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October 16, 2005
THORP will be shut until at least March 2006
British Nuclear Group’s (BNG) lame-duck reprocessing plant THORP is likely to remain closed until at least March next year. The re-start date, contained in documents received by Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment from BNG under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoIA) is several months later than the December 2005 date suggested earlier.
The Company intends to present its re-start plans to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) in December this year but wouldn’t be able to re-start chemical separation until March 2006. There are still major hurdles for THORP to cross, so re-start could be even later, or the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority could decide that THORP should remain closed.
According to the Independent on Sunday, if BNG is sold, the new owner may not want to take on the potential liabilities that might arise from another accident at THORP. It also predicts that around half the 8,000 workers at British Nuclear Group (BNG) would lose their jobs if the predicted sale goes ahead.
Meanwhile a devastating "catalogue of dubious practices", including sabotage and safety measures based on "guesswork", is revealed in an internal report seen by The Independent on Sunday. The document is a shocking indictment of the £250m waste vitrification plant (WVP), which turns liquid highly radioactive waste into glass blocks so it can be stored more easily. The document says that the plant - is "potentially dangerous" and is "becoming difficult to operate properly". The problems at the plant are so great that the Government forced BNFL to call in its major competitor, the French firm Cogema.
CORE Press Release 3rd October 2005
Independent on Sunday 2nd October 2005
Independent on Sunday 16th October 2005
Catalogue of dubious practices:-
Independent on Sunday 2nd October 2005
Sunday Sun (Newcastle) 9th October 2005
Posted by peter at October 16, 2005 05:54 PM