British Nuclear Fuels has confirmed that four reportable incidents took place during the past four weeks at its nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield in Cumbria. The incidents were condemned by Mr Trevor Sargent TD of the Green Party, who linked the accidents to the recent stormy weather.
A discharge of low-level liquid waste into the Irish Sea on December 23rd occurred outside the high-tide period required under its discharge licence, a BNFL spokesman confirmed. He could not provide a reason why it had occurred just ahead of the specified high-tide period.
An empty holder for radioactive liquid fell over on January 3rd, and on January 8th an empty carriage on a train carrying three flasks of radioactive waste to Sellafield was derailed at the Harwich Parkeston Quay rail yard. There were no radiological implications related to either of these two events, he said.
On January 4th the Calder Hall reactor was closed down following the discovery of a leak which allowed water into the reactor's carbon-dioxide cooling system. The carbon dioxide was released when the system was shut down, and this resulted in the release of radioactive sulphur 35. This had exceeded normal levels for this radionuclide, but had remained within the permitted discharge levels, the spokesman said.
The "litany of accidents" indicated that Sellafield represented a "constant threat" to those living along the Irish Sea, Mr Sargent said.
