1mo ago

Sellafield scandal shows nuclear is not safe or green

socialistworker.co.uk

21 comments

My teacup is radioactive, it has a uranium paint from like the 30s
It's also safe to use
So how radioactive is this "Olympic swimming pool" of radioactive water?
- Hmm you might wanna take a look at this video?
  Taking X-rays Using Grandma's Radioactive Dishes
  
  I have been trying so hard to get one of those red fiestaware plates from the right era!!
Okay. Is it worse than coal?
- I believe there is no reason to compare. Different kind of 'teribility', let's say.
  It leaches enough radioactive water into the ground to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool every three years. There is no way to stop the leak until the silo can be emptied, which takes decades.
  Sellafield was formerly known as Windscale. In 1957 it was the site of Britain’s worst nuclear disaster.
- It's not as good as renewables
  
  That was a Neo style dodge like in the Matrix.
  Nuclear is cleaner and safer than coal.
  In fact, a fly ash pond is both radioactive and full of carcinogenic substances.
  
  Okay but those are too efficient so the capitalists wont let us have them in substantial quantity. Pick a worse option.
It leaches enough radioactive water into the ground to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool every three years
That's actually not bad. That's a slow leak that has plenty of time to dilute with the ground water.
Dilution is the solution to pollution.
This is a fearmongering, sensationalist, click baity style article.
- From UK Parliament Committees:
  Sellafield’s race against time: nuclear waste clean-up not going quickly enough, PAC warns
  Report highlights latest picture on delays and cost rises in c.£136bn 100-year nuclear decommissioning project.
  The PAC’s report finds that Sellafield Ltd has missed most of its annual targets for retrieving waste from several buildings on the site, [...] Sellafield Ltd’s underperformance will likely remain extremely hazardous for longer.
  Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “The intolerable risks presented by Sellafield’s ageing infrastructure are truly world-class. When visiting the site, it is impossible not to be struck by the fact that one can be standing in what is surely one of the most hazardous places in the world. This is why we expect Sellafield’s management of its assets, and the delivery of the project to decommission it, to be similarly world-class. Unfortunately, our latest report is interleaved with a number of examples of failure, cost overruns, and continuing safety concerns. Given the tens of billions at stake and the dangers onsite to both the environment and human life, this is simply not good enough.
  Edit: Since in the report they say the witnesses told us that the radioactive particles are “contained” in the soil and do not pose a risk to the public I thought it would be appropriate to say that at least they used brackets. The degradation of soil and groundwater needs to be taken into consideration as well. And let's not forget the impacts on local biodiversity.
  
  Yeah, that's really fearmongery.
  Most of the water that leaks out will be cooling water, which means deuterium mixed with normal water. There may be small amounts of tritium in it, but that's not too worrying either.

21 comments