NII

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.

Welsh Assembly Members today heard the results of a Greenpeace funded report into the dangers of allowing the ageing Wylfa nuclear power station on Anglesey to reopen [1].

Speakers at the launch, held at the National Assembly, included report author, independent nuclear engineer John Large, Assembly Members Mick Bates (Liberal Democrats) and John Griffiths (Labour) and Dylan Morgan from PAWB (People Against Wylfa B/Pobol Atal Wylfa B).

Greenpeace described today's announcement by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) as "A shocking indictment of Sellafield's continuing safety crisis."

In particular the NII reported today that BNFL has so far failed to fully implement 25 of the 28 Sellafield site safety recommendations the NII made last year, and that it expects full completion to take until the end of 2002.

Greenpeace today warned coastal nations around the world to be on high alert for a deadly weapons-usable plutonium/MOX fuel shipment from Europe to Japan. The armed nuclear transport freighters the Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal began to leave the British port of Barrow-in-Furness this morning bound for the French port of Cherbourg where they will load the plutonium cargo before an eight week 30,000km journey to Japan.

Responding to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate report (released tomorrow) into the falsification of plutonium data at BNFL's Sellafield plant, Pete Roche from Greenpeace said, "The whole plutonium business is rotten to the core. Removing one or two bad apples, even from the top, cannot rescue this dangerous and polluting industry".

He added, "It is time for the Government to act decisively and end nuclear reprocessing at Sellafield for good."