shut sellafield

By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor The Independent
Published: 18 March 2007

Safety alarms have been routinely ignored, operating instructions flouted, and safety equipment left broken at the controversial Sellafield nuclear plant, a devastating official inquiry has found.

The inquiry report – one of the most damning ever on a British nuclear installation – condemns “an alarm-tolerant culture”, “long-standing failings in some key safety arrangements” and a “failure to learn from previous events” at the Cumbrian complex.

The accident at the Thorp reprocessing plant – which was disclosed by The Independent on Sunday in 2005 – has kept the plant closed ever since, and was the focus of the investigation.

Some 83,000 litres of highly radioactive liquid leaked at the plant for at least eight months before the spill was detected.

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THE NRC is the USA has downgraded the safety of the largest nuclear plant in the country. full details from CNN

Regulators in September found that one of Palo Verde’s emergency diesel generators had been inoperative for 18 days.Emergency generators are critically important at nuclear reactors, providing electricity to pumps, valves and control rooms if the main electrical supply fails.

Dear Mr. Greene,

I refer to your email requesting comments on Sellafield. The Irish Government is using every diplomatic, political and legal route available to bring about the safe and orderly closure of the Sellafield plant. Ireland’s concerns in respect of the continued operation of the Sellafield complex are regularly reinforced by the poor ongoing safety record at Sellafield and more recently by the serious incident at the THORP Plant in April 2005.

Yours sincerely,
_______________
Ciarán Madden
Private Secretary
pp Bryan Cahill
Department of Foreign Affairs

Greenpeace has won its High Court bid to make the UK government re-think its programme to build a new generation of nuclear power stations. The environmental pressure group argued that ministers had not consulted the public enough on the issue.

Greenpeace’s Emma Gibson told Sky News that the consultation on nuclear power had been “seriously flawed”.
[BBC] [greenpeace] [perma news search RSS]

irish examiner reports 

A UK company has won a €400,000 contract to upgrade existing monitoring stations on the east and south-east coast of Ireland.

Data from the stations about nuclear installations abroad will be beamed to a central response unit.

Berthold Technologies Ltd, which beat off competition from seven other firms, will also build seven extra stations.

during the filming of Miss Potter cast members like RENEE ZELLWEGER and EWAN MCGREGOR stayed in a hotel on the grounds of Sellafield nuclear power plant in the north east of England.

In an interview for american television, Renee Zellweger said: “So we were driving along and I remember seeing this really ominous-looking silhouette on the horizon that looked just like Homer Simpson’s place of employment. “And I said, ‘What kind of power plant are you talking about here?” She said her driver went on to describe ‘Sellarsfield’ as the nuclear power plant that leaked.

[source: contactmusic.com & newsandstar.co.uk ]

Pat Rabbitte T.D. Labour Party Leader says.

“Well done on the site, its a great way to draw attention to the issue. We continue to press for the closure of Sellafield and our spokesperson on Nuclear Safety, Emmet Stagg T.D., will be stepping up our campaign in the coming months with my full support.”

[source: NorwayPost.no] Norwegian Environmental Minister Helen Bjoernoey is disappointed over the UK authorities’ decision to permit the re-opening of the Thorp nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield.

The British Nuclear Security Authority on Tuesday gave permission to resume the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at the Thorp plant, which was closed down in April 2005, following a serious leak when a pipe burst, causing 83 cubic metres of contaminated liquids to leak into a concrete cell lined with stainless steel.

Bjoernoy will now contact Ireland and Iceland with the aim to mount a joint reaction against the re-opening of the reprocessing plant.

- Thorp ought to have been closed for good. I am disappointed over the fact that British authorities have permitted the re-opening of the plant, the Norwegian Environment Minister says.

- It is disappointing that so little importance has been attached to the interests and views of neighbouring nations like Ireland, Iceland and Norway when the decision to re-open was given, she says.

[source: norway.org.uk ] “The THORP plant should be shut down for good, and I am very disappointed that British authorities have now allowed for the reopening of this plant,” Ms Bjørnøy said. “I have raised this issue on several occations with my UK colleague, and Norway’s view has also been communicated at the prime ministerial level. Concerns over the possible reopening of THORP have also been raised by the Nordic Ministers for the Environment in concert.”

“Neighbouring countries such as Ireland and Norway are very vulnerable to any major discharge of radioactive material from THORP or its associated waste facilities. It is disappointing that UK authorities have attached so little importance to the interests and views of countries like Norway, Ireland and Iceland when making their decision on whether to reopen of the plant or not. I think the time is now ripe for a closer cooperation between these countries in order to secure our interests when important decisions are made in the matter of future operation or shut-down of THORP and related nuclear facilities at Sellafield,” Helen Bjørnøy concluded.

fined a cool half a million pounds for a major undetected spill of hundreds of litres of radioactive material in THORP, what happens next.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced today that it has granted consent for the re-start of the THORP facility at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant.

HSE’s Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) is satisfied that the licensee, British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd (BNGSL), has done all the work necessary to ensure that THORP can be re-started and operated safely. [source: hse.gov.uk ]

HSE will publish a report on its investigation into the leak at THORP shortly.

think, think again, and again and again. Think about it!

The Minister for the Environment has said the Government is opposed to the construction of any new nuclear power facility at the controversial Sellafield site in Cumbria. Dick Roche was speaking in London after talks with Britain’s Trade Secretary, Alastair Darling, who is the minister with responsibility for Sellafield. Later this year the Blair administration is expected to approve the construction of a new generation of nuclear power stations along Britain’s west coast.