Dounreay radiation scare
Highest number of nuclear particles found in 26yrs... and ‘they may pose risk’
POTENTIALLY harmful radioactive particles have been detected at the Dounreay nuclear plant in a new alert.
More than a dozen fragments of irradiated nuclear fuel were discovered on the shoreline near the facility in Caithness.
It is the highest amount of radioactive material to be detected in the area in almost three decades. Bosses said 73 per cent of the radioactive particles found this year were classed as ‘significant’.
Particles in this category ‘pose a realistic potential to cause harm to members of the public’, according to the independent Dounreay Particles Advisory Group.
Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd, the company responsible for the plant’s clean-up, said it was closely monitoring the situation. Shaun Burnie of Greenpeace Asia, a nuclear specialist who formerly worked at Dounreay, said: ‘The scale of the radiological hazard from the Dounreay particles is enormous, with hundreds of thousands and more highly radioactive nuclear fuel particles on the sea bed. The nuclear fuel fragments are of varying sizes, with the greatest public health threat from those small enough to be ingested and in particular inhaled. Lodging in the lung means significant direct radiation exposure.’
This year, 15 particles have been detected on the shore at Dounreay, the most since 1996 when 17 were found.
Dounreay is Scotland’s largest nuclear clean-up and demolition project, after it was shut down in 1994 following four decades. Used fuel from the reactors on site and others in Britain was recycled in Dounreay’s reprocessing facilities.
It is not known how many particles were released but research suggests that the bulk leaked out between 1958 and 1984.
The site is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which aims to have it ‘passively safe’ by 2036. The total cost of this is estimated to be £2.9billion.
Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd said: ‘The foreshore is not used by the general public. Safety is our number one priority and we continue to monitor the foreshore on a regular basis.’
A spokesman for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency said: ‘Sepa is content that the monitoring and retrieval programme in place continues to provide appropriate protection for the public.’