SCIENTISTS SAY GOVERNMENT'S MOX GO-AHEAD 'IRRATIONAL'

Web version of a press release issued on 16th November 2001 by SGR

Despite the November 15th decision by a High Court judge that the Government's decision to allow the Sellafield Mox plant to begin operation was not unlawful, Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR[1]) still believes that the plant should be retired.

Given that the orders required to keep the plant in operation have not even been secured from the main intended customer (Japan), the go-ahead makes no sense.

The plant will increase the risk of nuclear terrorism by the transportation of plutonium fuel around the globe. The huge costs of a potential nuclear disaster by terrorism[2] or accident are not accounted for in the running of the plant, thus papering over a liability that could destroy the industry in an instant and deeply damage the economies of the rest of the world.

Selective accounting has made the Mox reprocessing plant appear viable. Simply put, it is irrational to allow the plant to begin operation and SGR calls for the Government to acknowledge the true cost of nuclear waste reprocessing.

Notes:

[1] Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) is an independent UK organisation of scientists committed to the ethical use of science and technology. SGR, PO Box 473, Folkestone, CT20 1GS, UK. Tel 07771 883696. Email: info@sgr.org.uk, website http://www.sgr.org.uk

[2] See previous SGR press release 'Could Terrorists turn the UK into a Nuclear Wasteland?'.