New claims rekindle old concerns about Sellafield

New claims rekindle old concerns about Sellafield

7 September 2016

CONCERNED residents and politicians have called for the closure of the Sellafield nuclear waste processing plant in Cumbria in the wake of a BBC programme which claimed to have uncovered a catalogue of safety concerns at the site.

The Panorama programme screened on Monday evening said it found parts of the site had too few workers to operate it safely and that radioactive plutonium was being stored in degrading plastic bottles.

The programme also revealed parts of the site are dangerously run down although the operators of Sellafield insist the site is safe and that there has been significant investment in recent years.

Sellafield is regarded as the most hazardous nuclear site in the UK — directly across the Irish Sea from the Lecale coastline.

Residents who live in Lecale say the issues raised in the Panorama programme make them even more anxious.

Mr Maurice Denvir, chairman of the Kilclief Residents’ Association, said for the past four decades people who live along the Lecale coastline have been highlighting their fears about the impact the plant was having on their health. He said relatives of many people who have sadly passed away from cancer believe the Cumbrian plant was responsible.

“I know people who have died from cancers which have been attributed to Sellafield and the safety concerns that have been highlighted by a whistleblower are concerning for us all. They make us even more anxious,” he said. 

“There has always been a perceived link between the number of cancer deaths in this area and the Sellafield plant on the other side of the Irish Sea.”

Mr Denvir said former South Down MP Eddie McGrady campaigned in opposition to the nuclear reprocessing plant and while the present management says it has addressed all the safety issues and there are no problems, the whistleblower who featured in the BBC programme claimed “there had been a number of incidents and nothing ever done about them.”

Mr Denvir added: “The issues highlighted in the programme are concerning and this plant should be decommissioned. This work must start now as it has been suggested it will take an estimated 100 years and cost in the region of £160bn. There have been far too many incidents at this plant and people who live along the Lecale coastline have always feared the impact this plant was having on their health.”

Miss Ritchie said the risks exposed by the programme are the latest in a “litany of hazards” since Sellafield became a nuclear waste processing site.

The MP said it was time for an “acceleration of the nuclear decommissioning process and the establishment of a secure, long-term containment strategy for the Sellafield waste.”

Miss Ritchie continued: “It has always been needlessly reckless to place a nuclear waste processing site on a geological fault line and the indiscriminate discharge of radioactive material into the waters of the Irish Sea has damaged delicate marine ecosystems.

”That is why I and the SDLP have consistently opposed the transportation of nuclear waste to Sellafield by air, sea or land. The government must also learn from these hazards and avoid worsening the situation with new nuclear developments at Moorside and Hinkley Point.

Nuclear waste is a toxic burden that lasts for generations and cannot ever be part of a truly sustainable electric grid,” she declared.

South Down MLA, Harold McKee, said Sellafield must provide answers in the wake of the television documentary and respond to the claims made during the programme “in order to restore public confidence.”

He added: “I am well aware of the relative proximity of the Sellafield plant which is literally just across the Irish Sea. The BBC programme raised a number of issues regarding safety at the plant and people will have been concerned at the claims that were made.

“It is obviously extremely important facilities exist to deal with nuclear waste and it is vital the public have complete confidence that this is carried out to the highest safety standards. Sellafield must respond urgently to the claims that have been made and I will seeking urgent answers in a bid to find out exactly what the situation is.”