Cumbria, UK: Nuclear waste dump mineshaft fracking mess!

Welcome to Cumbria, also known as the Lake District, my home.

It is situated in the North West of England, and is the last place before Scotland.



It is one of the world’s most beautiful natural places.

Cumbria is predominantly rural and contains the Lake District and Lake District National Park, considered one of England's most outstanding areas of natural beauty, serving as inspiration for artists, writers, and musicians. Much of Cumbria is mountainous, and it contains every peak in England over 900 metres (3,000 ft) above sea level, with Scafell Pike at 978 metres (3,209 ft) being the highest point of England. An upland, coastal, and rural area, Cumbria's history is characterised by invasions, migration, and settlement, as well as battles and skirmishes between the English and Scottish. Historic sites in Cumbria include Carlisle Castle, Furness Abbey, and Hadrian's Wall.

This is Sellafield:

Possibly one of the largest nuclear dumps (reprocessing and power) in the world, these are the guys that supplied Fukushima with their crap, and was the site of the UK atomic bomb project.
It was also the place of one the first large nuclear disasters in the world (Google Windscale fire, 1957)
Sellafield is located about 20 miles south of me, still in Cumbria, on the west coast.
Although in the process of decommissioning, Sellafield is still taking in waste from all over the UK, and the world.


This is a mine:

Ok, this one is from the 19th century, but there are lots more like it, some older, some more modern.
Cumbria is sat upon hundreds of mine shafts, and quite often they collapse:

Shock and ore: Mine shaft collapse leaves 75ft-wide crater in back gardens forcing families to flee their homes
• Eight houses were forced to be evacuated after hole opened up in Cumbria
• Worker had to be rescued as he was harnessed to drilling rig which fell into hole while it was being used to cap the former iron ore mine with concrete

So, keep this in mind, the ground round these parts isn’t all that stable to begin with, and some of those shafts are filled with seawater.


The important part:

The UK government has decided, despite local protest, to build an underground nuclear repository for all the UKs nuclear waste, and probably more from around the world.

It is probably going to be the largest of its kind on the planet, and guess where they are considering building it…..

Yep, near the existing Sellafield site.

Nuclear waste disposal: Where in Cumbria to bury it?

Arguments over nuclear waste disposal have been raging for decades, especially in Cumbria where the search continues for a site suitable for storing waste for tens of thousands of years.
Nuclear and scientific experts disagree about geological issues and, combined with Cumbrian public concerns at having an underground repository for nuclear waste, the dilemma continues.
Cumbria has volunteered to consider housing waste in the county - and nationally, it is currently the only option.
But experts say the way in which site selection is being carried out is wrong.

Britain needs to find a site for long-term underground storage for high level nuclear waste, as some of the spent fuel from the Sellafield nuclear plant will remain dangerous for up to 100,000 years.

That isn’t the best part of the story though…oh not by a long shot.

We all are now familiar with fracking, the process of shale gas extraction, and the effect it has on the geological stability of an area….well guess what!!

Fears Cumbria could be site for ‘fracking’

Concern is growing about the possibility that Cumbria could be a possible site for the controversial underground gas extraction technique called fracking.
The Government last week gave the go-ahead for a firm to resume the hydraulic fracturing technique, which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals under high pressure into deep boreholes to force out shale gas.
Despite worries about the environmental impact, Energy Secretary Ed Davey has said the gas was a promising and secure potential future energy source for the UK.
Boreholes have already been drilled at a potential extraction site near Canonbie, north of Carlisle, and the Government has identified areas near Silloth and in west Cumbria as possible locations for shale gas extraction licences.

So ok, nuke dumps and unstable mineshafts out of the way, what about potential Earthquakes? The UK isn’t exactly known for its big Earth movers, but bear in mind, this repository may have to hold material for thousands of years…..

11-08-1786 – 5.0 (Whitehaven, Cumbria)
17-03-1871 – 4.9 (Appleby, Cumbria)
07-06-1931 – 6.1 (Dogger Bank, not far from Cumbria)
11-02-1944 – 4.8 (Skipton, Yorkshire, not far from Cumbria)
28 April 2009 3.7 (Ulverston, Cumbria)

I’ll stop there, there are more before and after, but my point is, as small as they are, and as infrequent, England still has a ton of fault lines running underneath it, and what effect will fracking have on them?

So in conclusion, World’s largest (possibly) underground nuclear dump + mine shafts + Earthquakes + fracking, all in the same rough area? Is there a good reason for me, and the world to be paranoid?

I’m going to bed, been up all night, I’ll respond when I wake up, thanks for reading.

reply to post by woogleuk


What an absolutely insane idea. I was just about to mention earthquakes but you got there already...it's a risk, even though a relatively small one perhaps. And imagine the mess that would make...very scary prospect.

I was wondering why Cumbria, but I'm a bit cynical about the governments motives in choosing locations for disasters such as this. It's the last place before Scotland right enough...weird they didn't actually think to put it IN Scotland, but maybe they suspect we're going to be totally independent at some point soon and wouldn't tolerate their crap any more. So Cumbria is the last place they can go without crossing the border, and the furthest from London if anything goes wrong.

What an Absolute Disgrace - Such a Beautiful Place. This Pristine Paradise is going to be destroyed to line the pockets of Greedy Mega-Corporate CEO's.

The Politicians will get a slap on the back, and a Hefty Pay off.

Just goes to show that Governments don't work for the People.

Voting is Useless - They are all Puppets for the Corporate Elite

It is a great post and highlights the 'short-term ism' that pollutes our political classes and some businesses.

I used to visit the area regularly when I could and enjoyed the fantastic scenery and long walks with my dog (when he was alive)......

It beggars belief how the decisions being made about the area are allowed but I think you will find it is all to do with low population densities.....

If anything goes wrong then it will affect less people than than if the waste was say, near Manchester or Slough.....

Complete political BS and its irrelevant which party is in power, their "advisors" will claim it is the least risky option.....

Good luck

PDUK

reply to post by caitlinfae


It seems low risk until you factor in all the water here in the "lake" district (granted, only one of them is actually a natural lake), the fracking and everything else. I can't help think it is the next potential world disaster.


reply to post by Pedro4077


Thanks, yes, it is a beautiful place, sadly most of the country thinks England ends round about Birmingham, everything else is just full of dragons and wild humans.

The North has always got the shaft, just look at the Thatcher years and all the mines that she closed up here.


reply to post by PurpleDog UK


The problem is PDUK, personally I don't believe it would affect less people.

Places like Manchester get some of their water from up here.

Cumbria is a wet place, if something goes wrong, and something nasty gets into the water table, it could affect millions, perhaps billions depending on the nature of any catastrophe.....there is an unbelievable amount of radioactive waste involved. I think Ireland have kicked up a bit of a stink about it, given they are just across the Solway Firth, in the line of any leak getting into the ocean.

As for the advisers, that is the worst part, some of the top advisers (I think this is mentioned in one of the links I posted) have been sacked for raising similar concerns to mine on the issue.

Geologically, this is the worst place.

I think the Government is looking for a quick fix, as well as a financially viable one.

Thanks for your replies guys, suffering from the man flu here, so in and out of bed, sorry for slow replies.

Excellent put together thread S&F for You!

I live in England (County Durham) and Visit the Lake distric a couple of times every year camping at Pooley Bridge near Lake Ulswater. amazing place and would love to live there (maybe not so much now )
This is something i wasn't aware of, i no of sellafield (seen it from afar) but cant believe they are even entertaining the idea of a nuclear waste dump or fracking in the Cumbria area!
like you said its 1 of the most beautiful and peaceful parts of England and they are going to put it a risk plain and simple.

reply to post by christafinias


I attended the public debate for it a few years back (the repository), I even created a thread on here for some help with questions from fellow ATS'ers.

Everybody was against it, but it is now apparent it was for nothing more than to show that they involved members of the public and they were obviously going to go ahead with it anyway.

As much as I objected, I was starting to get used to the idea (not like I, or my fellow Cumbrians could do much about it anyway).......then this fracking nonsense started.

I wonder what the excuse will be when Cumbria becomes the next Chernobyl/Fukushima. (oh wait, there was that 1957 thing no-one seems to talk about )

Thanks for the reply.

They won't stop until they've destroyed the entire planet and everything on it in their search for more profits.

This is so sad for one of the most beautiful parts of England , if not THE most beautiful part !

I constantly argue with my other half about the fracking recently given the go-ahead again - would I be right in thinking the main areas for extraction are all around the Pennines ? If so , the other word associated with Pennine is 'fault', in my mind anyways. How far away are you from the Pennine fault ? From the explanation below it looks to be smack bang in the middle !

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by slidingdoor


This is the best I can answer your question I am afraid.....

The green area roughly covers Carlisle, this is the supposed size of the underground dump, wherever they put it (over 10km!!)


The small red dot is the current location of a lot of the waste at Sellafield.

Absolutely shocking!

I have read about a new storage facility, but had no idea it was going to be this big, its a massive disaster just waiting to happen in my opinion.

I live over the Pennines in the north east, and regularly make the short drive over for weekends to the lakes, me and my wife have been to many places all over the world, and struggle to name anywhere as serene and naturally beautiful as the Lake District.

reply to post by woogleuk


I don't really want to believe what I'm reading...the green dot is 10 miles square, is that right? And that's the size of the dump they're planning to build in the Lake District? Ten square miles of nuclear waste buried under the Lakes. And then they start fracking. I really do think they want to kill us all. This is mental.

reply to post by woogleuk


Woogleuk , that answers my question very well and makes me even more sad and worried too ! There are so many faults there in that vicinity, and , what's to say the 'Stublick' fault for example doesn't extend further West than originally thought ?

It's maps like the one you've just posted which should be distributed locally to form an action group. Many may not even be aware of this risk .

reply to post by woogleuk


Wow!

That is insane, I am all for nuclear power, just so long as they can do it safely and so far I can’t see them doing a very good job.

S&F dude, good thread.

reply to post by ukmicky1980


It's the size that amazes me, how will the people living above it feel knowing that is below them?

Why so big?

I have a feeling the Government are going to try and "boost the economy" by taking in even more waste from other countries than they already do.


reply to post by caitlinfae


10km going of that basic fault map I posted.

I am unsure of the exact size, but the local paper claimed the size of Carlisle.

The repository would be between 200 and 1,000 metres below ground and could range from 6km sq (about the size of Sellafield), to 23km sq (as big as the city of Carlisle);

Rock excavation would be similar in scale to the Channel Tunnel, which involved the removal of 13 million cubic metres of material;

Construction and operation costs are estimated at between £12bn and £20bn;

Source


reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


Thanks dude.

Sellafield has a long history of problems, there is an extensive list from 1950 - 1996, however it is in PDF format, I'll post as far back as 1990 and you will get the idea. From 1996 onwards there have been other deaths on the site, and even body parts discovered! :

Nuclear reprocessing accidents at Sellafield

1950 - 1996
The following accidents and incidents resulting in worker contamination or
over-exposure in Sellafield’s reprocessing plants have been reported since
1950.

1997:
Six workers contaminated in B205 (Magnox reprocessing plant)
(February).
Contamination of external concreted area B205; worker contamination
(February)
Worker contamination above site level in Magnox plutonium finishing plant
(March).
Worker contamination above site level in Chemical Separation plant (April)
Worker exposure above site investigation level, fuel finishing plant (July).

1996:
Abnormal exposure to 2 workers in fuel finishing plant above site
investigation level (January).
Worker contamination in THORP product finishing line (August).

1995:
Worker contamination in chemical separation area (July).

1994:
Spillage of liquor in Magnox waste handling facility. Process worker
received skin contamination (June).

1993:
Worker suspected uptake of radioactivity in plutonium finishing plant
(August).
Worker exceeded annual dose to bone surface after cut in arm at
plutonium finishing plant (February).
Worker in chemical separation area contaminated by arm cut (March).

1990:
Worker contaminated in chemical separation area handling contaminated
sample bottles after incorrect disposal (April).
Radiation exposure to worker who discovered sample bottle of active
liquor in reprocessing plant (November).

Source

Being from the very area woogle is from we all got a booklet through the door about the waste dump i cant find it but here's a site (propaganda) about it and no matter what it says us locals never got a say on it (at least were i live) www.westcumbriamrws.org.uk...


heres what the guardian thinks of sellafield www.guardian.co.uk...


it also used to be called windscale heres a vid about a accident that took place there

reply to post by haven123


I was wondering how long it would take for you to chime in marra!

I attended one of the seminars by that lot a few year back, not one member of the public at the meeting supported the idea..

Like I said earlier though, they only hosted them to show they had.

Cheers for the vid.

Edit: Hmmm, it was January of 2011 I attended that meeting, seems much longer ago.....here is the thread....

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I wouldn't worry about it too much the US spent 25 years and BILLIONS building Yucca Flats and walked away. Just get a job there and you will be able to retire from the government.

Cheers Haven123 for this link, shows what we are dealing with here in West Cumbria at the moment with Sellafield alone, well worth a read:

Sellafield: the most hazardous place in Europe

Building B30 is a large, stained, concrete edifice that stands at the centre of Sellafield, Britain's sprawling nuclear processing plant in Cumbria. Surrounded by a three-metre-high fence that is topped with razor wire, encased in scaffolding and riddled with a maze of sagging pipes and cabling, it would never be a contender to win an architectural prize.

Yet B30 has a powerful claim to fame, albeit a disturbing one. "It is the most hazardous industrial building in western Europe," according to George Beveridge, Sellafield's deputy managing director.

Nor is it hard to understand why the building possesses such a fearsome reputation. Piles of old nuclear reactor parts and decaying fuel rods, much of them of unknown provenance and age, line the murky, radioactive waters of the cooling pond in the centre of B30. Down there, pieces of contaminated metal have dissolved into sludge that emits heavy and potentially lethal doses of radiation.

You must remember many of these nutcases don't believe the human race will be around for much longer. So the don't give a toss anymore.

These people are polluting the places where they are not going to be. You dont see them dumping this crap in equador near the bushes new residence.