Thursday 5th November
The Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament today called on the Defence Secretary to guarantee that the public's
opinion will be properly heard on the controversial project to cut-up and store
redundant nuclear submarine waste. This call comes following the resignation
of a project advisor, who stated that "the MoD is ignoring its own advisory
group. The integrity of the project, any openness, transparency and
accountability has disappeared" and "I can no longer bear to see tax-payers'
money being spent on it".
Advisor Peter Lanyon, representing NGOs and
their members, resigned from the project's consultation group in protest also at
the sacking of two other advisors Jane Hunt and Bill Thompson. The two academic
specialists in public consultation from Lancaster University's Centre for the
Study of Environmental Change had previously run two public consultations on the
Submarine Decommissioning Project (SDP), previously known as the ISOLUS Project
in 2001 and 2003.
In the 2003 public consultation commissioned by the
Ministry of Defence, respondents were insistent that "the management and storage
of nuclear waste should not take place within a city, in close proximity to
housing, schools and hospitals." [see note 3]
Now there are growing
fears that the government is attempting to ignore public opinion on plans to
make Devonport Dockyard, in central Plymouth, the UK site for storing and
processing radioactive waste from obsolete nuclear powered submarines. The
radioactive waste could potentially be stored for many decades at the site until
a deep-level national waste-store for all nuclear materials is created.
Despite such recommendations, ironically including in the 2001
consultation that "openness and trust should be pursued by the MoD" [see note
4], yet another public consultation is planned. Campaigners are concerned that
unlike previous consultations, which were conducted by Lancaster University, the
MoD has hired a commercial PR company, Green Issues Communications.
CND
campaigners and environmentalists in Plymouth, seen as the most likely site for
the dismantling work, have long warned of the unsuitability of a city-centre
site for this hazardous work. Last Saturday, hundreds demonstrated in Plymouth
under the slogan 'Stop the nuclear dump' (photographs available).
Tony
Staunton, Plymouth CND campaigner and Secretary of Plymouth's Trades Union
Council said: "With a new public consultation the government is desperately
trying to sidestep previous consultations and is ignoring the voices of the
public, and especially the people of Plymouth. With our nearest primary school
just 400 metres from radioactive contamination, there is outrage locally at
Plymouth becoming the national centre for storing nuclear waste from obsolete
submarines. This includes extremely toxic metals and equipment, not just
so-called low level waste. The private owners, Babcock Marine, hope to make
billions in profits from contaminating our city for the next hundred years. It
is an outrage!"
- ends -
- For further information and interviews please contact Ben Soffa, CND's
Press Officer, on 0207 7002350 or 07968 420859.
- The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is one of Europe's biggest
single-issue peace campaigns, with over 35,000 members in the UK. CND campaigns
for the abolition of all nuclear weapons everywhere. www.cnduk.org
- Project ISOLUS, Consultation
on Outline Proposals (CIOP), Final Report to the MoD, CSEC, IEPPP, Lancaster
University, April 2004
- Project ISOLUS Front End
Consultation, Final Report to the MoD CSEC, Lancaster University September,
2001, Recommendation 8
- Plymouth City Council leader Vivien Pengelly, opposes Plymouth becoming a
nuclear dump in the Plymouth Herald.
- CND Briefing, 'Devonport: No to Trident,
No to a nuclear dump'.
- The MoD project is intended to deal with almost 4,500 tonnes of radioactive
waste, as according to a Parliamentary answer,
each submarine contains approximately 83 tonnes of intermediate-level waste and
81 tonnes of low-level waste when it is retired.
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