Category: Nukiller Waste Trains

This issue of Countering Capenhurst follows on from the very first meeting we have ever had with the senior managers of DRS, which is in a part of Nuclear Transport Solutions, and in turn the Nukiller Decommissioning Authority.

Meeting the DRS Management

“A historic moment”: first meeting for rail campaigners with nuclear industry

‘ After many years of waiting, Martyn Lowe from the Close Capenhurst campaign group was pleased to finally be able to put his questions directly to senior nuclear rail managers at this first face-to-face meeting held at the Gresty Bridge Rail Depot, on the outskirts of Crewe.’

After the meeting DRS offered to pay our travel expenses which we refused to take. This is so we can both be, and be seen to be, completley independent of them. Thus we will continue to maintain our independent critical stance.

We will now be going through the answers which we received to our various questions, and consider just how we will follow up on our campaign.

Flask Movements

Youtube Video clips.

One aspect of our work is to view various videos of nukiller flask movements. Here are a few from which you can clearly see some of the issues which concern us about what happens at both Bridgewater and Dungeness.

Class 68 Nuclear Train returns to Dungeness 2/9/20

DRS Class 37’s In Bridgwater Yard | Shunting | Flask Train | Wednesday 29th February 2012

Nuclear Flask Train Bridgwater FD Class 68 & 88 Double Header

37259 + 37610 Bridgwater Flask | Arrival & Departure | Wed 22nd Feb 2017

Flask Safety

As many of you might know, DRS transport Castor Nukiller flasks between the Barrow docks and Windscale/Sellafield.

We know something about the various tests that have been made on the standard ones which are transported between Windscale / Sellafield the various Brexitland reactor sites.

What we don’t have is any information about the crash, heat resistance, and fall tests which the Castor flasks have been subjected to.

We need this information in order to do a comparison between the two flask types.

If any of you help us with any information on this, then we would be extremely grateful !

Short News Items

Urenco, Cameco sign supply deals for Bulgaria’s Kozloduy

Following On

German Celebrations and Continuing Our Campaigning

Now that we can celebrate the closure of the last 3 working Nukiller reactors in Germany, it should not be forgotten that the radiative waste they generated is still a major problem which will take many centuries to clean up.

While we still have the ongoing waste issue at Drigg and Windscale / Sellafield and the used fuel rods being transported by DRS to campaign about,

Plus the campaigns to Stop New Build.

So it is a good time to remind activists in Germany that our struggles continue, and we can still use some help from them all.

Open consultations

As a part of our campaigning we do need to work at every level of society, and undertake a wide range of activities. That includes participation on various consultations.

Here are links to two current open open consultations.

Managing radioactive substances and nuclear decommissioning

Public consultation on our proposed decision to change Hinkley Point C’s water discharge activity permit

Countering Capenhurst – Late Summer 2021

DRS

Recent Radioactive Waste Flask Movements.

On July 7th two used fuel rods flasks were taken from Dungeness.

Of particular interest is that eight flasks pulled by Four engines were moved from Windscale/Sellafield to Crewe on July 28th. We do not know where they were destined to go after that, but we do know that every flask movement requires two engines.

Yet again we appeal for more individuals to monitor these flask movements in order that we can establish just how much radioactive material is being dumped in Cumbria.

References works.

Anyone who wishes to track the movements of nukiller waste trains, and the rail routes they go by, could do no better than to purchase a copy of the Railway Atlas.

Capenhurst Emergencies Update.

The ONR [ Office of Nuclear Regulation ] has just published the following document.

URENCO UK (UUK) Limited Emergency Arangements

Approval of the amended Urenco UK(UUK)Emergency Plan made under LC11.

While this document gives something of an overview of the management structure of the Capenhurst Emergency plan, it is very short on details as to just how it would operate in practice.

In other words: – It is full of Management Speak.

URENCO Order Books and Profits Drop.

The ill gotten gains, or financial profits, for Urenco fell for the first half of this year.

This reflects a turnover which has dropped of late, but the company is still has over 9Billion Euros worth of future orders.

You can read the full set of figures here

It might be also be noted that the URENCO order books are half of what they were during 2010.

Short News Updates

Any Old Iron ?

Urenco is planning to open a Metal Recycling Plant at Capenhurst during 2024.

CNC Base

The Civil Nuclear Constabulary are planning to build a new base at Windscale / Sellafield.

Spanish Uranium Processing plant Stopped

In July Spain’s Nukiller regulator withheld authorisation for a uranium ore processing plant, and thus killed off the efforts by the Australian-owned Berkeley Energía to open Europe’s largest uranium mine at Retortillo in the province of Salamanca.

Long Term Campaigning.

The way things are going it is possible to stop new build.

After that we need to really concentrate our efforts upon uranium mining, uranium enrichment, and uranium processing.

Yet dealing with the radioactive waste is a much more difficult campaign to focus upon.

The existing waste sites at Windscale/sellafield and Drigg are already highly polluted.

They will take centuries to clean up.

All the coastal nukiller sites, such as Dungeness, Heysham, Drigg, Windscale / sellafield, and Sizewell, are going to be effected by rising tides way before being fully decommissioned.

While DRS ( Direct Rail Services ) continues to carry highly radioactive used fuel rods through our towns and cities.

So what ever else might happen, we will need more activists to join in our existing long term campaigns.

DRS Updates

DRS are once again transporting Radioactive waste from the decommissioned Magnox reactor at Berkeley.

They are being taken via the Sharpness, Gloucestershire, rail line. That’s the short line which goes goes from Sharpness to Cam & Dursley, at which junction it joins the main line which goes north via Gloucester and Worcester.

The first of these DRS trains took a load in August. There will be similar train loads taking place every month.

Recent DRS Radioactive Waste Flask Movements

The movement of nukiller waste to Sellafield by DRS continues.

These are just some of the recent movements of these highly radioactive used fuel rods.

Flask movements were observed on August 11th, September 11th, and 12th. There were also waste flasks going to and from Torness on September 16^th & 23th, and then again on October 15^th. While

other waste flasks went to & from Dungeness on October 5th 6^th and 7^th.

Campaigning in Australia.

Don’t Nuke The Climate – Australia,

This is a a coalition of environment groups that actively track and respond to nuclear threats in Australia.

It has a lot of very useful information and maps on its website which include both Nukiller and Uranium Sites.

Spycops Targeted Anti Nukiller Activists

If it was not for the many years of spycop activities, many social justice and ecological campaigns would not still be necessary.

The following comes from the current Spycops Public Inquiry.

AMENDED WRITTEN OPENING STATEMENT ON BEHALF OFTHE DESIGNATED LAWYER OFFICER CORE PARTICIPANT GROUP

TRANCHE 1, PHASES 1-2: SPECIAL DEMONSTRATION SQUAD UNDERCOVER DEPLOYMENTS 1968-1982

‘ Infiltration necessarily had to be achieved before and not during or after times of high intensity and activity which could be quickly triggered by an event or the coalescence of disparate groups around a cause célèbre or topical issue with wider support, e.g. Vietnam, apartheid, internment, industrial action, ban the bomb, nuclear power, the transport of nuclear waste by train or the Falklands War.’

In other words – This confirms that Pacifists and Anti nukiller power activists were being subjected to spycop activities.

This full statement can be read at: –

https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/20201028-Opening_Statement-DL_Clients.pdf

We fully expect there to be many more similar revelations made during the duration of the inquiry.

The next phase of the spycops public inquiry hearings will be held some time around the start of April 2021.

Not Seen

One of the side effects of the current crisis we are all in, is that the [ Office for Nuclear Regulation ] are not performing their regular on site inspections of various nukiller plants.

This is what it says on the ONR Site Report for Urenco Capenhurst for the period April, May, and June: –

‘ No on-site Inspections due to Covid-19.’

While the site inspection for the Heysham Reactor is reported thus: –

Heysham 1•4 August (Site inspection)•14 –17 September (Site and remote inspection)Heysham 2•9 June(Physical Inspection)•18 June(Remote Inspection)•23 June(Remote Inspection)

In contrast – This what took place at Torness: –

‘The duration of the station visits has been kept to a minimum and focused on plant walk downs and other activities which ONR are unable to conduct remotely.’

In the site inspection report for Hinkley,

[ Yes Hinkley Not Capenhurst ], we found the following: –

‘ ONR has granted an extension to an Enforcement Notice served on Urenco UK Ltd, recognising the good progress made so far. The notice was issued in late December 2019, following a fire safety inspection at the Capenhurst Works in Cheshire, which revealed shortfalls in the fire alarm and detection systems at one of the site’s facilities. Urenco UK Ltd must comply with the requirements of the extended notice by 30 September 2020.’

In conclusion.

We have found many good reasons to keep inspecting the ONR nukiller plants inspection reports – on a very regular basis.

Forthcoming Events

Given the current restrictions on public transport, it is not possible to do much forward planning, or undertake any of our regular events.

However there are a few dates which we wish to highlight over the coming year.

– Human Rights Day – December 10^th.

– Fukushima Day – March 11^th.

– The DRS Open Day – In July if it takes place at all.

– 64^th Anniversary of the Windscale fire – October 10^th.

Right Now

This is very much an interim issue of Countering Capenhurst.

Aside from having to deal with the effects of Lockdown, we are working upon a number of other related issues, while putting together the groundwork for some further campaigning resources.

In Between all the bad news

During September it was announced that HITACHI is withdrawing from building WYLFA B

We congratulate PAWB (People Against Wylfa B) for all their work in pushing for this outcome.

Meanwhile

‘ A decision on planning consent for the Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant project on Anglesey that was due to be made yesterday has been delayed until 31 December, as requested by Horizon Nuclear Power, the UK project developer owned by Japan’s Hitachi.’

DRS

DRS continue to drag nukiller waste flasks to Sellafield [ Windscale ].

The latest ones included –

To and from Torness on July 14^th and August 5th

Then in Early September this was the headline on the Devonlive website–

Rare Class 66 train carrying nuclear flasks heads into Plymouth.

‘This was a ‘ very rarely seen DRS Nuclear Flask Train worked down from Crewe Coal Sidings to Devonport Royal Dockyard for the decommissioning of a few submarines down at the Naval base/dockyard down at Devonport.’

DRS Publication.

There is a new glossy publication about DRS

Direct Rail Services: 25 Years of Rail Haulage

This 132 page publication is aimed at train spotters, with lots of colour photographs in it.

Most importantly it lists all the information about the various train engines it uses to haul both goods wagons and nukiller waste flasks.

While it features a number of articles about operations of the nukiller waste trains.

63 Years Later

On October 10^th 1957 the Windscale Fire occurred.

To understand just what happened you need to read about the Windscale Piles.

It was one of the first, but by no means the last nukiller reactor disaster.

Future Events

At Present it is extremely difficult to plan an future events due to the current pandemic.

We do however continue to collecting and distributing information about all aspects of the nukiller power industry.

Once it is possible to do so then we will be holding a series of demonstrations outside of various Nukiller plants.

It is also our intention to hold a small face to face gathering to discuss how we continue campaigning once it is possible to do so.

In the meanwhile we will continue to post various updates upon our Facebook page.