06/06/2005 - The Environment
Agency, which regulates the disposal of radioactive
waste from Sellafield, has today (Monday 6
June) served an enforcement notice requiring
the operator to better manage liquid low-level
radioactive waste at the site.
British Nuclear Group Sellafield Limited (BNGSL)
is authorised by the Environment Agency to
discharge wastewater containing low levels
of radioactivity from the Sellafield site
into the Irish Sea.
To make sure that this does not have an unacceptable
impact on the environment or human health,
BNGSL must comply with strict limits and conditions
set out in the authorisation, relating to
the way these discharges are managed.
The Agency issued a new and revised authorisation
to BNGSL in October 2004, which had a stronger
emphasis on minimising the production, and
the discharge to the environment, of radioactive
waste. The new authorisation also requires
BNGSL to demonstrate that its management systems
are sufficient to do this.
"In recent years we’ve seen significant
improvements in some areas at Sellafield.
Radioactive discharges from the site, including
the facilities to which this notice relates,
are already low - radiation doses to the public
are well within legal limits and any risk
to the public is very small," said Environment
Agency Nuclear Regulator Andy Mayall.
"However, BNGSL’s authorisation also
requires it to do all it can to manage and
minimise all its waste discharges. Being in
compliance with limits does not mean that
the company should not be committed to continuous
improvement. Our inspection of parts of the
site in February 2005 indicated that BNGSL
needs to address certain issues if it is to
demonstrate this."
The recent planned inspection of some of
the minor liquid waste facilities at Sellafield
highlighted the need for a number of improvements,
formally set out in today’s enforcement notice.
Among the areas needing improvement are:
The arrangements for minimising the build-up
of solid material in the ‘lagoon’, which is
designed to hold surface water run-off from
the site before it is discharged into the
Irish Sea
The management arrangements that specify
how BNGSL will minimise liquid waste from
Sellafield
The means, such as filtration, that BNGSL
uses to minimise particles in the liquid waste
produced and discharged
Inconsistencies in the way that some discharges
and disposals are measured and reported
Failure to report to the Agency, that liquid
waste discharged from the on-site lagoon contained
a radioactive substance which had not been
noted before
BNGSL will have to produce a plan for addressing
these requirements by 31 August 2005. Once
this has happened, BNGSL will have to carry
out the improvement works that the plan outlines
within a timescale agreed by the Environment
Agency.
Notes
The Environment Agency is the public body
responsible for protecting the environment
and the public through the regulation of radioactive
waste disposal.
Radioactive waste of any kind can only be
disposed of if the disposal is authorised
by the Agency, using its powers under the
Radioactive Substances Act 1993.
The ‘liquid waste’ that BNFL is authorised
to discharge into the Irish Sea consists of
wastewater that contains low-levels of radioactivity.
It originates from a number of different sources
on the site, not only from process plant,
but also from, for example, surface rainwater
run-off.
The radiation exposure of those members of
the public most exposed to Sellafield’s discharges
of liquid radioactive waste was 28 per cent
of the legal limit in 2003.
The recent inspection focused principally
on the more minor liquid waste systems, which
are not the largest contributors to the total
radioactive discharge from the site. For example
the discharge from the lagoon facility contributed
less than one per cent of the total discharge
in 2004.
