Springfields Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing Plant Wins the first George Monbiot Nukiller Greenwash award.
To mark the anniversary of the 1957 Windscale [ Sellafield ] fire in Cumbria, the Close Capenhurst Campaign and Radiation Free Lakeland have awarded the first George Monbiot Award to the Springfields Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing plant in Lancashire.
George Monbiot
The award is named after George Monbiot, the influencial journalist , who believes that Nuclear power is the solution to the Global climate change crisis.
Mining, Transporting, and processing of Uranium increases the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, as does the use of vast amounts of concrete used in the building of nuclear reactors.
This is before all of the energy used and CO2 created in processing or storing all of the highly radioactive waste after these reactors have been supposedly ‘decommissioned’.
RADIOACTIVE POLLUTION
The Springfields Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing plant operated by Westinghouse is at the beginning of the process which has led to nuclear accidents and routine emissions of radionuclides such as radioactive carbon, cesium, strontium and host of other damaging and very long lived radionuclides. Incredibly Springfields has rebranded itself as a “Clean Energy Technology Park.” The nuclear industry is increasingly promoting itself as “clean” and “renewable,” George Monbiot has played a key part in facilitating this dangerous rebrand.
About the Award
The award itself is a tarnished gold coloured cup, made in low quality plastic, symbolising the ecologically damaging nature of the nukiller industry.
Each year the cup will be awarded to other parts of the nukiller industry in order to highlight the irreparable damage they are doing to the environment and to public health. Nuclear sacrifice zones are increasingly a consequence of nuclear power as are the increasing number of people suffering from radiation linked diseases for which the industry has a Compensation scheme for its workforce. No such scheme exists for members of the public impacted by accidents such as the Windscale Fire, fueled by nuclear fuel made at Springfields.
The cup itself will held in safe keeping by the two campaigns in a bid to protect it from radioactive damage by the award winners.