N-Base Briefing 330 - 22nd June 2002
New report confirms threat to Sellafield fathers
A new report confirms the late Professor Martin Gardner's
hypothesis that the exposure of fathers to radiation before conception (known
as paternal pre-conceptional Irradiation - PPI) is a risk factor for leukaemia
and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in children of male Sellafield radiation workers.
It may not be confined to Seascale and cannot be explained by population
mixing. New research not only confirms the original research by Gardner
in 1990, showing an increased dose response risk of cancer in children of
male Sellafield radiation workers, but also confirms that this risk was
significantly increased with the father's total pre-conceptional external
radiation dose. The new research is a slap in the face to BNFL and the nuclear
industry as a whole who have consistently disputed and discredited Gardner's
work for the last 12 years.
Authors Heather Dickinson and Louise Parker from the
North of England Children's Cancer Research Unit at the University of
Newcastle confirm in their report, Leukaemia and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
in Children of Male Sellafield Radiation Workers, that children of radiation
workers born outside Seascale had a two-fold risk, but children under
seven who were born in Seascale between 1950 and 1991 had a highly significant
15-fold risk of getting leukaemia and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
This risk was raised significantly as external parental
pre-conceptional irradiation (PPI) increased. This dose response was unlikely
to be explained by population mixing. The researchers also said that the
possibilities of the PPI effect could not be excluded outside Seascale.
Children whose fathers were monitored for exposure to natural uranium
before conception were also shown to have an increased risk.
The fact that Sellafield workers have had the highest
radiation doses of any in the nuclear industry in Western Europe or North
America gives the study the greater statistical power. The team concluded
that implications of these findings for the current nuclear industry workforce
should be viewed cautiously since current occupational exposure was low
compared to earlier decades.
The Gardner report led to a High Court case in 1992
in which two Cumbrian families, Hope and Reay, sought compensation from
BNFL. In both cases the fathers had suffered high radiation exposure while
working at Sellafield. During the case BNFL produced a great deal of new
evidence which led the judge to believe that the hypothesis was wrong
and the families lost the case.
Dounreay waste 'a quality product'
Dounreay's low and intermediate level waste manager,
Mr George Sinclair, told a Electrical Power Research Institute conference
in America this week that the site's low-level waste was a 'quality product'
because it was managed according to the highest possible standards. The
site had improved its inspection and quality assurance systems and the new
WRACS super-compaction plant had already processed over 7,000 drums of waste.
Mr Sinclair said the systems now in place at Dounreay 'are comparable with
any in the world and give us confidence in our ability to restore the site
and manage the wastes in a way that is second to none.' However, Dounreay's
low-level waste disposal pits are full and all the waste is being placed
in interim storage. There are plans to ship the waste to Drigg in north-west
England until a new waste facility is provided.
Reactors to close early
British Nuclear Fuels this week confirmed that the
Chapelcross and Calder Hall Magnox power stations are to be closed early.
The Calder Hall reactors will close next year, three years earlier than
planned, the company said, while the Chapelcross site in south-west Scotland
will close in 2005 instead of 2008. This reactor will complete a contract
to supply tritium to the Ministry of Defence for the UK's nuclear weapons
programme. BNFL blamed a reduction in electricity prices for the early closures,
insisting safety was not an issue. However, safety has been a major problem
at the two sites. There was a major scare at Chapelcross last year when
two dozen fuel rods were dropped during refuelling and both plans have problems
with loading and removing fuel. Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment
(CORE) commented that the reactors were 'clapped out' and unlikely ever
to come back on-line because of their problems.
Security overhaul
Emergency planning for a nuclear accident in the
UK is to be radically overhauled following a recent exercise at the Bradwell
reactor in south-east England. The exercise tested the response to a large
passenger aircraft crashing into the reactor. One of the significant finding
was that radiation would spread to least 10 km within a few hours of an
accident. Until now all emergency planning has been based on radiation affecting
only within 3km of a reactor. In the Bradwell exercise an estimated 500,000
people would have needed evacuation.
Dounreay fire
There was a fire in the roof space of the D1207 low-level
waste plant in the Dounreay fuel cycle area last month, the UKAEA has announced.
An investigation is being carried out as to how the fire started, a discarded
cigarette is one possibility. The UKAEA has admitted that there were no
smoke alarms in the roof space of the building, which presently holds 300
drums of radioactive waste.
Radioactive scrap imported into Scotland
Concern has been raised about radioactive scrap metals
which are imported illegally into the UK. Media reports at the weekend focused
on two shipments of scrap metal, one from Singapore and another from Egypt,
which are being held in a secure warehouse at the Coatbridge Eurofreight
terminal. It was only when the two consignments reached scrap metal companies
that it was discovered the metal was radioactive. While the Scottish Environment
Protection Agency has agreed the metals can be returned to the countries
of origin, the regulators cannot find a company will to take on the shipment.
The chairman of the Interpol/UK group on environmental crime, Chris Englefield
from the Environment Agency for England and Wales, said there was 'no doubt'
other shipments could have been imported undetected.
Reduced testing
The Japanese Government is considering proposals
to reduce the regular safety testing of new nuclear power plants as a way
of helping generating companies reduce their costs.
Australian fault
An earthquake fault line has been found on the site
of the Lucas Heights reactor in Sydney, Australia, where a new reactor is
planned to be built. The fault was found by scientists during their examination
of the site for the new Argentinean-built reactor and the Australian Radiation
Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency is now conducting a full investigation.
Private dockyard
Devonport Management Limited, a new private company,
has signed a GBP300 million contract with the Ministry of Defence to take
over the management of the Devonport naval dockyard in Plymouth.
Dealing with waste is the key
The head of nuclear generator British Energy, Robin
Jeffrey, said this week new reactors were needed in the UK if the country
is not to become dependent on imported Russian natural gas. It was 'urgent'
he said to deal with the issue of waste management and build waste repositories.
Energy minister Brian Wilson said there should be 'no insuperable barriers'
to providing waste facilities - and that any new reactors would not add
greatly to the waste problem which was largely 'a legacy issue'.
Off-site parking problems
Nuclear regulators have told Dounreay that the introduction
of off-site car parking for staff on an old aircraft runway was not carried
out according to regulations. The nuclear Installations Inspectorate said
there had not been a proper risk assessment on the effect of the change
in the event of an emergency. The new arrangements were introduced following
a review of security at the site.
New BNFL boss
The head of subsidiary company Westinghouse, Mr Charlie
Pryor, has been appointed head of the nuclear utilities group at British
Nuclear Fuels.
Planning permission
The UK Atomic Energy Authority has asked for planning
permission to extend the D9867 intermediate-level waste store at Dounreay.
The project is to allow the installation of a new ventilation system in
the plant which holds about 4,500 drums of mainly plutonium contaminated
wastes.
Aldermaston expands
The government has confirmed plans for a major expansion
of the Aldermaston nuclear weapons factory in Berkshire to give the UK the
ability to produce new generations of weapons.
Matters of mutual concern
'Memorandum of Understanding' have been agreed between
the Health and Safety Executive and the two environment agencies in the
UK over issues of 'mutual concern' at nuclear sites. The agreements with
the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Environment Agency for
England and Wales set out to co-ordinate regulatory activity. Details at
www.hse.gov.uk/nsd/sepamou.htm
and www.hse.gov.uk/nsd/eamou.htm
13-year thyroid study...
A 13-year study involving 3,440 people who were born
and lived downwind of the Hanford nuclear site when there were releases
of radioactive iodine, has concluded they are no more likely to suffer from
thyroid diseases than people living elsewhere. The scientific adviser for
the study, epidemiologist Paul Garbe, said if there was any increased risk
'it is probably too small to detect'. From 1945 to the early 1960s radioactive
iodine was released and deposited on vegetation and a number of people who
have suffered from thyroid diseases, known as downwinders, are taking legal
action.
...but court action continues
This week a US Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the
re-opening of two court hearings into claims by a total of 5,500 people
that they were affected by the released of radioactive iodine from Hanford.
(see above) However in one case, involving about 1,000 people, the court
only allowed cases to continue which involved people with certain types
of cancers. The defendants are five former Hanford contracting companies.
Decommissioning law
A draft law to decommission nuclear power reactors
in Belgium is expected to be approved by the government next week after
it was approved by the country's Council of State, the supreme administrative
and judicial body.
Mox fuel - or waste
Only last minute assurances from British Nuclear
Fuels prevented Greenpeace this week from going to court to seek an injunction
to stop a shipment of plutonium Mox fuel from Japan to Sellafield. BNFL
wants to ship the fuel back to Sellafield after it was rejected due to fake
quality monitoring data. Two BNFL vessels arrived in Japan earlier this
month to carry out the shipment. However, Greenpeace has been given an undertaking
by BNFL that it will not begin moving the fuel until the Environment Agency
for England and Wales rules on whether the fuel is classified as waste.
If the fuel is a waste the shipment would be covered by the Trans-Frontier
Shipment of Radioactive Waste Regulations and subject to different regulatory
controls and require international agreement. Full details at www.greenpeace.org
State of emergency declared
The Governor of South Carolina, Jim Hodges, has declared
a state of emergency and banned all shipment of plutonium into the state.
It is the largest move in a long-running legal battle of Bush Administration
plan to ship plutonium into the Savannah River complex for eventual fabrication
into Mox fuel. |
