Greenpeace submission on the draft Nuclear Sites and Radioactive Substances Bill (2003)

Publication date: October 2003

Summary
Greenpeace has major concerns with the Nuclear Sites and Radioactive Substances Bill as it is currently worded. In particular, we are concerned that the draft Bill has been transformed from a measure rooted in environmental and health concerns and aimed at dealing with legacy waste to a measure which makes possible the transfer of the costs of nuclear liabilities, past or future, from the nuclear industry, publicly owned or private, to the state. The transfer of the liability inherent in nuclear power from the industry to the taxpayer, coupled with the proposed power of the NDA itself to run power stations and create more waste undermines the original purpose of the legislation, favours the production of nuclear power and undermines the public confidence in legislation whose primary aim should be the protection of health and the environment, in the context of ending the UK's nuclear industry.