BNFL faked nuclear safety data forces shutdown of German reactor

Greenpeace described today's news that the German nuclear company PruessenElektra has decided to switch off its reactor and remove its BNFL plutonium fuel (MOX) as "the only responsible thing they could have done".

Greenpeace nuclear campaigner Helen Wallace said, "It is time the British Government faced facts and found the off-switch for Sellafield's reprocessing plants. Britain's plutonium business is over, and the widespread pollution and threat to human health Sellafield still produces is unjustifiable."

BNFL first admitted on Monday that the plutonium fuel (MOX) currently loaded in PruessenElekra's Unterweser power plant had been the subject of falsified quality assurance data. BNFL's Japanese customer refused to load MOX fuel earlier this year for the same reason. Switching off the reactor in order to remove the fuel will be expensive for PruessenElekra and could lead to a compensation claim against BNFL.

Question marks remain over the BNFL MOX fuel sold to Switzerland. Three damaged MOX fuel rods from BNFL were removed from the Beznau reactor in Switzerland in 1997, but so far BNFL has denied any falsification of safety data on Swiss fuel.