Archived press release

NIREX nailed by top government adviser

31 January 1997

Friends of the Earth's case against Nirex's controversial plans for a "rock characterisation facility" (RCF) has been proved beyond doubt by the release of a letter from Sir John Knill, a senior Government adviser, to the Secretary of State for the Environment, John Gummer. The RCF is the first stage in the construction of a nuclear waste dump at Sellafield.

Sir John's damning indictment of Nirex's flawed science was released today by the Shadow Environment Spokesperson, Michael Meacher MP [1]. Sir John's letter analyses the implications for public safety of a recently leaked Nirex memorandum which questioned the suitability of the Sellafield site as a nuclear dump.

Dr Rachel Western, Senior Nuclear Research Officer at Friends of the Earth, said:

"Nirex's credibility is as fractured as the rock it is investigating. In the light of Sir John's letter, John Gummer must now throw out Nirex's dangerous and flawed plan."

At the RCF Public Inquiry, FOE presented a team of seven leading independent experts who argued that Nirex's plans were fundamentally flawed.[2] They demonstrated that Nirex had insufficient data to proceed with its RCF proposal and warned that unless Nirex conducted ten more years of surface-based research the safety of a future nuclear waste dump could be compromised.

John Gummer's decision on whether to give planning permission for the RCF is imminent.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Government adviser slams Nirex waste plans, Labour Party Media Office, 31 January 1997

2. The witnesses who presented evidence for Friends of the Earth were:

Dr Peter Kokelaar - "The Borrowdale Volcanic Group"
Dr Kokelaar, Reader in Vulcanology at Liverpool University, is an international expert and leading authority on the Borrowdale Volcanic Group of rocks, the BVG.

Professor David Smythe - "The 3-D Structural Geology of the PRZ"
Professor Smythe, Chair of Geophysics at the University of Glasgow, an international expert on seismic investigation rock, was commissioned by Nirex to conduct a 3-D seismic investigation of the rock in which Nirex plan to build the RCF.

Mr George Reeves - "Hydrogeological Investigation Programmes: Best Practice"
Mr Reeves, a member of the RWMAC, is Lecturer in Engineering Geology at Newcastle University. Mr Reeves was involved in the Canadian Underground Research Laboratory programme

Dr Shaun Salmon - "The Hydrogeology of Sellafield"
Dr Salmon is a Senior Hydrogeologist at Aspinwall and Company

Dr Stephen Hencher - "Fracture Flow Modelling"
Dr Hencher, Senior Lecturer in Engineering Geology at the University of Leeds

Dr John Allison - "The RCF: Engineering Issues"
Dr Allison is a partner in the engineering firm of Bullen Consultants

Dr Roy Wogelius - "The RCF: Geochemical Issues"
Dr Wogelius of the University of Manchester considered the geochemical issues associated with the RCF proposal.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust