Volunteering 'aint what it used to be

At the Allerdale Borough Council Meeting last night Councillor Joe Sandwith called on fellow councillors to “formally withdraw Allerdale’s expression of interest” in "volunteering for geological disposal of high level nuclear waste.

The council heard presentations from two speakers. The first was Dr Helen Wallace, Executive Direcor of Genewatch UK and the second was Professor Brian Clark, who served on the Committee for Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM).
Dr Helen Wallace described how a deep nuclear waste repository would pose significant risks to future generations. Once the site is sealed it is accepted that water would fill the area and the intense heat combined with water and microbes would corrode any engineered barriers. The hotter the waste, the further apart the containers have to stand which would mean a geological dump (or 2) of 10km+. Last year’s CoRWM report suggested using more than one site dependent on how hot the waste is, the geology and the number of new reactors and reactor lifetimes (new build waste would be hotter as it proposes ‘high burn up’ ie burning uranium for longer). Dr Wallace pointed out an article in the Whitehaven News from 1999 which tells the story of an anonymous tip off to Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment following a House of Lords visit to Longlands Farm. The letter writer describes how they overheard the eminent visitors saying that despite the inquiry ruling against the site, the covers would be coming off the £200M worth of bore holes and not only would the rock lab be built but the geological dump itself would go ahead. The Lord’s report recommended: * Changing the planning law so scientific evidence could never again be cross examined. * Paying local compensation. * Setting up a new committee to devise a process to make putting the waste in West Cumbria ‘publicly acceptable’ cue the MRWS Partnership. Dr Wallace provided councillors with an information pack which includedlinks to the Nirex inquiry and Professor David Smythe's response to the2007 Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Consultation
Prof David Smythe WHY THE WHOLE OF WEST CUMBRIA IS UNSUITABLE FOR A NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY http://davidsmythe.org/nuclear/cumbria%20bgs%20exclusion%20report%20review%20for%20website.pdf

Professor Brian Clark described the work of CoRWM and insisted that this was a long term process to find the best possible solution to disposing of nuclear waste. Prof Clark suggested to councillors that Allerdale would be in the running for large compensation even if they pulled out of the ‘volunteer’ process a long way down the line. Prof Clark did not point out however that volatile nuclear wastes continue to wing their way to Cumbria and have done so for the last 15 years ever since the findings of the Nirex inquiry that Cumbria is “not suitable” for geological disposal. Prof Clark went on to say that we should have faith in the regulators. The Professor is a member of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, the same Agency that has rubberstamped the new law allowing low level radioactive wastes into landfill. These radioactive wastes – largely asbestos laced with tritium, are now arriving at Lillyhall landfill from Chapel Cross nuclear plant. They have been reclassified as “exempt.” The Environment Agency recently rang up Radiation Free Lakeland to ask if we would like a look around the landfill to see how “safely” they are containing the radioactive rubble. We asked them if there was any point at which the Environment Agency would refuse to rubber stamp a new law. They replied that the EA “is there to regulate the law – not question it.” UK law is being changed as you read this to accommodate the nuclear industry. Nine Councillors supported Councillor Joe Sandwith's proposal to withdraw and 19 opposed. The option for Cumbria to withdraw from this dodgy MRWS process which has only one outcome may not be on the table forever. Dr Helen Wallace Has a degree in physics from Bristol University and a PhD in applied mathematics from Exeter University. Helen has worked as an environmental scientist in academia and industry and as Senior Scientist at Greenpeace UK, where she was responsible for science and policy work on a range of issues. Brian D Clark - Professor of Environmental Management and Planning at Aberdeen University. He is a Board Member of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Chairman of the North Region Board and the Planning & Finance Committee of SEPA and served on the Committee for Radioactive Waste Management from 2003 to 2007.
Note:Application for Radioactive Wastes to Lillyhall http://www.copeland.gov.uk/CIS/pdf/nwp_090409_item6.pdf

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