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Nuclear dump plan comes under attack
6th May 2003
James Freeman
The Herald
Environmentalists yesterday rejected the option of dumping deadly radioactive nuclear waste offshore in caverns underneath the UK continental shelf, claiming that underground disposal would inevitably result in environmental contamination.
The continuing search for nuclear waste solutions, said Dr Dan Barlow, head of research for Friends of the Earth, Scotland, emphasised the increasing urgency of the dash for renewable energy and the need to stop producing more nuclear waste.
The Scottish Green party, now with seven MSPs, said: "Scotland is in a position to be world leader in terms of renewable energy. Both the Scottish Executive and Labour at Westminster must work to make that a reality."
The party expressed interest, however, in the offshore option.
FoES sees underground dumping, no matter how deep and how well engineered, as carrying a long-term danger.
Greenpeace, whose definitive scientific assessment of the issues is widely recognised by environmentalists and governments, believes there is a fundamental division between its approach and the nuclear industry's approach.
Pete Roache, of Greenpeace, said: "The deep disposal concept is based on the eventual dilution and dispersion of radiation throughout the environment. In other words, it is clear that radioactivity will leak from a deep dump, and will inevitably contaminate the environment."
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