Here are few short briefings following the overnight attack upon the Zaporizhzhia nukiller power plant in the Ukraine.
This first one is by the NFLA
This second one is a Guardian newspaper briefing.
Ukraine invasion: rapid overview of environmental issues
‘ 48 hours in and we are already seeing a pattern of environmental harm in Ukraine.’
This includes both Nuclear facilities and radiation risks.
Background information on the plant
Reuters Report.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation
When it comes to making the nukiller industry accountable for its actions, one of the greatest barriers we face in doing so is the Office for Nuclear Regulation [ ONR ].
What they say
This is the stated aims of the Office for Nuclear Regulation [ ONR ] : –
‘ ONR independently regulates nuclear safety and security at 36 nuclear licensed sites in the UK. We also regulate transport and ensure that safeguards obligations for the UK are met. Our duty is to ensure that the nuclear industry controls its hazards effectively, has a culture of continuous improvement and maintains high standards.’
What We Know
The ONR is run for the nukiller industry for the benefit of the nukiller industry.
To quote the ONR CORPORATE PLAN 2019 – 2020: –
‘ We are the UK’s regulator for the Energy Act 2013 for the nuclear industry. We regulate safety at relevant sites such as civil nuclear sites, and some operated by the Crown (for example, Ministry of Defence). Some aspects of our vires (that is, legal powers) are limited to Great Britain (GB), while others extend out to the UK and beyond. We regulate security at civil nuclear sites in GB and more widely, where the law requires. We also regulate transport of civil radioactive material in GB.’
Yet the nukiller industry carries on in the same old shambolic fashion, polluting our planet, and creating dangers for us all.
Who Runs the ONR
The membership of the ONR Board consists of individuals with very close links to extreme energy companies, nukiller power industry, and the military.
Here are four examples of just how close these links are.
Sir Simon Lister
At the end of 2017 it was announced that ‘Sir Simon Lister appointed to ONR Board’.
What they didn’t mention is that he is better know as Vice Admiral Sir Simon Robert Lister, KCB, OBE.
Or that he was a :-
Mark Foy
Chief Nuclear Inspector at the ONR is also a Chartered Fellow of the Nuclear Institute.
Adriènne Kelbie
The ONRChief Executive, Adriènne Kelbie, is an Honorary Fellow of the Nuclear Institute, and was a Patron of Women in Nuclear UK between 2016 & 2019.
&
Mark McAllister
Mark McAllister is the chair of the ONR. He has spent his working life working in the oil and gas industry.
Keeping Secrets.
The ONR claim to be answerable to the public.
To quote the ONR annual report 2019-2020:-
‘ OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE REGULATION OF THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY, HOLDING IT TO ACCOUNT ON BEHALF OF THE PUBLIC.’
Yet every time we have put in any freedom of information requests, it has been a case of them not having the information we are interested in finding out about, or will cost us a lot of money for them to supply a redacted version of the information.
Here is just one example of this in regards to Capenhurst and how much Depleted Uranium Hex is stored at the site.
Is it any wonder that we are very sceptical about the ability of the ONR to deal with the nukiller power industry ?
Hartlepool – The Forgotten Reactor
The EDF Owned AGR reactor was commissioned in 1983.
It is currently expected to close some time during 2024.
Activists have focused very little attention upon the Hartlepool reactor, as there are No anti-nukiller campaigns within the area.
There is however a lot of information about the plant to be found upon the No2Nuclear website.
Waste From the Plant
Nukiller waste transported by DRS from the plant is taken through Hartlepool, Sunderland, Park Lane Junction Gateshead, Haydon Bridge, Wigton, Maryport, Workington, Whitehaven, & St Bees, to Sellafield.
Past plans & Current Status Reports.
During 2010 Hartlepool was mooted as a possible site for a new reactor to be built by 2025, but this idea was dropped.
The ONR [ Office of Nuclear Regulation ] reports about the plant are to be found here.
While this is how EDF report the reactor status.
Cracks in the Core
During 2019 there were raised concerns about the condition of the plant, which may be read about on the Radiation Free Lakeland website.
Cracked Regulators Allow Hundreds of Cracks in Graphite Cores of Reactors across the UK.
Thus the Harlepool, and All the AGR reactors, need to be closed down immediately as a matter of public safety.
Drigg is one of the least known radioactive waste dumps.
During World War two it was an explosives factory.
For a history of the explosives plant see: –
Thousands of tons of Radioactive waste are now stored at the site, which is just 7 minutes by train from Sellafield, and runs along a coastal walk.
Our concerns include the high possibility of flooding at the site, and how radioactivity could leak from the dump in to the environment.
We have done some campaigning to stop more waste being dumped at the site, but what’s really needed is more people to take up this work.
The following links are to found upon the Radiation Free Lakeland website.
LOCK THE GATE ON DRIGG – STOP THE OPEN DOOR POLICY TO NUCLEAR WASTE
&
DRIGG DECISION: ‘We are Caught in a Trap, No Way Out, Because We Love Nuclear Waste Too Much’ ?
Tyson H Burridge Hazardous Waste Haulage Company.
Tyson H. Burridge is a haulage company based in Cumbria which specialises is transporting Radioactive materials.
Though it is not just nukiller materials that it transports.
A full list of the Hazardous waste which the company transports includes: –
– Organic peroxides,
– Poisonous substances,
– Acid substances and corrosives,
&
– Inflammable liquids, such as Nitrogen and toxic or corrosive liquids.
We have seen Tyson H Burridge trailers regularly parked up in the grounds of Capenhurst.
The Company.
Tyson H Burridge is a Private limited Company which was founded in 1963.
It was previously registered as
H. & M.E. FEARON LIMITED , and FOCNES LIMITED.
Being a private company there is very little information about their haulage operations online, with one of the exceptions being this news story from 2017:-
Those who run the Company obviously have a particular sense of humour, as displayed by the names allocated to their trucks, such as the following: –
– WINDJAMMER
– HUSTLER
– DEFENDER
– CAVALIER
&
– SURVIVOR
More Information Needed.
As with all such Haulage companies, we do not know exactly what loads they might be transporting at any one time, or the routes they use.
So we need to know much more about the company and just what loads it carries.
While much of our campaigning work concentrates upon a couple of plants, and nukiller waste, we should never forget the wider issues which we all face.
Thus we have put these two sets of briefing notes to show just how these concerns extent in to other areas.
Barrow
Barrow in Furness became a port because it has a deep water channel.
The building of war ships has been a major industry in the town since the middle of the 19th century.
Today Barrow is best known as the place where BAE Systems build Trident nukiller submarines. The company is also building the Astute-class submarines.
What is less well know is that the ships which transport nukiller waste around the globe go out of the port of Barrow.
Neither do most people realise just what else goes on in the town.
Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited, a subsidiary of International Nuclear Services, is based at Barrow. The company website boast that it is ‘the world’s most experienced shipper of nuclear cargoes’.
Barrow is also the home port for James Fisher & Sons, which works for the military, and built its first ship suitable for transporting irradiated nuclear fuel in the 1960s. The company also provides Nukiller equipment and services.
Then follow up on the various articles on these websites.
From Barrow “Home of Trident” to Faslane: Bairns Not Bombs!
Radioactive Waste – A New Policy In The Making ?
Earthquakes, Rising Tides, and Changes to the Landscape.
When considering the future of any coastal reactor or nukiller plant, we do need to think about the changing landscape, the long term danger of flooding, and the effects of earthquakes.
It might also be noted that this list includes the two earthquakes which effected Blackpool during April & May 2019.
Both of these were caused as a direct result of fracking.
Sellafield
The river Calder, from which the Calder Hall reactor is named, used to be a meandering river. Now the first part of it which goes through Sellafield runs in a straight line. So that any Tsunami which hits the plant will gather momentum as it is channeled through the plant.
It might be noted that there have been a number of floods within the plant over the last few years.
Dungeness, Hinkley, and Sizewell are also in danger of the effects of rising tides, major storms, and tsunamis.
Such dangers can be seen if one looks at the history of these areas.
Dungeness
The Dungeness area is surrounded by marshland. It is well worth considering just how this area has changed over the centuries.
Hinkley
The existing Hinkley plants lie on the River Seven and on the edge of the Somerset levels. That’s an erea which has suffered a lot from flooding over the years.
It is proposed to build a new reactor at Hinkley, though not if we and the Stop Hinkley Campaign can help it
Bradwell
Then consider the Colchester earthquake of April 1884, which is also known as the Great English earthquake.
The key point being that its epicentre was very near what is now the former reactor at Bradwell on the essex coast.
There was the Great Tidal Surge of 1953 which effected the area.
You should also keep in mind the Dogger Bank earthquake of 1931, which reached a magnitude of 6.1 on the Richter magnitude scale.
Looking at the Maps.
Even a brief examination of the Ordinance Survey maps will give one an idea of just how much of a disaster might occur if something might go wrong at one of these sites.
For Dungeness see: –
Asford & Romney Marsh.
Rye & Folkstone.
Landranger 189
For Hinkley see:-
Western-super-Mare
Bridgewater & Wells
Landranger 182
For Sizewell see: –
Saxmundham, Aldeburgh & Southwold.
Landranger 156
and
For Sellafield see: –
West Cumbria and Cockermouth
Landranger 89