PLUTONIUM MISSING AT SELLAFIELD

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WELL, IF IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO STEAL, THEN WHERE IS IT?????????

 

 

nough plutonium for five bombs 'missing' at SellafieldBy Liam McDougallSunday Herald - 28 December 2003http://www.sundayherald.com/print38953ENOUGH plutonium to make five nuclear bombs has gone missing from Sellafieldin Cumbria in the past 12 months, it has been revealed. The official reportwhich lists "materials unaccounted for" at the UK's nuclear sites found that19.1kg of the highly toxic substance was apparently missing from thereprocessing plant.At the Dounreay plant in Caithness, meanwhile, the annual audit recorded asurplus 1.16kg of highly enriched uranium, which can also be used to makenuclear weapons.Spokesmen for each plant were quick to play down the figures, saying theywere estimates and "gave rise to no concern over either the safety orsecurity" of the sites. But independent nuclear experts have expressedconcern.A look back at Sellafield's records reveals that auditors have found largequantities of plutonium regularly unaccounted for. Although the UnitedKingdom Atomic Energy Authority does not have a complete record of itsannual nuclear materials balance on its website, Sellafield was found tohave 5.6kg of plutonium unaccounted for in 2001 and as much as 24.9kg in1999.After the latest figures were revealed, Dr Frank Barnaby, a nuclearconsultant who used to work at the Aldermaston atomic weapons factory inBerkshire, said: "In reprocessing, a small amount of material is bound to belost in the process, but 19kg is a very sig nificant amount of plutonium.The company might say this is not a cause for concern, but if they cannot besure where the plutonium is, how can they say it has not been stolen?"If a terrorist group were to claim it had stolen 5kg of plutonium fromSellafield, the authorities could not say with any certainty that they hadnot taken it. It's a very unsatisfactory situation indeed. This amount ofmaterial could be made into five or six nuclear weapons."John Large, a nuclear engineer who advised the Soviet Union following theKursk submarine disaster, described Sellafield's figure as "a very seriousshortfall"." If it's an accounting lapse, then maybe it never existed in the firstplace, but it's worrying. The inventory controls for plutonium are extremelytight."British Nuclear Fuels [the company that runs Sellafield] needs to be moreaccountable. It cannot simply record that it has a 19kg deficit and simplysay there is no cause for concern. "Dr Dan Barlow, head of research at Friends of the Earth Scotland, also saidhe believed the situation was unsatisfactory."The fact that material such as this is unaccounted for, whether lost or insurplus, is of deep concern. No other industry would be allowed to get awaywith such poor industrial practices. For bomb-grade material to go missingin such large quantities has to be a cause for concern. The question ofwhere this material has gone is one that demands an answer."The latest criticisms of the nuclear industry come after scientists foundthe teeth of children in Northern Ireland were con taminated with plutoniumfrom the Sellafield nuclear plant. The research, published earlier thismonth, found traces of the radio active material in every single milk toothof 3000 children studied.Scientists believe leaks and discharges into the sea have put the materialinto the food chain over recent decades. The day after the research waspublished, British Nuclear Fuels admitted that "lightly radioactivelycontaminated" pipes from Sellafield had been washing up on beaches inNorthern Ireland.Spokesman Alan Hughes said the figures for "unaccounted for" plutonium werenormal."It is impossible to measure absolutely exactly that amount of materialgoing into the plant and the amount coming out because of the changesmaterial undergoes in the process."There is also a degree of uncertainty in the measuring process and somematerial may remain in the internal pipe system. We would expect to see aslightly larger figure at Sellafield than for other reprocessing plantsbecause of the huge amount of material that is put through it each year."When asked how he could be sure no substances had been taken away from theplant, Hughes said the strict security measures employed at Sellafield wouldmake it "virtually impossible" for radioactive material to be stolen.* See also: NucNews Links and Archives (by date) at http://nucnews.net *(Posted for educational and research purposes only, in accordance with Title17 U.S.C. section 107) *