|
Sellafield waste 'could cost Norwegian aqua industry billions'
29th April 2003
Bodø, Norway: The head of the environmental organisation Bellona, Frederic Hauge, fears that Norway’s aquaculture industry could miss out on billions of kroner in revenue due to radioactive discharge from the British nuclear power and reprocessing plant Sellafield, the Norwegian website kyst.no reports.
Hauge maintains that the British do not have a good enough argument when they explain how difficult it is to stop leakage from Sellafield, and finds it a disgrace that other countries sources of food could be affected by the pollution.
The disputed discharge came under scrutiny in England last Tuesday, when the conference - arranged by Bellona, Lofoten Against Sellafield and BNFL, the company that operates the plant – opened. Its purpose was to discuss the consequences of leaks of the radioactive substance technetium, which is spread to Norway via sea currents.
In his address, Hauge expressed anxiety for the future on behalf of the Norwegian aquaculture industry. “All the costs the British speak of, that will be incurred in cleaning up discharge, will nonetheless be less than what we fear this spillage could cost the Norwegian aquaculture industry,” he said.
Hauge stressed that the idea was not to close down the plant, but for plant waste to be stored or purified.
”Not dangerous”
BNFL’s head of health, environment and safety, John Clarke, told the Norwegian tabloid Sunnmørsposten that the last thing BNFL wants to do is destroy the Norwegian environment or industry. “All the scientific evidence shows that the spillage is not dangerous,” he said. “I don’t believe the levels found in seaweed and marine growth are high enough to [be seen as] a health problem for people or other forms of life.”
Clarke did reiterate, however, that they aimed to reduce the spillage as much as possible.
“The idea of storing waste is an old one, and building a new [waste depot] would take a long time and be extremely costly,” he said. “With regard to TPP [ie. using tetraphenylphosphonium bromide to deal with the waste], BNFL has twice requested the British authorities to be allowed to start testing of this process without receiving permission […] There isn’t much more we can do.”
He believes the matter must now be dealt with at a political level in the UK.
Top
|
