Sellafield: Close THORP in order to build new nukes

international | environment | other press Sunday May 15, 2005 14:48 by Sl

NDA gets it half right

The owners of the Sellafield plant (the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) want to permanently close the THORP reprocessing facility (scene of a recent huge leak) - partly in order to make building new nuclear power stations easier!

The Good News:

"The owner of the Sellafield site in Cumbria, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, wants its main reprocessing facility to shut forever following a leak of highly radioactive liquefied nuclear fuel containing plutonium and uranium.

The move would bring an early end to the UK's reprocessing programme, which was conceived in the Sixties to provide plutonium for Britain's nuclear deterrent while recycling uranium for civil energy needs.

In any event, the leak of some 20 tonnes of uranium and plutonium fuel, dissolved in nitric acid, will keep the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) shut for months.

But senior sources at the NDA, the government body set up to dismantle radioactive facilities at 20 sites across the UK, now believes that keeping the plant shut is the most economical option...

The view is that Thorp should never restart,' said a senior source.

Officials indicate that, even when operational, the plant does not make money. "

And the Bad News:

"...keeping the plant shut is the most economical option, and also one that would remove reprocessing - which has always attracted controversy - from the debate over building new nuclear stations which many believe the government is keen to initiate.

Meanwhile the NDA official said: 'The government is starting to think about new stations. The view is that it would be impossible to argue that there should be a new generation [of facilities] that relies on reprocessing.'"

And the Have Our Cake and Eat It because We're Evil Money-Grabbing Swine Who Want to Make Money Without Taking Responsibility For the Consequences News:

"Meanwhile, sources at British Energy have indicated that the privatised nuclear operator wants to run any new nuclear power stations, but is not keen to take a major investment stake in any projects. There are doubts over whether private investors have the appetite to finance and build a new generation of reactors, given the volatility of energy markets.

The sources believe the operation of new plants should be kept separate from ownership and financing"