Greenpeace and People Against Wylfa B (PAWB) have condemned the decision by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) to allow BNFL to restart Wylfa nuclear power station today [1]. Greenpeace and PAWB are calling for the station to be closed permanently on safety grounds. The NII decision, taken in secret, has failed to assess properly the potential dangers of restarting the station.
The reactors were closed in April 2000 following the discovery of defects in welds in the reactor pressure vessels. The NII was concerned that the welds could break open, releasing radioactive contents from the reactor. They asked BNFL to fit 'restraints' to the outside of the pressure vessel to limit radioactive releases if the welds did break open. The welds themselves have not been repaired. Neither BNFL nor the NII have published information on the extent of the weld problem, or on the consequences to human health and the environment if the welds broke. In March, Greenpeace published a report at the National Assembly for Wales which concluded that a failure of the defective welds, coupled with other safety problems at the station, could result in uncontrolled, large scale releases of radioactivity [2].
"Once again, the NII and BNFL have negotiated in secret about nuclear safety issues. The only information in the public domain about the extent of the problems at Wylfa concluded that there could be catastrophic consequences if the welds broke. People in Wales have the right to be told about the risks that BNFL and the NII are forcing them to face - this right has consistently been denied", said Bridget Woodman from Greenpeace.
Despite a high degree of public concern, the National Assembly for Wales have refused to question the NII's handling of Wylfa's safety problems [3].
Neither BNFL nor the NII have published a case for reopening Wylfa, and no public consultation regarding the station's safety problems has been carried out among the general public of North West Wales, or with local authorities in Wales. This effectively means that there is no democratic accountability for either the nuclear industry or its regulators.
In addition, neither the First Minister, nor the Minister for the Environment attended a meeting with the NII, about safety at the station, at the end of last year. This is despite the National Assembly's right to be involved in issues of nuclear safety in Wales because of the widespread environmental consequences which could stem from a nuclear accident. PAWB has asked for the publication of this meeting's minutes, but the First Minister has refused on the grounds that they may be 'commercially sensitive' [4].
"Assembly ministers are clearly failing the people of Wales by censoring public debate on the problems which have crippled Wylfa over the last 15 months. While we've come to expect the NII to behave like the nuclear industry's lap dogs, we are appalled that the National Assembly is behaving like BNFL's poodle too," said Dylan Morgan from PAWB.
The weld defects are just the latest in a long series of problems at the station. Of particular concern is the irreparable and ongoing deterioration of the reactors' graphite core [5].
Notes for editors:
[1] The NII approved BNFL's safety case for restarting the reactor without repairing the defective welds on Friday 27 July.
[2] Large and Associates, Review of Ageing Processes and their Influence on Safety and Performance at Wylfa Nuclear Power Station, 14 March 2001.
[3] The Minister for the Environment, Sue Essex, has received 2,800 postcards and over 200 letters expressing concerns about safety at Wylfa and asking the National Assembly to act.
[4] Letter from Rhodri Morgan to Dylan Morgan, July 2001.
[5] Documents prepared in the early 1990s by Wylfa's then-owner, Nuclear Electric, predicted that graphite keyways which are vital to the structure stability of the reactor core could fail between 30 and 35 years into Wylfa's operation life. Wylfa is already 30 years old.
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255
