Sellafield to close

Sellafield to close

www.world-nuclear-news.org

Sellafield MOX plant to close
03 August 2011

The manufacture of mixed oxide (MOX) nuclear fuel at Sellafield is to stop "at the earliest practical opportunity" to reduce the financial risks to British taxpayers from events in Japan.

(visit the link for the full news article)

At last! Some common sense from the UK Govenment.
I hope they don't just bulid another Nuke plant and invest some money, time and effort to alternative energies.
The UK does seem to be heading in the right direction with announcements that they are opening up massive wind farms off the north east coast and turning part of Hull dock into a "Green Zone" with siemans soon to open up a massive plant making wind turbines.
Maybe some good has come out of the awfull events in Japan ealier this year.

www.world-nuclear-news.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

about time too, that place is a disaster waiting to happen...nice to see some good news for a change, s&f for you

reply to post by BrianDamage


Maybe they could show even more commonsense and scrap the building of New Nuclear powers stations all together. As we have seen from previous, floods and tremors in the UK, it could happen here also, although Scientists have stated it would never happen here.

Never say never is what I say.

Flagged and Starred!

reply to post by AnonymousFem


Couldn't agree more, well said.
Nuclear energy is disgusting, maybe it has potential in the distant future when scientists have found a way to use it without any risks, and without and vile by-products or waste.
To contiinue to use a power that we connot use, or control safely, then it should be left well alone, anything else is beyond irresponsible.

reply to post by BrianDamage


Any closure of a Nuclear plant is good news so a Star and Flag for bringing this up!!!

It being sellafield just makes me even happier!!

reply to post by AnonymousFem


May I ask what the scientists say could never happen here? If it is tsunamis although I would agree these are rare the UK is prone to the equally powerful meteotsunami which has the same destructive power but from a difference origin.

en.wikipedia.org...

Which is why Nuclear power stations like Dungeness do have Tsunami bunds protecting them.. in fact the last meteotsunami to hit Dungeness was in the 1929 although it had a 20ft wave front it fortunately hit at low tide so the death toll was minute compared to what it could have been (the wave front in 1929 ranged from 12 to 20 feet along the Southern coast)

Aside from that they plan for 1 in 10000 year events.. which still in my opinion does not make them slightly safe..

Over the last 150ish years there have been 9 Meteotsunamis in Southern Britain most of which happened in the first half of that period so given how frequently these happen we are almost certainly overdue another large one and now we have nuclear plants at risk.. *shakes head*

The BGS are now classifying the one that hit in June 2011 as a micro MeteoTsunami
www.bgs.ac.uk...

en.wikipedia.org...

Anyway if a Scientist said we are not at risk from a tsunami it means they are lying by omitting to mention meteotsunamis

this isnt good news to the local area its the main employer around here
www.whitehavennews.co.uk...
plus when it closes all the mox fuel is still here because no on is buying itmaking it even more of a possible danger.

reply to post by haven123


I agree!....600 job loses is not nice at all but I think its a price worth paying!
I'm sure most employee's will get a reasonable redundency payment and most will find new employment.....but obviously some of these people will suffer!

reply to post by haven123


There will be a big chance that most of the products will be sold off to the highest bidder........which will be bellow market value!...............
Thats what i'm hoping anyway!

I'm sure they will get rid of the nuclear fuel!

reply to post by haven123


It is a blow to the workers, but i personally would prefer to see job loses through the closure of a nuclear plant than through almost any other circumstances.
The country is going through massive job losses anyway through the result of corrupt bankers etc, at least this is maybe a positive step forward to a safer planet.
As far as the waste left behind, it is a worry, but I'm hopeful that it will be dealt with in as safe a way as possible.

The title is a bit misleading, Sellafield is not closing, in fact they are taking more workers on....how do I know this....because I have just applied for a process worker position.

That plus the government have said the site is to be used for the new genration of reactors AND the site is also being looked at for the new underground repository for which I attend a public meeting to discuss public opinion on the matter.

Sellafield will not close for a very long time, just parts of it are being decommisioned and shut down.

reply to post by woogleuk


Damn, I got excited too soon.

reply to post by woogleuk


i work there mate they are indeed taking more people on mox was just a small part of the plant,didnt no any one from round here was on ats

reply to post by haven123


Aye marra , there is a couple of folks from Whitehaven / Workington on here. Just yan or two like eh! (LMAO)

But yeah, you are right, it is the biggest source of employment round here, and it is safer than a lot of people seem to think. Unfortunatley the word nuclear sparks fear in most who don't understand, and disasters like chernobyl and Fukushima don't help the case.

Employment is bad enough up here as you will know, can't afford to lose it really.

reply to post by thoughtsfull

Stepping on to a transatlantic flight will expose a person to more radiation than walking around the Fukushima nuclear power station in Japan – even in its current state of near-meltdown – according to the UK government's former chief scientist.

Sir David King mounted a robust defence of nuclear power on Wednesday as renewed fears over its dangers buffeted the industry. He said it was the safest form of electricity generation, and that the recovery of most of Japan's nuclear fleet after the worst earthquake in living memory showed that safety systems were working

Sir David King

Oppositions views to this:

However, Tony Juniper, a writer, environmental activist and former director of Friends of the Earth, insists that people's fears about nuclear power are entirely rational - Fukushima being a prime example of why this is the case.

He rejects the notion that nuclear energy is the best way to reduce carbon emissions, insisting that renewables are cheaper and less hazardous.

BBC News

If you want me to post anymore let me know.

reply to post by woogleuk


600 job loses is more than JUST a small department!

Also

Its something that is well worth celebrating!

I didn't realise what a mess this place was!...Thank God(or someother deity) that it is closing!!

Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, welcomed the announcement, saying: "This hopefully marks the long-overdue end of a dangerous and expensive mistake. The MOX plant has cost the public over £1.4 billion yet has produced less fuel in its whole lifetime than it was meant to make every two months.

"The whole idea of shipping hundreds of tonnes of plutonium-rich spent fuel half way round the world from Japan was madness from the start. Just 11kg of plutonium is enough to make a bomb, so to build a whole business on its transport across thousands of miles of sea on lightly-armed civilian ships was a disaster waiting to happen.

Source

reply to post by zerozero00


Something worth celebrating? Tell that to the 600 people that are losing their jobs.

I am in no way pro nuclear, but if you understood the current unemployment situation up here you would realise it is NOT worth celebrating, but hey, if the families of those workers starve and lose their quality of life it's worth it isn't

OK they won't starve, there is always benefits, but after living on benefits for 6 months I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

reply to post by woogleuk


My post a few back addressed the job loss issues!....I totally sympathize with all who lose their jobs and security!!....But looking at that department and weighing up the pro's and con's there is no question this place needs closing!!!

Sorry if some suffer but I see it as a Cesspit!!....I'm celebrating!!

Wow!

Is that it then?

Am I the only one on ATS that thinks this is good news and worthy of celebrating??

Even the OP'er lost heart and seams disinterested in the subject after a poster points out its only a department of sellafield that is closing and not actually sellafield!

£1.4B wasted on this toxic failure and no one gives a damn!

MOX is one seriously nasty piece of chit!....The MOX program is dangerous and unnecessary!!!....FACT!

I'm happy it is closing.....I'm just really suprissed i'm the only one!

Oh btw it is 800 job loses and not 600