Sir, I read the letter from Michael Folger, chief executive of Nirex Ltd, on February 19th.
I agree with Mr Folger that radioactive waste does exist. It is however, dangerous and it requires the highest standards for safe disposal. I do not agree that there is an international consensus that the best way for safe disposal is in a deep underground repository.
The main producers of radioactive waste, BFNL, is happy to see interim storage of waste at the surface from 10, 20 or even 30 years whilst a viable disposal site is identified and researched. Likewise, Sir John KnilI, the past chairman of the UK's Radioactive Waste Advisory Committee, is on record as saying that there is no rush to seek a solution in the next few years. I believe we should use the interval of 10 to 30 years granted by surface storage to investigate alternative ideas for disposal.
The proposal to build a rock laboratory at Sellafield has been robustly criticised by scientists and economists in the UK. The geological investigations have proved that the site is complex, and Nirex is unable to predict the geology or water flow to the required standard. Mr Folger said that Nirex did not plan to put a site under the Irish Sea; however he overlooked two important factors.
The present plans for a repository mean that underground water will flow past the waste, dissolve it, and return towards the surface carrying the radioactivity. Nirex plans that this polluted water will be diluted and dispersed into the overlying ground water, which will eventually flow into the Irish Sea.
The steel drums may last up to a 1,000 years, or they may not. The ground water at Sellafield contains oxygen, and will probably rust away the drums much faster than Nirex estimates. In any event, Mr Folger forgets to mention that each drum has a grill to release gas and that this will also allow water to enter the radioactive waste and so dissolve it.
I believe there are still questions which Mr Folger has failed to answer. - Yours, etc.,
Fianna Fail
Spokesperson for
Ecology and Urban Renewal,
Dail Eireann,
Baile Atha Cliath.