Leak at Sellafield Raises Doubts Over N-Power

Leak at Sellafield Raises Doubts Over N-Power - Minister

Jun 13 - Scotsman, The

A LEAK of nuclear fluid at the Sellafield plant has cast uncertainty over the future direction of nuclear power, a senior Cabinet minister has said.

The disclosure comes as Sellafield's managing director, Barry Snelson, yesterday admitted that the leak of 83,000 litres of spent radioactive fuel at the site's Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) could close that part of the Cumbria complex for up to eight months.

Alan Johnson, the new Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, said the investigation into the leak - caused by a fractured pipe - will be "very important" in ministers' decisions over what might replace the nation's ageing nuclear reactors. While Tony Blair has called for a debate on nuclear energy as part of a policy review over climate change, Mr Johnson warned that pushing the nuclear power option could prove a "diversion" from renewable and efficient energy.

"We have to wait for the report [on the Sellafield leak] but it's one of the issues that militates against rushing too far down the road," Mr Johnson said.

He also dismissed speculation that the government would publish a White Paper on nuclear energy which could pave the way for new plants, and said the questions that must be asked in any decision were: "What do you do with the waste, is it affordable and who is actually going to build these new nuclear power stations?"

It would be "extraordinary" if he were to rush into a decision a month into his new job "which is why the priorities must still be renewables", he said.

Nuclear power currently provides just over 20 per cent of UK electricity requirements. Scotland produces 40 per cent of its power from nuclear plants. The Hunterston B plant in Ayrshire comes to the end of its life in 2011 and several other UK plants are due for closure.

The Executive has a target of producing 18 per cent of power from renewable sources by 2010. Nuclear power is seen by Tony Blair as a way of cutting Britain's carbon emissions.

New nuclear stations are required to avoid Britain becoming reliant on imported power, the pro-nuclear lobby has said. New stations take about a decade to build and come on line. Scotland would be seen as a possible location for any such new station.

Ministers are expecting the details of a report within weeks from the Nuclear Inspections Directorate into the leak at the Thorp plant, which occurred over nine months and was discovered in April.

Mr Snelson said the incident was a "stumble, not a fall" and no staff were contaminated. However, safety regulators could bring charges over the failure to pick up the discharge.

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