N-Base Briefing 449


N-Base Briefing 449
9th April 2005

ISSN 1478-4661

Sandside accusations

The owner of the Sandside estate, Mr Geoffrey Minter, has accused the UKAEA of covering up the significance of contamination found on the beach as early as 1984. He says the UKAEA described a spent fuel particle found in 1984 as 'tarry agglomerates' of no radiological significance.

'Reject plan'

Shetland Islands Council has called on Scottish environment minister Ross Finnie to reject a proposal to transfer low level waste from Dounreay to Drigg. The council said the proposal, recommended by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, will not solve Dounreay's waste problem, is contrary to the executive's new policy for decommissioning nuclear sites and is opposed by stakeholders and even the applicants themselves. The council said the UKAEA was forced to make the application by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate before it would give approval for the site's super-compacting facility to start operating.

Drigg plan opposed

Copeland Council has decided to oppose plans by British Nuclear Fuels to put more waste into the Drigg nuclear waste site. BNFL wants to replace the dome cap on part of the site with new waste storage containers. The Council is opposed to stacking the containers above the vault walls and is recommending to the county council that any decision is delayed until after the UK review of low level waste management policies.

Safety director

Mr Mike Weightman has been appointed the director of Nuclear Safety and HM Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations. The new director of hazardous installations for the Health and Safety Executive is Mr Kevin Myers.

Nirex 'independent'...

The nuclear waste agency Nirex has been made independent of the nuclear industry. All shares have been transferred from the nuclear industry to a new holding company owned by the UK Government.

...and a new chairman

Following the retirement of Sir Ken Jackson the new chairman of Nirex is to be Mr Cliff Williams.

New director

Mr Mark Slaughter has been appointed non-executive director of the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Mr Slaughter is presently chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs International.