Umweltverbrechen multinationaler Konzerne - Greenpeace

British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (United Kingdom)
Company, Seat Sellafield Site 175
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd
Head Office: Hinton House
Risley
Warrington, Cheshire WA3 6AS
United Kingdom
Chief Executive Officer: Norman Askew
Telephone: +44-1925- 832000
Fax: +44-1925- 822711
Email: enquiries@bnfl.com
In financial year 2000 BNFL made a los of 337 miilon uk pounds
before
tax.
BNFL estimated their total undiscounted nuclear liabilities at 27.1
billion pounds. 176
Location of damage On site, across European waters (Irish Sea, North Sea, into Arctic
waters and as far east as the German Bight) and atmosphere,
coastal nations globally.
Activity Reprocessing spent nuclear fuel to obtain plutonium
Producing plutonium MOX fuel
Shipping weapons-usable plutonium around the globe
Failure category Accident > explosion, fire, spill:
In 1957 a fire involved three tonnes of uranium burning in one of
the site's two plutonium production facilities ("piles"), releasing
radiation into the atmosphere. There were two main releases,
firstly as a direct result of the fire, secondly when the core was
sprayed with water which flashed into highly contaminated
steam. The main radioactive cloud from the Windscale fire
travelled south east across most of England and on over Europe.
Radiation dose rates within the site and in the surrounding area
greatly exceeded dose limits yet the operator (then the UKAEA)
decided against evacuation. Both piles were closed and the
undamaged fuel removed. Pile No.1 still contains around 22
tonnes of melted and partly-burned nuclear fuel. The
decommissioning of both piles began in 1987 and continues
today.
The first reprocessing plant at Sellafield (B-204) began operating in
1951 and produced plutonium for the United Kingdom’s nuclear
weapons programme. It was shut in 1964 and converted to a “prehandling“
facility for the new, larger reprocessing plant (B-205) and
operated in the mode between 1969 and 1972. In 1972 B-204 was
temporarily closed while repairs were been conducted in B-205. On
the restart of B-204 in 1973, a chemical reaction occurred followed
by an explosion releasing a cloud of radioactive gas. The entire plant
was contaminated and was permanently closed as a result.
175 Formerly known as “Windscale” and operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), following a
series of problems the name was changed to Sellafield as a public relations exercise.
176 BNFL at a glance -- Greenpeace UK, Canonbury Villas, London N1, 2PN, 2001
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