[NukeNet] Scotland: Sellafield checks hit by funding row

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Sellafield checks hit by funding row
VItal checks on whether beaches in the southwest of Scotland are contaminated with dangerous particles of radioactivity are being delayed because the nuclear polluter is refusing to pay.

Scotland's environment watchdog has accused the UK government agency responsible for the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria of breaking a promise to fund radiation monitoring of the Solway Firth.

The unprecedented row between the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has caused surveys of three beaches, originally due to begin in August, to be indefinitely postponed.

The impasse has left Sepa annoyed and infuriated environmentalists, who accuse Sellafield of a "blatant disregard for public health". But the NDA, insists that it is willing to make "a significant contribution" to the cost of monitoring.

The shoreline around Sellafield was intensively surveyed in May and June, at the insistence of Sepa's counterpart in England and Wales, the Environment Agency. A total of 69 items contaminated with radioactivity was uncovered, ranging in size from particles to pebbles.

Many of the particles were similar to those found at Dounreay on the north coast, for which the UK Atomic Energy Authority announced a £25 million seven-year clean-up plan last week. Some contained the radioactive isotope americium-241, a product of plutonium, which "could possibly cause a long-term hazard if swallowed".

As a result, Sepa announced in July a proposal to monitor beaches on the Scottish Solway coast to see whether any of the particles had been carried north by the prevailing sea currents. Past pollution from Sellafield has been detected in sediments around the firth.

Sepa gained the backing of Dumfries and Galloway Council, the local health board and the Food Standards Agency for the monitoring. It also selected three beaches - Southerness, Powfoot and Kirkcudbright - and made arrangements with local landowners.

This was all in the belief that the NDA had agreed to wholly fund the monitoring. But when Sepa asked for the £100,000 it initially estimated, the NDA said it would only pay for 60%.

Sepa then reduced the cost to £55,000 by restricting the monitoring to a first phase. But the NDA said it would pay only 60% of that. Sepa then asked Sellafield, which is run by a subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels, to pay the remaining 40%. So far, it has refused to do so.

"It is important that monitoring occurs so we can assess whether there is any risk to public health and the environment," Sepa's radiation specialist, Paul Dale, told the Sunday Herald.

"However, due to funding issues, this has not been possible, and Sepa is frustrated that these issues have continued to delay this necessary work."

Dale said that checking for radioactivity which has leaked from a nuclear plant should be funded under the principle that the polluter pays. Sepa is now working with the Environment Agency to try and make sure that this happens.

"The agency has proposed that it takes regulatory action which will require Sellafield to fund and undertake this monitoring," Dale said.

Duncan McLaren, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, described the refusal of the NDA and Sellafield to pay for monitoring as "unacceptable".

He added: "This shows once again that the nuclear industry is not to be trusted and confirms why Scotland is right to turn its back on polluting nuclear power."

The NDA confirmed that it had offered to pay 60% of the cost of the Solway monitoring. A spokesman denied "any allegations that we are not committed to making a significant contribution".

Sellafield said that it carried out a monitoring programme as required by the regulators. "We are in discussions with the Environment Agency as to whether there will be an extension of this programme," said a spokeswoman.

6:07pm Saturday 6th October 2007


By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor






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