UK BNFL say to start controversial n-plant in days
Date: 20-Dec-01
Country: UK
"We expect to put plutonium into the plant on or around December 20," a
spokesman for the group said on Tuesday.
BNFL's 472 million pound ($796 million) mixed oxide (MOX) fuel plant has
been the focus of several legal challenges to stop it starting up
following its completion in 1996.
The lastest legal battle was tied off on Monday when a United Nations
court announced that both Britain and Ireland had submitted reports
outlining consultations they had been ordered to have.
The Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which
ordered the two countries to consult each other about safety and
pollution concerns, had earlier this month rejected a request from
Ireland for an injunction to prevent the Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) from
opening.
Ireland says it is worried about safety and pollution from Sellafield
because the BNFL's MOX plant will discharge low level radioactive
emissions into the Irish Sea.
The plant will mix highly toxic plutonium with uranium oxides to create
a fuel that can be burnt in specially adapted nuclear reactors.
Environmental groups Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, also say that
apart from the pollution concerns, the MOX fuel will find few customers
because it is more expensive than conventional uranium reactor fuel.
An international furore erupted in 2000 when it was revealed data on a
pilot batch of MOX fuel sent to Japan had been falsified.
The ensuing row and cancelled orders led to the UK government shelving
plans to part privatise BNFL.
A government commissioned report into SMP published earlier this year
said the plant would deliver net financial benefits of 216 million
pounds ($364 million) over its lifetime once build costs were excluded.
