UK faces order to clean up ton of nuclear waste

By STEPHEN CASTLE in Brussels

Britain faces an order today to end years of stalling and clean up more than a ton of highly dangerous radioactive waste at Sellafield, in an acutely embarrassing ruling from the European Commission.

The move comes after years of complaints from environmentalists and Ireland's government about pollution from Sellafield, and marks a new tough attitude towards safety standards from Brussels.

The European Commission is expected to order the Government to come up with a comprehensive clean-up plan, possibly as soon as 1 May, then to produce six-monthly progress reports. If the UK fails to comply, it can be taken to the European Court of Justice.

Under the Euratom Treaty, signed by the UK, the commission has the power to order the Government to document and dispose of the highly radioactive store of waste, some of which dates back to the 1950s.

The plutonium and uranium is being stored under water in a series of reinforced concrete ponds known as B30. So dangerous is the site that staff are said to be restricted to one hour's work a day in the vicinity. The material, partly of military origin, has accumulated over the decades and, because of poor record-keeping, was not properly documented.

B30 was built in 1959 to store uranium fuel rods used in military and civil reactors. The fuel was submerged in water to keep it cool and to shield workers from radiation. The pond is now thought to contain 1.3 tons of plutonium.

Today's action marks a victory for the Irish government and for environmental campaigners who have long attacked the UK's wider record on Sellafield, including its lack of reliable records and reluctance to share information.

In June 2001, Dublin protested against the UK under the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic. It has also complained about the plant under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The European Commission says that it is taking the action because it has to apply the same standards to the UK as to the former Soviet nations, such as Lithuania, which will join the EU on 1 May.

The Government says that the legal provisions being used by the commission are designed to stop nations supplying nuclear material to rogue states, rather than being health or environmental measures. Some diplomats believe that the UK is being punished for failing to support the commission's wider political ambitions for greater responsibility over nuclear policy in Europe.

A British official said: "We have been working with the commission for the last 15 years and we want to find a solution. We were very surprised that they have taken this approach. No one has an easy solution. We are not going to be rushed into something that risks safety or environmental concerns."

The European Commission's vice-president, Neil Kinnock, has argued for Britain to be given more time to draw up its plan, but a majority of commissioners back action against London.

"The only question is the timing," said one official.

A commission official said that the UK had been "perfectly aware of the difficulties since the end of the 1980s and has said it was going to propose a solution for more than 10 years. They are clearly not able to ensure transparency and safety to neighbours."

Euratom inspectors were at first kept away from the site, although they were finally given access in 1986, and since 1991 they have been visiting annually. Their reports have documented the continued problems of identifying the contents of B30.


- INDEPENDENT