inquiry was held into an application by BNFL for outline planning permission to build a new plant to reprocess irradiated oxide nuclear fuel from both UK and foreign reactors. The inquiry was to answer three questions: "1. Should oxide fuel from United Kingdom reactors be reprocessed in this country at all; whether at Windscale or elsewhere? 2. If yes, should such reprocessing be carried on at Windscale? 3. If yes, should the reprocessing plant be about double the estimated site required to handle United Kingdom oxide fuels and be used as to the spare capacity, for reprocessing foreign fuels?".<ref>{{cite web | title=Windscale Inquiry | work=BOPCRIS - Unlocking Key British Government Publications | url=http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/bopall/ref17576.html | accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> The result of the inquiry was that the new plant, the [[Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant]] (Thorp) was given the go ahead in 1978, although it did not go into operation until 1994. ====2005 Thorp plant leak==== {{wikinews|Nuclear waste leaks at Sellafield facility on Cumbrian coast, England}} On [[April 19]] [[2005]] 83,000 [[litre]]s of [[radioactive waste]] was discovered to have leaked in the Thorp reprocessing plant from a cracked pipe into a huge [[stainless steel]]-lined [[concrete]] [[sump]] chamber built to contain leaks. A discrepancy between the amount of material entering and exiting the Thorp processing system had first been noted in August 2004. Documentation of this finding was not passed up to the appropriate administrator. Other indicators of a problem included a rise in [[temperature]] in the sump chamber and findings of radioactive fluid there, but these were ignored. The spill was recognized only after another audit suggested that further material was missing, prompting plant operators, after several days' delay, to train an automated camera on the faulty pipe and to actually measure the volume of liquid in the sump. Responsible administrators have been disciplined. Some 19 [[tonne]]s of uranium and 160 kilograms of plutonium dissolved in [[nitric acid]] has been pumped from the sump vessel into a holding tank away from the now-closed Thorp plant. Radiation levels in the tank cell preclude entry of humans and robotic repair of the leak may be prohibitively difficult. ===The Vitrification Plant=== In 1991 the Windscale [[Vitrification]] Plant, which seals high-level radioactive waste in glass, was opened. In this plant, liquid wastes are mixed with glass and melted in a furnace, which when cooled forms a solid block of glass. The plant has three process lines and is based on the French AVM procedure. Principal item is an inductively heated melting furnace, in which the calcined waste is merged with glass frit (glass beads of 1 to 2 mm in diameter). The melt is placed into waste containers, which are welded shut, their outsides decontaminated and then brought into air-cooled storage facilities. This storage consists of 800 vertical storage tubes, each capable of storing ten containers. The total storage capacity is 8000 containers, and 2280 containers have been stored to 2001. ===The Sellafield MOX Plant=== Construction of the Sellafield [[MOX fuel|MOX]] Plant (SMP) was completed in 1997, though justification for the operation of the plant was not achieved until October 2001.<ref name=hansard-1034W>{{citation|url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080222/text/80222w0002.htm#column_1034W|title=Hansard, Written Answers: Sellafield|author=[[Malcolm Wicks]]|publisher="[[Hansard]]|id=22 Feb 2008 : Column 1034W|date=22 Feb 2008|accessdate=2008-03-12|format={{dead link|date=June 2008}} &ndash; <sup>[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=intitle%3AHansard%2C+Written+Answers%3A+Sellafield&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&btnG=Search Scholar search]</sup>}}</ref> Mixed oxide, or MOX fuel, is a blend of [[plutonium]] and [[natural uranium]] or [[depleted uranium]] which behaves similarly (though not identically) to the [[enriched uranium]] feed for which most [[nuclear reactor]]s were designed. MOX fuel is an alternative to Low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel used in the [[light water reactor]]s which predominate in [[nuclear power]] generation. MOX also provides a means of using excess weapons-grade plutonium (from military sources) to produce electricity. Designed with a plant capacity of 120 [[tonnes]]/year, it achieved a total output of only 5 tonnes during its first five years of operation.<ref name=hansard-1034W /> In 2008 orders for the plant had to be fulfilled at [[COGEMA La Hague site|COGEMA]] in France,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/dirty-bomb-threat-as-uk-ships-plutonium-to-france-793488.html|title='Dirty bomb' threat as UK ships plutonium to France|author=Geoffrey Lean|publisher="[[The Independent]]|date=9 March 2008|accessdate=2008-03-12}}</ref> and the plant was reported in the media as "failed".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/minister-admits-total-failure-of-sellafield-mox-plant-793489.html|title=Minister admits total failure of Sellafield 'MOX' plant|author=Geoffrey Lean|publisher=[[The Independent]]|date=9 March 2008|accessdate=2008-03-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=17169|title=MOX Fuel Output for Shikoku Electric Power to Begin in March|publisher=The Japan Corporate News Network|date=Feb 29, 2008|accessdate=2008-03-12}}</ref> ===Enhanced Actinide Removal Plant=== In its early days, Sellafield discharged low-level [[radioactive waste]] into the sea, using a [[flocculation]] process to remove radioactivity from liquid effluent before discharge. Metals dissolved in acidic effluents produced a metal hydroxide flocculant [[Precipitation (chemistry)|precipitate]] following the addition of [[ammonium hydroxide]]. The suspension was then transferred to settling tanks where the precipitate would settle out, and the remaining clarified liquor, or [[supernate]], would be discharged to the sea. In 1994 the Enhanced Actinide Removal Plant (EARP) was opened. In EARP the effectiveness of the process is enhanced by the addition of reagents to remove the remaining soluble radioactive species. EARP has recently (2004) been enhanced to further reduce the quantities of [[Technetium-99]] released to the environment.<ref>{{cite web | title=Treating a 50-year-old legacy of radioactive sludge waste | author=Ben Irons | work=Engineer Live | url=http://www.engineerlive.com/power-engineer/nuclear-power/14432/treating-a-50yearold-legacy-of-radioactive-sludge-waste.thtml | accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> ==The Wast Water Connection== Water from [[Wast Water]], England's deepest, coldest lake is pumped to Sellafield nuclear waste processing facility as a fresh water supply. The NDA (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) has taken over the licence once held by BNFL (British Nuclear Fuels PLC) which allows abstraction 18,184.4 m3 a day ( over 4 million gallons) and 6,637,306 m3 a year from Wast Water to use on site for various processes including the cooling ponds and reprocessing (electricity production has ceased). [[Image:Wastwater Twist bottle.jpg|thumb|Wastwater Twist - a bottle presented to the Prime Minister and decision makers including the Lake District National Park Authority as a protest against new nuclear build and ever more waste to be cooled by Wast Water]] ==Sellafield and the local community== Sellafield directly employs around 10,000 people<ref>{{cite web | title=Site Statistics | work=NuclearSites Web Site | url=http://www.nuclearsites.co.uk/page.php?pageID=709 | accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> and is one of the two largest, non-governmental, employers in West Cumbria (along with BAE Systems at [[Barrow-in-Furness]]),<ref>{{cite web | title=THE ECONOMY OF CUMBRIA: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MAJOR EMPLOYERS | work=Centre for Regional Economic Development | url=http://www.uclan.ac.uk/carlisle/cred/files/economy/sept05/Major%20Employers.pdf | accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> with approximately 90% of the employees coming from West Cumbria.<ref>{{cite web | title=Nuclear decommissioning at Sellafield | work=BBC News | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/articles/2005/04/07/nuclear_decommissioning_feature.shtml | accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> Because of the increase in local unemployment following any run down of Sellafield operations, the [[Nuclear Decommissioning Authority]] (and [[Her Majesty's Government|HMG]]) is concerned that this needs to be managed.<ref>{{cite web | title=Government pledges to safeguard West Cumbria's future | work=Government News Network | date=1 November 2004 | url=http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/detail.asp?ReleaseID=133995&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False | id=GNN ref 104585P}}</ref> ==Sellafield Visitors' Centre/ Business and Information Centre== [[Image:Sellafield Visitors' Centre.jpg|right|180px]] Formerly the Sellafield Visitors' Centre, it is now the Business and Information Centre and is open Mon - Fri. The centre is used for business events such as supplier forums and 'Meet the Buyer' events. It is still open to the public but only at selected times. At its peak, the Visitors' Centre attracted an average of 1,000 people per day. In recent years, its popularity has deteriorated, prompting the change from tourist attraction to conference facility. Adjacent to the Visitors' Centre is Yottenfews Farm, an environmental facility which is often visited by school groups. Various workshops such as pond dipping, woodland walks and other environmental activities take place there. ==Controversy== The site has been the subject of much controversy because of discharges of radioactive material, mainly accidental but some alleged to have been deliberate. Since the early 1970s and the rise of the [[environmental movement]] in the US and Europe, there has also been general scepticism of the nuclear industry. In part this has not been helped by the industry's early connections to the [[nuclear weapon]]s programme. Between 1950 and 2000 there have been 21 serious incidents or accidents involving some off-site radiological releases that merited a rating on the [[International Nuclear Event Scale]], one at level 5, five at level 4 and fifteen at level 3. Additionally during the 1950s and 1960s there were protracted periods of known, deliberate, discharges to the atmosphere of plutonium and irradiated uranium oxide particulates.<ref>{{cite journal | author=G A M Webb ''et al.'' | title=Classification of events with an off-site radiological impact at the Sellafield site between 1950 and 2000, using the International Nuclear Event Scale | journal=Journal of Radiological Protection | volume=26 | date=March 2006 | url=http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0952-4746/26/1/002 | doi=10.1088/0952-4746/26/1/002 | pages=33}}</ref> These frequent incidents, together with the large [[Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant#2005 leak|2005 Thorp plant leak]] which was not detected for nine months, have led some to doubt the effectiveness of the managerial processes and safety culture on the site over the years. In the hasty effort to build the 'British Bomb' in the 1940s and 1950s, radioactive waste was diluted and discharged by pipeline into the [[Irish Sea]]. Some claim that the Irish Sea remains one of the most heavily contaminated seas in the world because of these discharges, although the relatively small size of the sea will also contribute to this. The [[OSPAR]] Commission reports an estimated 200 kg of [[plutonium]] has been deposited in the marine sediments of the Irish Sea.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ospar.org/eng/doc/pdfs/R3C4.pdf| title = Quality Status Report 2000 for the North East-Atlantic (Regional QSR III, Chapter 4 Chemistry, p66 | accessdate = 2007-06-03| publisher =OSPAR Commission }}</ref> Cattle and fish in the area are contaminated with [[plutonium]]-239 and [[caesium]]-137 from these sediments and from other sources such as the radioactive rain that fell on the area after the [[Chernobyl disaster]] and the results of atmospheric [[nuclear testing|atomic weapons tests]] prior to the [[Partial Test Ban Treaty|partial test ban treaty]] in 1963. Most of the area's long-lived radioactive [[technetium]] comes from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at the Sellafield facility.<ref>{{cite web | title=Technetium-99 Behavior in the Terrestrial Environment - Field Observations and Radiotracer Experiments-| work=Journal of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences, Vol. 4, No.1, pp. A1-A8, 2003 | url=http://www.radiochem.org/paper/JN41/j041Tagami.pdf| accessdate=2006-08-23}}</ref> {{inote|Technetium-99 Behaviour in the Terrestrial Environment}}. [[Technetium-99]] is a radioactive element which is produced by nuclear fuel reprocessing, and also as a by-product of medical facilities (for example [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] is responsible for the discharge of approximately 6.78 GBq of Technetium-99 each year despite not having a nuclear industry).<ref>{{cite web | title=Report of Ireland on the Implementation of the OSPAR Strategy with regard to Radioactive Substances (June 2001) | work=Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government | url=http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Environment/EnvironmentalRadiation/FileDownLoad,1336,en.pdf| accessdate=2008-04-04| pages= p.2 para.9}}</ref> Because it is almost uniquely produced by nuclear fuel reprocessing, Technetium-99 is an important element as part of the [[Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic]] (OSPAR) since it provides a good tracer for discharges into the sea. In itself, the technetium discharges do not represent a significant radiological hazard,<ref>{{cite web | title= News Release: MINISTERS ANNOUNCE DECISION ON TECHNETIUM-99 | work=Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2002/021211a.htm| accessdate=2006-08-23}}</ref> and recent studies have noted "...that in the most recently reported dose estimates for the most exposed Sellafield group of [[seafood]] consumers (FSA/SEPA 2000), the contributions from [[Technetium-99]] and [[actinide]] [[nuclides]] from Sellafield (<100 µSv) was less than that from [[Polonium|210Po]] attributable to discharges from the [[Whitehaven]] [[phosphate]] processing plant and probably less than the dose from naturally occurring background levels of 210Po."<ref>{{cite web | title=Gut transfer and doses from environmental technetium | work=J. Radiol. Prot. 21 9-11 | author=J D Harrison et al | url=http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0952-4746/21/1/004| accessdate=2006-08-23}}</ref> Because of the need to comply with OSPAR, [[British Nuclear Group]] (the licensing company for Sellafield) have recently commissioned a new process in which Technetium-99 is removed from the waste stream and vitrified in glass blocks.<ref>{{cite web | title=44 years of discharges prevented after early end to Sellafield waste programme | work=Latest News: British Nuclear Group, 26th January 2006| url=http://www.britishnucleargroup.com/content.php?pageID=31&nID=706| accessdate=2006-08-23}}</ref> There has been concern that the Sellafield area will become a major dumping ground for unwanted nuclear material, since there are currently no long-term facilities for storing [[Radioactive Waste|High-Level Waste]] (HLW), although the UK has current contracts to reprocess spent fuel from all over the world. However, contracts signed since 1976 between [[BNFL]] and overseas customers require that all HLW be returned to the country of origin. The UK retains low- and intermediate-level waste resulting from its reprocessing activity, and instead ships out a radiologically equivalent amount of its own HLW. This substitution policy is intended to be environmentally neutral and to speed "return" of overseas material by reducing the number of shipments required, since HLW is far less bulky.<ref>{{cite web | title=INTERMEDIATE LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE SUBSTITUTION | work=DTI | url=http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file30058.pdf | accessdate=2006-08-23}}</ref> ===Organ removal inquiry=== In 2007 an inquiry was launched into the removal of tissue from a total of 65 deceased nuclear workers, some of whom worked at Sellafield.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sellafield organ removal inquiry|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6565409.stm|accessdate=2007-05-18}}</ref> It has been alleged that the tissue was removed without seeking permission from the relatives of the late workers. Michael Redfern QC has been appointed to lead the investigation. ===MOX fuel quality data falsification=== The MOX Demonstration Facility was a small-scale plant to produce commercial quality [[MOX fuel]] for [[light water reactors]]. The plant was commissioned between 1992 and 1994, and until 1999 produced fuel for use in [[Switzerland]], [[Germany]] and [[Japan]]. In 1999 it was discovered that the plant's staff had been falsifying some quality assurance data since 1996. A [[Nuclear Installations Inspectorate]] (NII) investigation concluded four of the five work-shifts were involved in the falsification, though only one worker admitted to falsifying data, and that "the level of control and supervision ... had been virtually non existent.". The NII stated that the safety performance of the fuel was not affected as there was also a primary automated check on the fuel. Nevertheless "in a plant with the proper safety culture, the events described in this report could not have happened." and there were systematic failures in management.<ref>{{cite paper | author=Nuclear Installations Inspectorate | title=An Investigation into the Falsification of Pellet Diameter Data in the MOX Demonstration Facility at the BNFL Sellafield Site and the Effect of this on the Safety of MOX Fuel in Use | date=18 February 2000 | url=http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/mox/mox1.htm | accessdate=2006-11-18}}</ref> BNFL had to pay compensation to the Japanese customer, [[Kansai Electric]], and take back a flawed shipment of MOX fuel from Japan.<ref>{{cite news | publisher=[[BBC]] | title=BNFL ends Japan nuclear row | date=11 July 2000 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/828046.stm | accessdate=2006-11-18}}</ref> BNFL's Chief Executive John Taylor resigned,<ref>{{cite news | publisher=[[BBC]] | title=Safety overhaul at Sellafield | date=17 April 2000 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/717051.stm | accessdate=2006-11-18}}</ref> after initially resisting resignation when the NII's damning report was published.<ref>{{cite news | publisher=[[Daily Telegraph]] | title=BNFL chief determined to stay despite damning safety report | date=19 February 2000 | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/2000/02/19/nbnfl19.html | accessdate=2006-11-18}}</ref> ===The "Beach Incident"=== 1983 was the year of the "Beach Discharge Incident" in which high radioactive discharges resulted in the closure of a beach. BNFL received a fine of £10,000 for this discharge.<ref>{{cite web | title=Written answers for Friday 5th May 2000 | work=Hansard | url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo000505/text/00505w05.htm | accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> 1983 was also the year in which [[Yorkshire Television]] produced a documentary "Windscale: The Nuclear Laundry", which claimed that the low levels of radioactivity that are associated with waste streams from nuclear plants such as Sellafield did pose a non-negligible risk.<ref>{{cite web | title=Science: Leukaemia and nuclear power stations | work=New Scientist | url=http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12216693.300.html | accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> ===Leukemia risks=== In the early 1990s, concern was raised in the UK about apparent clusters of [[leukemia]] near nuclear facilities. Detailed studies carried out by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment ([[COMARE]]) in 2003 found no evidence of raised childhood cancer around nuclear power plants, but did find an excess of [[Leukemia|leukaemia]] and [[non-Hodgkin's lymphoma]] (NHL) near other nuclear installations including Sellafield, [[Atomic Weapons Establishment|AWE]] [[Burghfield]] and [[UKAEA]] [[Dounreay]]. COMARE's opinion is that "the excesses around Sellafield and Dounreay are unlikely to be due to chance, although there is not at present a convincing explanation for them".<ref>{{cite web | title=COMARE 10th Report: The incidence of childhood cancer around nuclear installations in Great Britain | work=Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment | url=http://www.comare.org.uk/press_releases/comare_pr10.htm | accessdate=2006-08-25}}</ref> In earlier reports COMARE had suggested that "..no single factor could account for the excess of leukaemia and NHL but that a mechanism involving infection may be a significant factor affecting the risk of leukaemia and NHL in young people in Seascale."<ref>{{cite web | title=Summary of the work of COMARE as published in its first six reports | work=Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment | url=http://www.comare.org.uk/documents/COMARE1-6reports.pdf| accessdate=2006-08-25}}</ref> ===Irish objections=== Sellafield has been a matter of some consternation in [[Ireland]], with the [[Irish Government]] and some members of the population concerned at the risk that such a facility may pose to the country. The Irish government has made formal complaints about the facility, and recently came to a friendly agreement with the [[British Government]] about the issue, as part of which the [[Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland]] and the Irish police force ([[An Garda Síochána]]) are now allowed access to the site. However, Irish government policy remains that of seeking the closure of the facility. ===Norwegian objections=== Similar sentiments are shared by the [[Norway|Norwegian]] government and population, because the prevailing sea currents transport radioactive materials leaked into the sea along the entire coast of Norway. Water samples show increases of up to ten times of such materials as Tc-99. This is of great concern to the fishing industry, because they fear for the reputation of Norwegian fish, even though the radiation levels have not been conclusively proved as dangerous for the fish. The Norwegian government is also seeking closure of the facility. ===Plutonium records discrepancy=== On [[February 17]], [[2005]], the [[UK Atomic Energy Authority]] reported that 29.6 kg (65.3 lb) of [[plutonium]], enough to make seven nuclear bombs, was unaccounted for in auditing records at the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. The operating company, the [[British Nuclear Group]], described this as a discrepancy in paper records and not as indicating any physical loss of material. They pointed out that the error amounted to about 0.5%, whereas [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] regulations permit a discrepancy up to 1% as the amount of plutonium recovered from the reprocessing process never precisely matches the pre-process estimates. The inventories in question were accepted as satisfactory by [[Euratom]], the relevant regulatory agency.<ref>{{cite news | title=Missing plutonium 'just on paper' | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4272691.stm | publisher=BBC News | date=2005-02-17 | accessdate=2006-08-22 }}</ref> ==Sellafield in popular culture== [[Image:Stop-sellafield.jpg|right|thumb|''Stop Sellafield'' video release]] In 1992, rock bands [[U2]], [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]], [[Big Audio Dynamite II]], and [[Kraftwerk]] held a "Stop Sellafield" concert for [[Greenpeace]] to protest the nuclear factory. ''Stop Sellafield: The Concert'' was later released that year on [[VHS]] in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], and all proceeds went directly to Greenpeace. U2's performance from the "Stop Sellafield" concert was held during their [[Zoo TV Tour]] on [[19 June]] [[1992]] at the [[G-Mex Centre]] in [[Manchester]], [[England]]. Two tracks from the concert, "[[The Fly (U2 song)|The Fly]]" and "[[Even Better Than the Real Thing]]," were later released on the band's "[[City of Blinding Lights]]" [[CD single]] and on the ''[[Zoo TV: Live from Sydney]]'' [[DVD]]. Since 1992, German band [[Kraftwerk]] has introduced their song "Radioactivity" in their live shows with a video clip criticizing the Sellafield-2 reactor for radiation released into the atmosphere during typical operation and the dangers of reprocessing plutonium in regard to [[nuclear proliferation]]. This introduction can be heard on their 2005 [[live album]] and [[DVD]] ''[[Minimum-Maximum]]''. Sellafield-2 was the name given by environmental groups including [[Greenpeace]] to a ''proposed'' second plant to reprocess oxide fuel (it is not obvious how seriously proposed, a [[public enquiry]] was never opened). [[Fallout (RTÉ drama)|Fallout]], a programme shown on the Irish national TV station [[Radio Telefís Éireann|RTÉ]] was a documentary-style drama showing the possible effects of a serious accident at Sellafield. This programme highlighted the fact that an accident could cause long scale contamination of Ireland's most densely populated areas, including its capital city, [[Dublin]]. Sellafield was also featured in the [[Arthur Scargill]] episode of the ''[[The Comic Strip|Comic Strip]]'', and is referred to in the film ''[[The Medusa Touch (film)|The Medusa Touch]]'' (as Windscale). ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'' also had a sketch, with a nod to a popular [[Ready Brek]] advert, about glowing children and Sellafield. Comedian [[Lenny Henry]], impersonating newscaster [[Trevor McDonald]], once reported that "Windscale is to be renamed Sellafield, because it sounds nicer. In future, radiation will be referred to as magic moonbeams". ==References== <!-- See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the<ref> and </ref> tags, and the template below--> {{reflist|2}} ==Further reading== #''[http://www.bellona.org/reports/sellafield Sellafield]'', Erik Martiniussen, [[Bellona Foundation]], December 2003, ISBN 82-92318-08-9 #''[http://www.radiochem.org/paper/JN41/j041Tagami.pdf Technetium-99 Behaviour in the Terrestrial Environment - Field Observations and Radiotracer Experiments]'', Keiko Tagami, Journal of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences, Vol. 4, No.1, pp. A1-A8, 2003 #''The excess of childhood leukaemia near Sellafield: a commentary on the fourth COMARE report'', L J Kinlen et al 1997 J. Radiol. Prot. 17 63-71 ==See also== *[[Nuclear Power]] *[[Nuclear reprocessing]] *[[Nuclear fuel cycle]] *[[Windscale fire]] *[[COGEMA La Hague site]] (a similar site in [[France]]) *[[List of cancer clusters]] *[[List of nuclear accidents]] *[[List of nuclear reactors]] *[[Nuclear power in the United Kingdom]] *[[Energy policy of the United Kingdom]] *[[Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom]] *[[Sellafield railway station]] *[[Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment]] *[[Windscale: Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Disaster]] *[[Tom Tuohy]] *[[Hanford Site]] ==External links== *[http://www.nda.gov.uk/ Nuclear Decommissioning Authority] *[http://www.sellafieldsites.com Sellafield Ltd] *[http://www.britishnucleargroup.com British Nuclear Group] *[http://www.bnfl.com British Nuclear Fuels Limited] *[http://www.go-experimental.com/ go-experimental.com (Another Sellafield Visitors Centre interactive site)] *[http://www.lakestay.co.uk/1957.htm An article on the Windscale fire, by the Lake District Tourist Board] *[http://www.nucleartourist.com/events/windscal.htm Nuclear Tourist] *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/8/newsid_3181000/3181342.stm BBC retrospective on the accident report] *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4782450.stm Sellafield awaits nuclear power's rebirth, by Jorn Madslien, BBC News] *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4818370.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4818370.stm, by Jorn Madslien, BBC News] *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4861004.stm The sale of Britain's nuclear giant, by Jorn Madslien, BBC News] *[http://www.bellona.no/en/energy/nuclear/sellafield/wp_5-2001/index.html All about Sellafield] *[http://www.ukaea.org.uk/sites/windscale_site.htm The present day Windscale site] *[http://www.ukaea.org.uk/wagr/index.htm Project WAGR] to safely decommission the AGR at Sellafield *[http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?sectionCode=132&storyCode=2029958 Board of Inquiry Report] *[http://nuclearinfo.net/ Wiki devoted to education about nuclear power] *[http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1586031,00.html "Blast from the past" Guardian article] *[http://www.britishnucleargroup.com/calderhall/ Calder Hall Cooling towers demolition page] {{British nuclear power plants}} {{coord|54.42|N|3.50|W|region:GB_scale:20000|format=dms|display=title}} [[Category:Buildings and structures in Cumbria]] [[Category:Nuclear accidents]] [[Category:Nuclear power stations in England]] [[Category:Nuclear weapons programme of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Energy in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Nuclear reprocessing]] [[Category:Radioactive waste]] [[cs:Sellafield]] [[de:Sellafield]] [[es:Sellafield]] [[fr:Sellafield]] [[it:Sellafield]] [[nl:Sellafield]] [[ja:セラフィールド]] [[no:Sellafield]] [[ru:Кэлдер Холл]] [[sk:Sellafield]] [[fi:Sellafield]] [[sv:Sellafield (kärnkraftsanläggning)]]