UK nuclear processing plant closes after leak
International Relations and Security Network ISN - Security Watch: "UK nuclear processing plant closes after leak
ISN SECURITY WATCH (11/05/05) - A leak of radioactive liquid has forced Britain’s biggest nuclear site to close one of its reprocessing centers and has prompted renewed calls for the permanent closure of the plant, British media reported earlier this week.
The Thorp reprocessing plant - one of two on the site at Sellafield, Cumbria - was forced to close several weeks ago after a split pipe leaked enough contaminated liquid to fill a large swimming pool, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.
Officials say the spill of a highly dangerous mix of nuclear fuel is not a danger to the public, but engineers must work quickly to remove the liquid from the cell before it corrodes the pipes. The liquid has leaked into a stainless steel chamber that workers cannot enter due to the high radioactivity.
Engineers have not yet worked out a cleanup plan, though one suggestion has been to build robots to recover the contaminated liquid.
The plutonium content in the liquid is estimated to be enough to make 20 nuclear weapons.
The leak was first reported in mid-April.
A Sellafield spokeswoman said it was not known when the leak had occurred or how long the material had been lying in the area, but believed the leak was likely to have occurred “relatively recently”.
The closure comes at a difficult time for Britain’s nuclear industry.
Norway and Ireland have already won a diplomatic battle to stop the dumping of radioactive technetium-99 from the Sellafield plant into the sea. Britain also finally agreed to halt the discharge of the toxic waste into the Irish Sea after years of tests found traces of technetium along the coast of Norway and other North Sea nations.
Sellafield was built in the late 1940s and first generated electricity in 1956. It ran into problems soon after entering into service when a fire broke out in a chimney, spreading radiation across the local co"
ISN SECURITY WATCH (11/05/05) - A leak of radioactive liquid has forced Britain’s biggest nuclear site to close one of its reprocessing centers and has prompted renewed calls for the permanent closure of the plant, British media reported earlier this week.
The Thorp reprocessing plant - one of two on the site at Sellafield, Cumbria - was forced to close several weeks ago after a split pipe leaked enough contaminated liquid to fill a large swimming pool, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.
Officials say the spill of a highly dangerous mix of nuclear fuel is not a danger to the public, but engineers must work quickly to remove the liquid from the cell before it corrodes the pipes. The liquid has leaked into a stainless steel chamber that workers cannot enter due to the high radioactivity.
Engineers have not yet worked out a cleanup plan, though one suggestion has been to build robots to recover the contaminated liquid.
The plutonium content in the liquid is estimated to be enough to make 20 nuclear weapons.
The leak was first reported in mid-April.
A Sellafield spokeswoman said it was not known when the leak had occurred or how long the material had been lying in the area, but believed the leak was likely to have occurred “relatively recently”.
The closure comes at a difficult time for Britain’s nuclear industry.
Norway and Ireland have already won a diplomatic battle to stop the dumping of radioactive technetium-99 from the Sellafield plant into the sea. Britain also finally agreed to halt the discharge of the toxic waste into the Irish Sea after years of tests found traces of technetium along the coast of Norway and other North Sea nations.
Sellafield was built in the late 1940s and first generated electricity in 1956. It ran into problems soon after entering into service when a fire broke out in a chimney, spreading radiation across the local co"
posted by Greta Jane at Thursday, May 12, 2005
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