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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/28 ... kes_again/
Homer Simpson 'nuclear waste spill' panic at nuke sub base!
Almost as bad as dropping a luminous watch in the sea!
By Lewis Page
Posted in Physics, 28th April 2009 15]http://link.brightcove.com/services/pla ... 0944543001[/url]), referring on TV to a "secret" report that "we've obtained", plus leaks of "radioactive liquid", "untreated waste" and "secrets kept" from the local community.
In fact none of the documents involved are classified even to the routine "Restricted" level applied to almost all internal MoD paperwork - two levels below Secret. The very few that even have an MoD header on them are marked "Unclas" - Unclassified. They were all obtained by a standard Freedom of Information Act request submitted, not to the MoD, but to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) - the whole lot can be downloaded from SEPA as indistinct image pdfs here (http://www.sepa.org.uk/about_us/access_ ... lport.aspx).
The three "leaks of liquid radioactive waste" refer, not to some kind of green glowing ooze of the sort routinely released at work by Homer Simpson, but to water]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2001/20014005.htm[/url]) buy or sell a luminous-dial wristwatch containing 10 GigaBecquerels (GBq) of tritium in the UK]http://www.springerlink.com/content/m2213g421885u866/[/url]), emerging in due course at detectable levels in your urine. But you'll be fine.
And yet each of these naval "incidents", less significant than a wristwatch accident, is treated as a big deal by the authorities. Reams of paperwork is generated, both in the Navy and at SEPA. Handling of water with tritium in it - which everyone concerned admits is low-level waste, far less concentrated and dangerous than luminous paint - is upgraded to the highest level of nuclear procedure at Faslane as a result, generating mountains more paperwork, records, improvements and modifications to the base, new barges etc. SEPA issues fatuous statements that - if Faslane were under its jurisdiction, which it is not - the base might be subject to "regulatory action", or even shut down.
That, quite frankly, is insane - but that's the freakish world of nuclear safety for you. This is the reason why nuclear power didn't turn out to be too cheap to meter]http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/01 ... omb_scare/[/url])". Before that it was "UK nuclear accidents blamed on poor safety", "Road crash could set off nuclear blast" etc. etc. way back into time.
Edwards proudly quotes another CND activist, James Cameron, on his website (http://robedwards.typepad.com/about.html)]http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/20 ... page6.html[/url]), and this whole fossil fuel situation is going to need sorting out sooner or later.
Homer Simpson 'nuclear waste spill' panic at nuke sub base!
Almost as bad as dropping a luminous watch in the sea!
By Lewis Page
Posted in Physics, 28th April 2009 15]http://link.brightcove.com/services/pla ... 0944543001[/url]), referring on TV to a "secret" report that "we've obtained", plus leaks of "radioactive liquid", "untreated waste" and "secrets kept" from the local community.
In fact none of the documents involved are classified even to the routine "Restricted" level applied to almost all internal MoD paperwork - two levels below Secret. The very few that even have an MoD header on them are marked "Unclas" - Unclassified. They were all obtained by a standard Freedom of Information Act request submitted, not to the MoD, but to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) - the whole lot can be downloaded from SEPA as indistinct image pdfs here (http://www.sepa.org.uk/about_us/access_ ... lport.aspx).
The three "leaks of liquid radioactive waste" refer, not to some kind of green glowing ooze of the sort routinely released at work by Homer Simpson, but to water]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2001/20014005.htm[/url]) buy or sell a luminous-dial wristwatch containing 10 GigaBecquerels (GBq) of tritium in the UK]http://www.springerlink.com/content/m2213g421885u866/[/url]), emerging in due course at detectable levels in your urine. But you'll be fine.
And yet each of these naval "incidents", less significant than a wristwatch accident, is treated as a big deal by the authorities. Reams of paperwork is generated, both in the Navy and at SEPA. Handling of water with tritium in it - which everyone concerned admits is low-level waste, far less concentrated and dangerous than luminous paint - is upgraded to the highest level of nuclear procedure at Faslane as a result, generating mountains more paperwork, records, improvements and modifications to the base, new barges etc. SEPA issues fatuous statements that - if Faslane were under its jurisdiction, which it is not - the base might be subject to "regulatory action", or even shut down.
That, quite frankly, is insane - but that's the freakish world of nuclear safety for you. This is the reason why nuclear power didn't turn out to be too cheap to meter]http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/01 ... omb_scare/[/url])". Before that it was "UK nuclear accidents blamed on poor safety", "Road crash could set off nuclear blast" etc. etc. way back into time.
Edwards proudly quotes another CND activist, James Cameron, on his website (http://robedwards.typepad.com/about.html)]http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/20 ... page6.html[/url]), and this whole fossil fuel situation is going to need sorting out sooner or later.