Archived press release

Nuclear watchdog must come clean on plutonium

26 August 1999

Friends of the Earth today welcomed the call from the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC), the Government's nuclear waste watchdog, for a wide ranging review of policy on nuclear waste, including reprocessing. But FOE also said that RWMAC and the Government must “finally come off the fence” on the key issue of whether plutonium should be treated as nuclear waste.

RWMAC's 19th Annual Report, published today, fails to declare plutonium as a waste product.The Report reveals that RWMAC is to conduct a review of the waste management implications of reprocessing and states that this would need to assess the amounts of solid, liquid and gaseous radioactive wastes generated under different scenarios for future operations and also the arisings of “non wastes (eg separated uranium and plutonium).” But in May, RWMAC said that “there can only be a limited use for the [UK' plutonium] stock in the foreseeable future and... the remainder of the plutonium should be declared as waste unless a credible reason can be given otherwise.” (RWMAC's response to the House of Lords report on Nuclear Waste Management). Two weeks ago, after Friends of the Earth published Government sponsored research calling for plutonium management to be considered as a matter of “some urgency”, [1]RWMAC's Acting Chairman Professor Charles Curtis told Channel Four News: "There is no real conceivable use for this material, no real value for this material in the foreseeable future. We think that it should be declared a waste such that rather easier methods of managing it - or rather safer methods of managing it - could be developed."[2]

The Government is in the process of making a final decision on whether BNFL will be allowed to open its controversial plutonium fuel (MOX) plant at Sellafield. A month ago, FOE published damning research showing that BNFL's MOX plant has a 70% chance of making a loss and failing to generate sufficient income to cover its operating and decommissioning costs. MOX will manufacture plutonium fuel using plutonium separated for BNFL's overseas' customers: it is not a viable or safe option for the management of the UK's growing stockpile of separated plutonium.
Dr Patrick Green, Friends of the Earth's Senior Nuclear Campaigner said:
“Plutonium is a dangerous waste product that represents an enormous economic,environmental and security risk and the nuclear industry has no credible of managing it safely over the long term. RWMAC's credibility will be severely damaged if it doesn't make this clear to Ministers and the public.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] An R&D Strategy for the Disposal of HLW and Spent Fuel, Quantisci, Version 1.0 June 1999
[2] Channel Four 7 PM News, 15 August 1999
{3] Friends of the Earth nuclear campaigners will be attending the Press Launch of RWMACs 19th Report at the Royal Academy of Engineering at 11.00 hrs

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust