Sellafield `mess' slammed
The Celtic League in describing the British government's
monitoring of pollution in the Irish Sea as ``an uncoordinated
mess'' have called for urgent independent assessment of the
Sellafield plant.
``It is clear that the pollution from the plant is continuing,
extensive, contaminating both the land, air and marine
environment, entering the food chain and contaminating human and
animals'', say the League.
The accusation comes in light of recent research indicating that
plutonium from Sellafield is now being found in the teeth of
children, with contamination levels higher in children living
near the plant.
Now the League has written to Labour Environment Secretary
Michael Meacher to establish a body to monitor the pollution
coming from Sellafield and rectify ``a quite disgraceful
shortcoming from an environmental point of view which your office
should address''.
According to the League, recent changes in BNFL (Sellafield's
owner) reprocessing operations have altered the composition of
the effluent being pumped into the Irish Sea. An increase in the
levels of Technetium-99, which is known to accumulate in
shellfish, particularly lobsters, means that lobsters are now 92
times as radioactive as they were four years ago. This makes them
30 times over the EU limit for consumption ``after a nuclear
accident''. Technetium-99 is a man-made substance which is a by
product of the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
The League, in assuring people they are not being alarmist, say
that the Irish and Danish governments will highlight the concerns
surrounding Sellafield at the OSPAR talks in Brussels later this
month.
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