Sunday, 13 April 2014

Use No 45: Roe Deer "sentinels"

Roe Deer are: “excellent bio-indicators and sentinels of environmental contamination. Because of their extremely rapid and efficient deposition of minerals in bone, they are recognised as important sources of data in respect of heavy metal and radioactive isotope accumulation. Given the nature of the industrial work at Sellafield, the regular sampling of deer bone and liver tissue might be an attractive prospect for those responsible for environmental monitoring at the site.” Maybe this is what nuclear enthusiast George Monbiot has in mind when he talks of "re-wilding" ? more info here: Deer and Children - Sellafield's Sacrificial Canaries http://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/deer-and-children-sellafields-sacrificial-canaries/ Beatrix Potter's Evil Masterplan? http://wildar4.wix.com/radiation-free-land#!podium-4---marianne-birkby-/c222d

Friday, 6 September 2013

Use No 44. DECC Luther's New Sellafield Planning Regime Serum

Following Super Eddie shooting down the government plan to dump hot reactor cores under Cumbria the evil forces of DECC Luther and the evil Nukeliac have teamed up with their lackeys. Together they have come up with a menace never before seen. The New Planning Regime Serum for Nuclear. The plan is for the evil undemocratic shadow to spread new nuclear developments all over and under the land without the need to ask local councils what they think. Indeed, why bother at all with pesky councillors, they are just too unreliable. They might do their job and try to see through the propaganda and fight for truth and justice and human rights. Why bother, when you can, with a sweep of a judicial arm come up with a cunning plan to render local councillors POWERLESS! This is the true evil genius and the aim is to make Cumbria powerless to resist. Indigenous rights taken away along with clean air, fresh water and unpolluted soil. RESIST! Talks with Government http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/minister-in-talks-with-politicians-and-unions-over-future-of-sellafield-1.1075421 The Unions did NOT come up with this plan - they are the stooges being used as surely as our poor children are being used, with their elevated cancers and other radiation linked diseases. http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/unions-want-dedicated-planning-authority-set-up-for-sellafield-1.1081398

Use No 43. Unlikely Heroes: Super Eddie

Perhaps the most unlikely of Superheroes? Eddie Martin as conservative Leader of Cumbria County Council was a staunch and most loyal supporter of the nuclear industry, so it must have come as rather a nasty shock to the nuclear apparatchiks in government when Super Eddie listened to the majority of his Parish Councils and to the overwhelming evidence AGAINST going on with "steps towards geological disposal" i.e. dumping nuclear reactor cores under Cumbria. Earlier this year, Cumbria county council woke up to the reality behind decades of government propaganda and nuclear industry spin and rejected a plan to bury hot radioactive waste under England’s Lake District. Eddie Martin's Full Speech to Cabinet "Like a two year old, radioactive waste can get into everything: water, soil, plants and animals. One way to control it is to trap it in ceramic-type materials so that it can’t escape into the environment. Hopefully, by the time the ceramic breaks down, the radioactivity will have decayed and will no longer pose a threat. But science is not infallible. What is deemed scientifically accurate and undeniable today may not be so in 100 or 1000 years time…" http://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/eddie-martins-speech-to-cabinet-on-30th-january/

Sunday, 27 January 2013

Use no 42 Mrs Tiggywinkle's Laundry - hot pants!

INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELLAFIELD LAUNDRY AND CUMBRIAN HOTELS - (Mrs Tiggywinkle and the hot pants) A Cumbrian laundry, Shortridge, supplying some of the most prestigious hotels in the Lake District has a £50,000 - £600,000 contract to provide a contingency laundry for Sellafield's towels and underwear. There is no monitoring once the laundry leaves Sellafield, no checks once it arrives at the same laundry used by Cumbrian Hotels. Baroness Verma’s recent comments about the intimate relationship between the nuclear industry and tourism perhaps refers to the use of the same laundry? £500,000 has been pledged by government to protect the Lake District’s image. No doubt aggressive Mrs Tiggywinkle marketing could put a positive spin on the nuclear laundry being shared with Cumbrian hotels. The only brand protection worth having is to contain radioactive contamination on the Sellafield site rather than dispersing it to the environment at previously non nuclear sites through landfill, metal "recycling", a proposed nuclear dump and now, we learn, the laundry! The Environment Agency has provided answers below confirming the appalling situation which, despite assurances, opens up another new pathway for routine and accidental contamination. This has only come to light as a result of an anonymous letter to Radiation Free Lakeland. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Environment Agency -Freedom of Information Answers: PROTECT-NTH6582H Dear Marianne Thank you for your request for information which was received in this office on 14 January 2013. Requests for information that are recorded are generally governed by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). The information you have requested is environmental and it is therefore exempted from the provisions of FOIA by FOIA s.39(1). We have therefore considered your request under the provisions of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). I will answer your points in turn. Laundry at Sellafield Sellafield Ltd has an on-site laundry for active and non-active (i.e. contaminated and non-contaminated) laundry. However, in case the laundry cannot operate, Sellafield Ltd has a contract with Shortridge Laundry as a contingency for the non-active (i.e. non-contamined) laundry. 1. Has Shortridge Laundry a discharge license? Shortridge Laundry does not have and does not require an environmental permit from the Environment Agency. We understand that it does have a discharge consent from United Utilities to discharge to sewer. 2. Where is the discharged water going to? Discharges to sewer from Shortridge Laundry are treated by United Utilities at its waste water treatment works. 3. How long has Sellafield been contracting out laundry? We understand that Sellafield Ltd has had a contingency contract for non-active (i.e. non-contaminated) laundry for approximately 4 years. 4. Who is responsible for monitoring this new pathway for accidental and routine release of radioactivity? There is no new pathway for accidental and routine releases of radioactivity as Shortridge Laundry is only contracted for non-active (i.e. non-contaminated) laundry. Hence there is no requirement or responsibility for monitoring. Sellafield Ltd is responsible for ensuring that only non-active laundry is sent to Shortridge Laundry and has arrangements in place to achieve this (e.g. monitoring of clothing). We hope that this answers your queries. Many thanks. Helen Reynolds Customer Services Officer Customer Services Team North West Environment Agency Ghyll Mount, Gillan Way, Penrith 40 Business Park, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 9BP Telephone: 01768 215848 Email: Nwnorthinformationrequests@environment-agency.gov.uk   MORE INFO BELOW £500,000 pledge for Lake District image http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/500-000-pledge-to-protect-lake-district-s-image-1.1027134?referrerPath=news Nuclear Laundry http://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/nuclear-laundry-outsourced-for-4-years/ Baroness Verma http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/baroness-verma-webchat-geological-disposal-in-west-cumbria-1.1027959?referrerPath=news

Friday, 28 December 2012

Use no 41 Another Letter to Santa

Radiation Free Lakeland have been passed a letter addressed to Santa from HM Government. The letter has been leaked by brave whistleblower, Vixen the Reindeer. Dear Santa, We have been working VERY hard again this year to convince Cumbrians that 'Managing Radioactive Waste Safely' means mining a MEGA hole to dump nuclear waste in. Please Santa, we need this solution in order to build bigger and better nuclear plants that would produce hotter waste. Please Santa, keep campaigners saying 'bury it under London' and 'burn the plutonium' and please muffle and marginalise those who want to contain the waste on site and STOP the production of more and more waste. We have continued to make sure that all the movers and shakers in Cumbria are ON MESSAGE, SILENT or making MEANINGLESS noises about the BRAND of CUmbria. Please Santa, keep the GEOLOGICAL DUMP on track and convince Cumbrians that this is a huge OPPORTUNITY. yours sincerely, Baroness Verma on behalf of HM. Govnt PS We have also worked VERY hard this year on diversionary tactics. EG We BANNED fracking to highlight how dangerous it is and then REVOKED the ban to set activists and the media running after that hare DIVERTING attention away from the BIG FRACKING radioactive gassy NUKE DUMP. (imagine us banning nuclear!? LoL)

Friday, 14 December 2012

Use No 40 NEW.SPEAK

new•speak Pronunciation: (nOO'spÄ“k) Coined in George Orwell's classic book '1984', new.speak is an official or semiofficial style of writing or saying one thing in the guise of its opposite, esp. in order to serve a political or ideological cause while pretending to be objective The Managing Radioactive Wastes Safely Partnership has just won two awards for its outstanding contribution to New.Speak The title of the Partnership (Managing Radioactive Wastes Safely) is in itself blatant New.Speak Other key examples of MRWS new.speak are: *Democratic Process *Volunteer *Willing Community all saying one thing in the guise of its opposite. http://dictionary.infoplease.com/newspeak http://orwell.ru/library/novels/1984/english/en_app http://www.medialens.org/bookshop/newspeak.php and the resulting awards... http://www.nwemail.co.uk/two-awards-for-west-cumbria-nuclear-waste-consultation-1.1021517?referrerPath=news1

Sunday, 29 April 2012

Use No 39 Uplifting the Land with Radioactive Gases

Use No 39 Uplifting the Land with Radioactive Gases The government quango 'Managing Radioactive Wastes Safely' are promoting Cumbria/The Lake District as the national geological dump for nuclear wastes. Professor Stuart Haszeldine has said: "Emplacement of hot wastes will force rock to expand, with the strong probability that new fractures will be created. The fractures can allow radioactive gas to rapidly leak to the surface. Land users and housing at the land surface will be uplifted." http://mrwsold.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Response-to-westCumbria-MRWS-Consultation-Haszeldine-small1.pdf

Use no 38 Saving the Rainforest

Use No 38 Saving the Rainforest "If you wanted to preserve the biodiversity of *rainforest, drop pockets of nuclear waste into it to keep the developers out. The lifespans of the wild things might be shortened a bit, but the animals wouldn't know, or care. Natural selection would take care of the mutations. Life would go on". James Lovelock - what a beautiful mind and a lovely old man.... for *rainforest try substituting *Cumbria - lovely! http://www.ecolo.org/lovelock/world-in-our-hands.html http://web.mac.com/mariannebirkby1/iWeb/Radiation%20Free%20Lakeland/Gaia%20-%20Prof.%20Lovelock's%20False%20Goddess....html

Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Use no 37 AGNOTOLOGY - MONBIOTOINETTE


“People always assume that if someone doesn’t know something, it’s because they haven’t paid attention or haven’t yet figured it out. But ignorance also comes from people literally suppressing truth—or drowning it out—or trying to make it so confusing that people stop caring about what’s true and what’s not.” Robert Proctor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnotology

The nuclear agenda relies on agnotology , examples include the proposal to build new nuclear plants at the two greenfield sites in Cumbria, Kirksanton and Braystones. This much publicised move diverted attention, energy and local anger away from the real and insane agenda which is to build "up to nine" new nuclear reactors at Sellafield.
http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/reaction-to-sellafield-nuclear-new-build-1.770027?referrerPath=1.137755

George Monbiot's oh so persuasive and persistent (!) proposal to 'let them burn plutonium' is another example of agnotology.
http://www.robedwards.com/2012/01/plutonium-reactor-plan-rejected.html

Meanwhile the plan to bury high level nuclear wastes in Cumbria in order to make yet more high level wastes continues while the Guardianistas arguments churn having taken their cue from "the leading environmental activist and writer" (whose time has come?)

Tuesday, 3 January 2012

Reducing Brain Size




USE NO 36

REDUCING BRAIN SIZE


Birds living near the site of the Chernobyl accident have 5% smaller brains.
Research led by a University of South Carolina scientist has shown that low dose radiation has proved to have significant effects on brain development.

"birds with smaller brains are not surviving to the next year, perhaps related to decreased cognitive abilities." Mousseau said not only are their brains smaller, but it seems they are not as capable at dealing with their environment as evidenced by their lower rates of survival".

Reduced cognitive ability puts millions of years of evolution into high speed reverse ..

http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?storyCode=2058888

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9387000/9387395.stm

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016862

Wednesday, 21 December 2011

LETTER TO SANTA



Use No 35

Letter to Santa


Radiation Free Lakeland have been given a letter from a brave whistleblower: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

The Letter is addressed to Santa and says:

"Dear Santa,

We have been working VERY hard all year to convince Cumbrian Councillors that 'Managing Radioactive Wastes Safely' means mining a BIG hole to dump nuclear wastes in.

As you know, Santa, we need to SOLVE the nuclear waste problem in order to build more nuclear plants.

We have made sure that all the usual movers and shakers in Cumbria are ON MESSAGE OR SILENT.

Please, Santa, keep the GEOLOGICAL DUMP on track.

yours sincerely,
Charles Hendry on behalf of H.M. Govnt"

Thursday, 1 December 2011

World's Biggest Hole


USE NO 34

THE WORLD'S BIGGEST HOLE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IgGoMUS6t0

World's biggest hole :
The world’s biggest hole Mirny Diamond Mine is located in Russia. The giant hole is actually a diamond mine in Eastern Siberia. It is 525 meters deep and 1.25 km in the diameter.

Chris Huhne plans to trump that with a hole 1000 meters deep, 26 km square and filled with high level nuclear wastes.

Friday, 25 November 2011

Ever expanding vicious cycle / infinite loop







Use no 33

EVER EXPANDING INFINITE LOOP OR VICIOUS CIRCLE


There's a hole in DECC's Bucket / Energy Policy

The nukes are too hot, dear Liza, dear Liza, the nukes are too hot, dear
Liza, too hot.

Then cool them, dear Hendry, dear Hendry, dear Hendry, then cool them dear
Hendry, dear Hendry, cool them.

With what shall I cool them, dear Liza, dear Liza, with what shall I
cool them, dear Liza, with what?

With water, dear Hendry, dear Hendry, dear Hendry, with water dear
Hendry, dear Hendry, cool them.

Where should I get it, dear Liza, dear Liza, where should I get it, dear
Liza, from where?

From the rivers, dear Hendry, dear Hendry , dear Hendry, from the
rivers, dear Hendry, dear Hendry, from there.

The rivers are empty, dear Liza, dear Liza, the rivers are empty, dear
Liza, empty.

Use the sea then, dear Hendry, dear Hendry , dear Hendry, use the sea
then dear Hendry, dear Hendry, the sea.

The sea is too salty, dear Liza, dear Liza, the sea is too salty, dear
Liza, too salty.

Then desalinate it, dear Hendry, dear Hendry, dear Hendry, desalinate
it, dear Hendry, desalinate it.

But how can I do that, dear Liza, dear Liza, but how can I do that, dear
Liza, but how?

Build a plant, dear Hendry, dear Hendry, dear Hendry, build a plant,
dear Hendry, a plant.

With what shall I power it, dear Liza, dear Liza, with what shall I
power it, dear Liza, with what?

With nukes, dear Hendry, dear Hendry, dear Hendry, with nukes, dear
Hendry, with nukes.

But the nukes are too hot, dear Liza, dear Liza, the nukes are too hot,
dear Liza, too hot.

[repeat ad infinitum for the next million years]

Nuclear Hole in DECC's Bucket - by Dr Helen Wallace


MORE INFO:

FRESHWATER USE - SELLAFIELD
http://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/why-has-the-wettest-place-in-england-not-got-enough-freshwater/

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY PROPOSE A SOLUTION TO DECC's POLICY PROBLEM: DESALINATION PLANT

http://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/desalination-plant/


NUCLEAR ROULETTE
When it comes to producing electricity,nuclear is an extravagantly water-wasting technology. A
nuclear power station requires between 20 to 83 percent more water than any other kind of power
plant. Even Westinghouse’s “Generation III”AP1000 needs to consume as much as 750,000 gallons per minute to operate safely
http://www.ifg.org/pdf/Nuclear_Roulette_book.pdf

Thursday, 10 November 2011

Border Control Harassment of Chernobyl Children's Charities




Use No 32

If you want new nuclear build the last thing you need is pesky charities bringing children over from Chernobyl. This reminds the carefully groomed UK that nuclear power leads to accident and incident.

The UK Border Agency is stepping up harassment of Chernobyl Children's charities - bizarre given the recent news stories about the failings of Border Control. Radiation Free Lakeland have written to Tim Farron MP to ask that this tactic of harassment is stopped.

At the conference of the European Chernobyl Network in Germany at the weekend, attendees were horrified to hear about the treatment of charities bringing children over from Chernobyl.
Most speakers stated the reason was the UK Government's strong pro-nuclear
stance: Chernobyl children and the snowballing effects of radiation through the generations are not a good advertisement for the development of nuclear power.

http://www.chernobyl-children.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Harrassment-of-Chernobyl-Charities-by-UKBA1.pdf

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/nov/07/border-control-row-gulf-theresa-may

Monday, 7 November 2011

Dumping Democracy


http://www.worldscibooks.com/environsci/7895.html


Use No 31

DUMPING DEMOCRACY


Extract from the excellent, myth busting book:
Contesting the future of nuclear power
Benjamin K Sovacool, World Scientific, 2011.

"In one of its most intractable problems, that of nuclear waste, the
industry has outright manipulated data and limited true public participation
to get its way. Some studies of consumer attitudes and public
opinions have shown that public groups will support nuclear power
expansion if assurances of safe waste disposal are provided, but will not
if the waste problem is not resolved.(113) Thus, nuclear power proponents - trade
groups, vendors, and utilities - have shifted from a technical
discourse, which is full of uncertainty, to a public discourse of inclusive
and respectful public consultation about siting as well as criterions of
acceptability and safety. Yet, one study of such efforts in Canada found
that they do not involve true consultation or participation, whereby
citizens have the chance to influence eventual decisions, and are instead
public relations exercises used to reinvent the industry.(114) Nuclear
groups employ public consultation sessions to (1) demonstrate consent
and approval when they do get it, or (2) construct the public as having
fragmented values and opinions that will never be overcome when they
do not get it, telling regulators they should ultimately defer to the
nuclear industry. This situation does not bode well for democracy, the
study concluded, as the public is co-opted either way. Public consultation
is converted from a means to inform public policy into an end
justifying nuclear expansion".

113 See Frans Berkhout, Radioactive Waste: Politics and Technology (London:
Routledge, 1991); A. Blowers, D. Lowry, and B. Solomon, The International
Politics of Nuclear Waste (New.York: Macmillan, 1991); A. Blowers, "Nuclear
Waste and Landscapes of Risk;' Landscapes Research 24(3) (1999),
pp. 241-264; and Peter Stoett, "Toward Renewed Legitimacy? Nuclear Power,
Global Warming, and Security:' Global Environmental Politics 3(1) (2003),
pp.99-116.

114 Darrin Durant, "Buying Globally, Acting Locally: Control and Co-Option
in Nuclear Waste Management," Science and Public Policy 34(7)
(August, 2007), pp. 515-528.

This extract has been published on 101 Uses.. with the kind permission of Professor Benjamin K Sovacool

Sunday, 30 October 2011

MRWS - Halloween Special




Use No 30

MANAGING RADIOACTIVE WASTES SAFELY HALLOWEEN SPECIAL


The Scariest Halloween Story is the one where the nasties appear as
respectable types who say “Don’t Worry Everything is OK!” The viewer
has a hunch that there will be an inevitable doom laden slide to a scary
ending.


With nice timing for the scary Halloween season the Managing Radioactive
Wastes Safely Partnership have produced a draft consultation document
which will be used to continue promoting the “steps towards geological
disposal” of high level nuclear wastes in Cumbria’s leaky geology.

The document which will be discussed in Egremont this thursday says:
"We wanted to be ‘confident in the integrity of the BGS (British Geological
Survey) screening
work/report’.
Our initial opinions are:
BGS study. We are confident in the integrity of the BGS screening report
because it has been endorsed by two independent reviewers and there is no
significant criticism of the study’s integrity from elsewhere".
http://www.westcumbriamrws.org.uk/meetings_more.asp?news_id=30

Really? “No significant Criticism” ?

What about the significant criticism from:

The Nirex Inspector
http://www.nuclearwasteadvisory.co.uk/news-and-events/news/nirex-inquiry-inspector-attacks-nda/

Members of the original Committee on Radioactive Waste Management
http://www.nuclearwasteadvisory.co.uk/news-and-events/news/letter-from-corwm-members-on-new-build-waste/

Dr Helen Wallace- author of the Rock Solid? Scientific review
http://northern-indymedia.org/articles/1052

Dr Rachel Western – former employee of Nirex- researcher for Cumbrian
Friends of the Earth groups
http://northern-indymedia.org/articles/943

Professor David Smythe – former employee of Nirex
http://www.davidsmythe.org/nuclear/nuclear.htm

Tim Farron MP
http://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/great-pyramids-spoil-heaps-in-cumbria/

There are many more significant criticisms!

The good news is that unlike the viewer or reader of a scary Halloween
story, Cumbria has the wherewithal to stop the slide into the unfathomable
void.

Saturday, 8 October 2011

The Biggest Slag Heap in the World




Use No 29

West Cumbria is famous for being the place where you can find the World's Biggest Liar. Now the Department of Energy and Climate Change are pushing for West Cumbria to be the place where you can find the World's Biggest Slag Heap.

Nominations are already coming in for what this huge slag heap, ripped out of Lakeland geology, could be called:

Robson's Pile

Partnership Peaks (not forgetting the Partnership Pit!)

Teardrops o' Ruskin

Tremor Towers

Seismic Surprise

or perhaps "The Bung" ?


http://www.santonbridgeinn.com/liar/
http://davidsmythe.org/nuclear/nuclear.htm
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/michael-baron/public-servants-and-private-chats-about-dumping-nuclear-waste-in-west-cumbr



Below is a letter to Cumbria County Council from geoscientist Professor David Smythe

Sent to CCC by email – 6th Oct 2011

Dear Mr Kemp



I have just sent off a new paper to MRWS:Cumbria regarding the
unsuitability of the Eskdale granite as a host rock for a waste
repository, and attach a copy for your attention. It includes some
comments on the volumes of rock spoil to be created and then either
re-used later as backfill and/or taken off-site.



I believe that the letter you received from Mark Gough of NDA, dated
19 May 2011, is misleading on this point. Here are some
calculations, based upon the volumes of 'higher strength' rock spoil
which would be created.



The volume to be removed (if not left in Eskdale) is 6640921 cu. m.
(from ref. [5] of my paper). That is based on the volume of space to
be created underground, and therefore refers to solid rock. This
volume could be stored as a berm 1000 m long by 200 m across and 35
m high. Actually it will be about 50% greater in volume (e.g. 50 m
not 35 m high) because rock spoil is less dense than solid granite.
The NDA clearly can't leave that in Eskdale (along with the
additional rock spoil berms of about half this volume again) to
remain for up to 50 years and then re-used as backfill). NDA will
presumably ship it out - granite cuttings do have a value as
aggregate. But we have to address the road and rail usage of
removing it.



Multiply the volume by the density of solid granite (2.7 tonnes per
cu. m) to get the weight. That makes 17930487 tonnes. A road lorry
has a 44 tonne capacity, so that makes 407511 loads. Spread over 10
years (a maximum figure for the excavation phase), that means 112
loads per day - or a lorryload every 4 minutes during a working day
of 8 hours, every day of the week, for 10 years. The road traffic is
clearly double that because the returning empty lorries have to be
counted as well.



This is completely at odds with the assurances you have been given
by NDA:



"we have assumed that all of the excavated rock spoil could be
stored on the surface and then either re-used in construction and
backfilling, or for landscaping and site restoration. Under this
scenario there would be no requirement to transport rock spoil
off-site."



Please note that similar figures will apply if the host rock is some
other kind of 'higher strength'or 'lower strength' rock. Note that
the evaporite scenario (the third generic host rock type) does not
apply to West Cumbria.



So is CCC going to permit this kind of long-term environmental
damage within the National Park?



I await your comments with interest.



Yours sincerely

David Smythe

Monday, 3 October 2011

Jollies




Use No 28

Jollies

Rather than spending taxpayer’s money on a jolly this week to see France's
research into geological dumping the DECC sponsored Managing Radioactive
Wastes Safely (!) Partnership should go for a walk up Scafell. A walk up
Scafell would give the Partnership a sense of the scale of DECC’s proposal
for a huge hole in the ground. Radiation Free Lakeland would be happy to
organise a day guiding members of the Partnership to the top of Scafell.
We would, of course, avoid the "Bad Step." We could then look down to
get some idea of the depth of the geological dump proposed - 1000 meters.
Scafell is a mere 978 meters.

In looking for a Cumbrian dump for intermediate level nuclear wastes,
Nirex found in the 1990s that the geology of the Lake District leads to
upward waterflows into the aquifer surrounding the mountains. The Inquiry
revealed difficulties in identifying a large volume of rock in West
Cumbria to avoid fast routes for radionuclide escape through watery
fractures and faults. A much larger volume of rock would be needed for the
plan for a dump containing spent nuclear fuel and high level wastes which
being hotter and more volatile must be spaced further apart.

Residents of Bure, France, are "embracing" that underground research
laboratory about as much as Nevada welcomed the now abandoned Yucca
Mountain nuclear dump. Bure's aquifers run through the proposed storage
site. Public opposition to nuclear power in France is rising because of
the waste problem.

Maybe there isn’t enough rock in the world to isolate high level nuclear
waste from humans and the environment into eternity? No where in the world
has done this. Maybe it is more honest to say there is no ‘solution’ and
to just stop producing high level nuclear wastes? Certainly this
Partnership 'process' should be scrapped now before more public money is
spent on “steps towards” a worlds first, high level nuclear waste
geological dump,- located somewhere as yet unspecified (for DECC's sake
don't scare the horses!) in West Cumbria.

http://www.cumbriacrack.com/2011/09/29/fact-finding-repository-visit-for-west-cumbria-managing-radioactive-waste-safety-partnership-members/

http://www.greenpeace.de/fileadmin/gpd/user_upload/themen/atomkraft/GPI_nucl_waste_crisis_in_France_briefing_30may06.pdf

Protest



Use no 27

Protest - Stop New Nuclear

The Stop New Nuclear network website puts it very well....

"We can stop new nuclear
The government and the nuclear industry want us to believe that nuclear new-build in Britain is a done deal. They want to discourage us from protesting – the message they want us to swallow is clear: opposition is futile, and we will be going ahead anyway!
However, that couldn't be further from the truth. Yes, the government has introduced a framework which effectively will subsidise new nuclear at our expense – as electricity consumers and taxpayers. Yes, the government has effectively deprived local communities from having a say in the planning process for new nuclear and other major infrastructure projects thus dumping a crucial cornerstone of local democracy.
But nuclear new-build in Britain is already behind schedule and has faced legal and other setbacks. Public concern is mounting following the Fukushima disaster. If we can stop the building at Hinkley, we can stop the whole process. Now is the time to mobilise and take action.
New-nuclear in Britain is far from being a done deal, and we can still stop it!

NEW NUCLEAR — STOP IT AT HINKLEY!

The action:
A non-violent blockade of Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset"

http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk/

http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Campaigners-step-Hinkley-protest/story-13462638-detail/story.html

http://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/2011/hinkley-protests-10-09-11.php

Tuesday, 6 September 2011

Petitioning "Scaremongerers"





Use No 26

Petitions

Cumbrian Petition Opposes the World’s Top Trump Nuke Dump


Radiation Free Lakeland delivered a 1520 signature petition to Cumbria County Council offices in Kendal on Monday 5th September. The petition calls on Cumbria County Council and Copeland and Allerdale Borough Councils to halt the Managing Radioactive Wastes Safely process by their withdrawal. The government’s MRWS process has one agenda - “steps towards geological disposal” which means a newly mined area (or two or three) filled with high level radioactive wastes – in a hole(s) bigger than Lake Windermere and as deep as the Eiffel Tower. (see Refs below)

Despite the implications for Cumbria and its neighbours this petition has received almost no mainstream local or national press coverage apart from a Radio Cumbria interview on the morning of the hand over, where RAFL was accused repeatedly of “scaremongering” by the Leader of Copeland Borough Council. This set the tone of the interview which was topped off by the presenter (having taken his cue) shouting at volunteer Marianne Birkby. MRWS employ the services of a PR company to write speeches, letters and advise on “Crisis and Issues PR.” The PR Company is owned by Chair of Cumbria Tourism Eric Robson and Paul Gardner former political speech writer. Other 'facilitators' are also employed, costing the taxpayer £1M+ yearly Positive press coverage is one of the aims with adverts and multi page inserts into local press.

Many of the signatures were collected at Gosforth Show where the MRWS Partnership also had a stall. In 1995 Longlands Farm at Gosforth was chosen as the most likely location for an intermediate level waste dump. Following a public inquiry, the Nirex Inquiry Decision was that the site should be sought elsewhere - well away from the Irish Sea. In
2011 the vast majority of people at Gosforth Show who visited the Radiation Free Lakeland stall were keen to sign the petition and understood that Cumbria’s leaky geology is not safe, dry or remote enough from human habitation to keep high level radioactive wastes isolated into eternity.

A covering letter has been sent to Cumbria County Councillors and Allerdale and Copeland Borough Councillors. The full text of the letter
is below:

5th September 2011


To Cumbria County Council, Copeland and Allerdale Borough Councils.


Dear Cumbria County Councillor,

Cumbria County Council and Allerdale and Copeland Borough Council are absolutely right to object to the distribution of low level nuclear wastes in Cumbrian landfill sites such as Lillyhall and coal mines such as Keekle (1). Radiation Free Lakeland fully support these objections (2). Given the sensible objection to the dispersal of low level nuclear wastes, it makes no sense for Cumbrian councils to “express an interest” in the geological disposal of high level nuclear wastes (3).

We will be delivering a petition of 1520 signatures to CCC on Monday 5th September. The petition calls on Cumbria County Council and Copeland and Allerdale Borough Councils to halt the Managing Radioactive Wastes Safely process by their withdrawal (4). The MRWS process has one agenda -
“steps towards geological disposal” which means a newly mined area (or two or three) filled with high level radioactive wastes – in a hole(s) bigger than Lake Windermere and as deep as the Eiffel Tower (6).

In November 2008 Cumbria County Councillors were not allowed to vote on what they described as ‘the most important decision this council will ever take.” (7) Copeland and Allerdale were told: “This is the option being taken in the US at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, where highly radioactive fuel will go underground. The Yucca Mountain project involves URS Washington, a key partner in Sellafield's parent body organisation”. (8) Sounds plausible but geological disposal of high level nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain is off the agenda because of contamination risks to that regions water, soil and air. URS Washington have now set up shop in Cumbria, a much wetter area than Nevada (9). Despite the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely Partnership’s reassuring rhetoric, there is in fact nowhere in the world with an operational high level waste geological disposal facility (10).

There are those with concerns about Cumbria’s geology who advocate geological disposal elsewhere (11). We agree that Cumbria is the wrong place but would go further and suggest that there is no place in the world safe, dry and remote enough to put high level nuclear wastes into the
ground and expect them to stay isolated from humans and the environment.

Certainly as far as Cumbria’s geology is concerned It is a massive waste of time, energy and taxpayers money for councils in Cumbria to “express an interest” in “volunteering” to host a high level nuclear waste repository. The Nirex Inquiry Decision was that the site should be sought elsewhere - well away from the Irish Sea. Eminent geologists have recently confirmed that this meant outside West Cumbria: and the Irish Government and others would inevitably lodge legal actions under EU Law to prevent inevitable radioactive pollution of the Irish Sea from a deep underground dump (12).

“Steps towards geological disposal” in Cumbria are being used as a front. The government is desperate to be seen to comply with the findings of the Flowers report that:

There should be no commitment to a large programme of nuclear fission power until it has been demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that a method
exists to ensure the safe containment of long lived, highly radioactivewaste for the indefinite future. (13)


BNFL (now the NDA) produced a video in 1999 which made a far stronger case against 'geological disposal' in Cumbria than any petitioner such as Radiation Free Lakeland could hope to. The video advises that areas of "high rainfall, permeable rocks and hills and mountains to drive the water flow" would guarantee high level radioactive wastes migrating to the surface (14). In other words geological disposal of high level nuclear
wastes in an area such as Cumbria would make that land too fiercely radioactive to sustain life.

We urge Cumbria County Council, and Allerdale and Copeland Borough Councils to withdraw from the ‘Managing Radioactive Wastes Safely’ process as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,



Marianne Birkby
Volunteer* (dictionary definition)
on behalf of Radiation Free Lakeland

NOTE:
*The word ‘Volunteer’ as used in the MRWS process has mutated to: council
volunteering their region to site a high level nuclear waste repository in
return for taxpayer millions.
The dictionary definition of Volunteer is:
• of the volunteer's own free will and without coercion
• for no financial payment
• A person who performs or offers to perform a service voluntarily
• A person who renders aid, performs a service, or assumes an obligation
voluntarily
• without payment in fact or in kind
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/volunteer


REFS:
(1) Copeland Rejects Keekle Head Nuclear Waste Plan
http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/copeland-rejects-keekle-head-nuclear-waste-plan-1.869127?referrerPath=home/2.2837

(2) Radioactive Landfill at Keekle Head and Lillyhall? No Thanks!
Facebook group – 115 members
http://www.facebook.com/groups/119805971373120/

Bid to Oppose Lillyhall Landfiill Legalities
http://www.getnoticedonline.co.uk/news/general-news/bid-to-oppose-lillyhall-landfill-legalities.html

(3) “expressing an interest”
http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/underground-dump-not-a-done-deal-1.676384?referrerPath=home

(4) Petition – NO Underground Nuke Dump
http://northern-indymedia.org/articles/1368

(5) “We must progress implementation of geological disposal”
Charles Hendry MP
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn10_114/pn10_114.aspx

(6) Repository Footprint – slide 8
Would a deep nuclear waste repository in West Cumbria be safe? Dr Helen
Wallace
http://www.genewatch.org/uploads/f03c6d66a9b354535738483c1c3d49e4/HW_allerdale_fin.pdf

(7) Council Slammed in Nuke Dump Row
http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/news/council-slammed-in-nuke-plan-row-1.277316?referrerPath=news/1.117593

(8) Allerdale might host N-waste Dump
http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/business/1.282959

(9) Nevada Objects 229 Times
Las Vegas Journal http://www.lvrj.com/news/36489114.html

(10) Rock Solid – scientific review by Dr Helen Wallace
http://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/en/Publications/2010/rock-solid-a-scientific-review/

(11) 13 Years on Nirex report makes compelling reading
http://www.getnoticedonline.co.uk/news/general-news/thirteen-years-on-nirex-report-makes-compelling-reading.html
Prof David Smythe
http://davidsmythe.org/nuclear/nuclear.htm



(12) Irish Action on Sellafield
http://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.net/paperstoday/index.php?action=view&id=1466


(13) As part of its response to the Flowers report, the Government made
the Department of the Environment responsible for radioactive waste
management policy (Command Paper 6820)
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:UZhCS7oaV2wJ:www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199899/ldselect/ldsctech/41/4103.htm+Flowers+report+nuclear&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=safari&source=www.google.com


(14) The Pangea Project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjBSAlu0hjM

Pangea Project Sponsored by BNFL Rules Out Cumbria ie area of “high
rainfall, permeable rocks and hills and mountains to drive the water
flow.”
http://northern-indymedia.org/articles/2115