Banned in the USA - welcomed at Dounreay
01 January 1991
Banned in the USA - welcomed at Dounreay
artdoc March=1992
NENIG Briefing no 41
Urgent international protest is needed to try and stop Dounreay
signing up to 50 new contracts for reprocessing Highly-Enriched
Uranium (HEU) fuel from nuclear research reactors from as far
away as Australia. Dounreay has already negotiated - but not yet
signed - contracts with the Netherlands, Spain and Berlin for
storing and reprocessing spent fuel from three of their research
reactors.
These research reactors are not energy producing, but test
material when it is irradiated or produce medical isotopes, for
example. Most of these reactors sent their spent fuel to America
for reprocessing - until 1/1/89 when the USA put a ban on
importing and reprocessing HEU fuel pending an environmental
assessment.
The reactors are now beginning to run out of storage space for
their fuel and rather than shutdown, and stop producing more
spent fuel, they are considering the UK's offer of storing and
reprocessing their spent fuel at Dounreay. The UK claims
Dounreay is the only plant able to reprocess HEU fuel outside the
USA and Dounreay has already had 50 inquiries about new contracts
- one from the HIFAR reactor in Australia.
All these possible contracts will involve shipments of dangerous
wastes around Europe, and possibly the world, to Dounreay;
increased radioactivity discharged into the sea; increase the
threat of accidents - and create large quantities of waste which
will be stored at Dounreay.
There are no technical, or economic reasons to reprocess this
research reactor fuel. Plenty of new fuel is available without
reprocessing old fuel. The only reason to reprocess this fuel
is to `solve' the research reactors storage problems. They are
turning their local waste storage problem into a major
international problem at Dounreay. Reprocessing is no solution
to storage problems - it increases the quantity of waste by a
factor of 160 times.
The Iceland, Faroe, Norway and Denmark Governments have protested
to the UK about the three new contracts. And Faroe and Iceland
have protested to Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. But more
action is urgently needed.
NENIG urges everyone concerned with keeping our seas free from
radioactive pollution to protest to the UK Government at these
latest plans for Dounreay. Protests should also be made to the
Governments of Spain, Netherlands and Germany and Berlin. Any
other organisations you know or work with in those countries
should be urged to protest to their own government.
NENIG Briefing no 41. Northern European Nuclear Information
Group, Bain's Beach, Commercial Street, Lerwick, Shetland. Tel:
0595-4099