Plans to store nuclear waste in Ennerdale.

[rik_uk3]

I've got a WW2 aircraft compass a PII which over time developed a small bubble in the liquid. Found a company that repairs aviation compasses but they couldn't do my RAF compass because of the radioactive paint on the dial and health and safety regulations

Did it myself in the end.

 

[Lister]

A simple question to ask: Where would you rather it stored? stories like these are often put across or rasied by (forgive me here) the NIMBY crowd hiding behind "environmental concerns".

 

[pastymuncher]

You cant take coal on a nuclear licensed site, as its too radioactive.
Bananas and Brazil nuts are quite high in radioactivity also.
You better not visit Scotland or Cornwall either, just in case.
Hope you don't live near a cement works or a crematorium either.

 

[pastymuncher]

Also anything that's been near a reactor is considered nuclear waste the desk's, office chairs, computers vending machines etc.

Not strictly true, anything that has been in a controlled area is tested and decontaminated until clean, it is then tested by two independent testers using different testing equipment, if found to be clean then the waste can be disposed of as normal waste. Anything found to contain contamination is disposed at the appropriate level. It is in the interests of everyone that radioactive waste is minimized.

 

[andybysea]

Oh Great pastymuncher, i eat bannana's, there a crematorium not far,a cement works and a nuclear power station and i live in Scotland im doomed i tell thee!

 

[Toddy]

My rather facetious reply does have a root in reality though. ( no offence intended ASM, just that any report on the pollution of the Irish sea or the beaches near the Dounreay facility clearly show that we're not being careful enough....or maybe we weren't careful enough.
Unless the waste is always a current concern then in time someone will decide, "It'll do." will be enough safeguard, especially if it saves money. Can't get a more current concern that underneath folks homes and workplaces.

I like the approach that the more electricity someone uses the higher the tarrif though What a subtle way to effect a change in behaviour

cheers,
Toddy

 

[rik_uk3]

My rather facetious reply does have a root in reality though. ( no offence intended ASM, just that any report on the pollution of the Irish sea or the beaches near the Dounreay facility clearly show that we're not being careful enough....or maybe we weren't careful enough.
Unless the waste is always a current concern then in time someone will decide, "It'll do." will be enough safeguard, especially if it saves money. Can't get a more current concern that underneath folks homes and workplaces.

I like the approach that the more electricity someone uses the higher the tarrif though What a subtle way to effect a change in behaviour

cheers,
Toddy

In your opinion Mary, useless speculation to be honest. The rules here in the UK are very very strict, nuclear power is very safe, the new passive cooled reactors even more so.

 

[abominable_scouse_monster]

My rather facetious reply does have a root in reality though. ( no offence intended ASM, just that any report on the pollution of the Irish sea or the beaches near the Dounreay facility clearly show that we're not being careful enough....or maybe we weren't careful enough.
Unless the waste is always a current concern then in time someone will decide, "It'll do." will be enough safeguard, especially if it saves money. Can't get a more current concern that underneath folks homes and workplaces.

I like the approach that the more electricity someone uses the higher the tarrif though What a subtle way to effect a change in behaviour

cheers,
Toddy

Are you talking the outflow from the Golf ball's? because if I am remembering correctly that was found to be a non waste issue it was something wrong with the plant it's self more correctly the early Fast Breeder design used (could be wrong I'll ask my dad), I know he has worked on that site though.

 

[santaman2000]

...I like the approach that the more electricity someone uses the higher the tarrif though What a subtle way to effect a change in behaviour

cheers,
Toddy

And yet, electric cars are supposed to be more environmentally friendly?

 

[abominable_scouse_monster]

And yet, electric cars are supposed to be more environmentally friendly?

Look for what Clarkson said about the Prius on QI, quite well put.
But electric car's are going to happen the battery tech just needs to evolve and soon.

 

[santaman2000]

Look for what Clarkson said about the Prius on QI, quite well put.
But electric car's are going to happen the battery tech just needs to evolve and soon.

Maybe. I know SOMETING is going to eventually replace the current internal combustion engine. But TBH it might just as easily be another technology altogether apart from electric as well.

 

[Tengu]

I would love them to come store it in my garden; think of the money I could charge them.

 

[santaman2000]

I would love them to come store it in my garden; think of the money I could charge them.

Put in a bid.

 

[Toddy]

On balance Richard, I'm pro nuclear power, but I'm a hearty sceptic about those who control the purse strings.
Not the workers or the engineers, but the money and business interests always looking to cut costs.

M

 

[santaman2000]

On balance Richard, I'm pro nuclear power, but I'm a hearty sceptic about those who control the purse strings.
Not the workers or the engineers, but the money and business interests always looking to cut costs.

M

I think we've found something to agree about here. I'm also pro nuclear and anti-nimby. But sceptical about the bean counters.

 

[Paul_B]

Well ive held uranium ore and partly processed ore in my hand at the site they process it into the pellets that goes into the rods then pack them into the rods. I then held one of the rods. That was over 20 years ago. How safe was that? Perfectly.
A few years ago medical radioactive waste was taken from the NE England to Sellafield for storage. On the way it went under bridges. It had a faulty seal leaking radioactivity straight up that wld kill you.!!!
There's medical and industrial radioactivity sources all around the country. These are stored somewhere when no longer gd. It's not just a power generation issue. Power generation sources and waste is probably more strictly.controlled.
I live near limestone areas above granite. I had my house tested for radon for free. My.house was safe but the actual level of radioactivity was higher than around Sellafield i believe.
Anyway, my basic point is that theres a lot if mis-information around and often the most accessible info is inaccurate to say the least.

 

[Manacles]

Mostly due to paranoia, don't get me wrong it will have a slightly higher count but the glow in the dark paint on your wrist watch will have more.

Years ago if you were a submariner you had to put those watches in sealed bags for the duration of a tour. And also does anyone remember the Trimphone in the UK? The glowing numerals on those were radioactive and when they were withdrawn from service they had to go to the nuclear power station (now closed)at Winfrith in Dorset to be dealt with there

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Despite numerous independant scientific & medical studies carried out over the last decade in many countries showing that there are higher incidences of certain types of cancer ( thyroid, leukemia), birth defects & genetic abnormalities in children living within a 5 Km ( some even further) radius of a nuclear plant, a lot of people still seem to want to believe the reassuring info issued to them by the communication experts working for the nuclear industry that it is 'safe'
They will tell you that low doses of radiation that continually escape from the plants & contaminate the air & local water supplies are completely harmless & that the higher cancer rates around the nuclear installations (they can't deny it as it's a fact) are just co-incidental & that there is no way of proving that the reactors are responsible & produce mountains of facts & figures, elaborated by the industries very own assigned experts, to prove it.
Of course we can believe whom we wish, just bear in mind that the basis for any of the nuclear industry's 'studies' is mainly concerned with reducing it's legal liabilities & responsibilities & not the welfare of the population.

 

[Maxip]

I'm pro-nuclear as it is the 'best' way we can generate electricity in the UK unless we want to keep using coal / oil (until they run out), wave / wind (if they can be made efficient) or gas (more fracking anyone). How we treat the reprocessed waste still needs lots of thought and a deep core repository is (IMHO) the best option. There are several of these in the US & other countries and they are proven to be efficient and safe.

However, they need to be sited in the correct locations and as NIREX found out, suitable locations in Cumbria are far & few between. When NIREX became part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the work continued and one of their recent reports can be found here. Although heavy reading, this is a useful document as it goes through the various options for waste treatment. I live very local to Ennerdale and have been told by a geologist that there is very limited opportunity for a repository anywhere in the locality due to the nature of the rock (porous, regularly changing water table, etc.).

Excerpts from local news paper (Whitehaven News) - many more to read from;
Geological fears over Cumbria nuclear repository plan dismissed
West Cumbria nuclear repository debate rages on

Comments earlier about desks / chairs / etc. being treated as 'nuclear waste' have some semblance of truth and can be treated as Low Level Waste (LLW). LLW also includes hospital gowns / equipment that has been used near X-Rays, hand tools used in an environment where contamination may occur (not just nuclear), etc.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

as it is the 'best' way we can generate electricity in the UK .

Wasn't that taken from one of the nuclear industry's promo pamphets ?