Stop radioactive mud dumping, says expert
ONE of Britain’s leading experts on radioactive contamination has called on Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to suspend the dumping of mud from the Hinkley Point nuclear power station into the Severn Estuary off Cardiff.
Dr Richard Bramhall is secretary of the Low Level Radiation Campaign and a former member of the UK Government’s advisory committee examining radiation risks of internal emitters.
Nearly 120,000 people have signed two petitions calling on NRW to suspend a marine dumping licence pending more tests on the mud – but both NRW and the Welsh Government maintain it poses no risk to human health.
Dr Bramhall has called on NRW chair Diane McCrea to stop the dumping pending further tests. In a letter to Ms McCrea, he states tests already done did not assess whether uranium, plutonium and other alpha-emitting elements are present in the mud in minute, “particulate” form.
Dr Bramhall’s letter states: “Alpha-emitting particulates are certainly emitted from nuclear power stations... The three reactors [at Hinkley Point] have been running for a total of 119 years... If they have been emitting at the same rate, that’s 282 thousand million million particulates small enough to inhale into the deepest parts of one’s lungs.”
For fragment sizes that are likely to be inhaled, he said, the effective dose would be very low.
However, he added: “The possibility remains that larger numbers of smaller fragments, perhaps resulting from the sequential break-up of larger ones, could be inhaled. If small enough, these could penetrate to and deposit in the lungs.”
Public Health England has pointed out this type of exposure will increase over time as larger fragments break up.
Dr Bramhall writes: “This suggests it’s advisable to characterise any particulates that might be at Hinkley Point before they are dug up and dropped into a highenergy tidal recirculating system.”
John Wheadon, NRW permitting services manager, responded: “This sediment has passed thorough testing by independent experts in accordance with internationally recognised standards developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Some people may not agree with the IAEA’s current standards. If they want to see changes to these, they need to do that through the appropriate authority – in this case, that’s the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
“We are satisfied the evidence shows that, in this instance, the chemical and radiological results are well within acceptable limits and are confident that the proposed activity will not harm people or the environment.”