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Publicatie Laka-bibliotheek:
THORP

AuteurCORE, P.J.Taylor
Datum
Classificatie 2.05.8.35/04 (GROOT-BRITTANNIË - SELLAFIELD - THORP)
Voorkant

Uit de publicatie:

THE PROJECTED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE THERMAL OXIDE REPROCESSING PLANT (THORP) 
AT SELLAFIELD: AERIAL AND LIQUID DISCHARGES OF RADIOACTIVITY

by
P.J. Taylor Political Ecology Research Group Oxford

INTRODUCTION

The projected discharges to air and to the sea from the THORP operations have been 
given by BNFL and are presented In Table1. (BNFL evidence to House of Commons 
Environment Committee 1985-86). This paper examines these projected discharges 
in the context of the following questions:

1. What is the appropriate international regulatory context for environmental
discharges of radioactivity and how far do the projected discharges meet these 
requirements?
2. What are the projected environmental Impacts to human health, marine biota,
thegeneral environmental and legitimate uses thereof, in particular fisheries and 
tourism?
3. What is the potential for the routine planned emissions to be exceeded by
accident or managerial decisions?

In answering these questions it will be necessary to briefly review the past history 
of Sellafield's discharges and their environmental impacts, as well as the regulatory 
decisions that have been made.

A REVIEW OF THE PAST HISTORY OF DISCHARGES FROM THE SELLAFIELD SITE

In this review we are concerned primarily with those aspects of managerial history 
that are of relevance to the THORP operation. The technology of THORP in the 
1990's is very different from that of the Magnox plant which was designed in the 
1960's and refurbished over the past decade. Furthermore, considerable changes in 
effluent treatment plant resulted from the Windscale Inquiry of 1977 and subsequent 
public and government pressure to limit discharges to the marine environment.

However, the state of the marine environment as a result of the Magnox operations 
is directly relevant. Firstly, the resultant contamination means that THORP will be 
adding to environmental levels that are already far above background and in some 
cases close to the limit of what the regulatory authority considers acceptable. 
Secondly, there is a generalised 'sensitivity' on the part of the public toward 
contamination as a direct result of the past history of the plant and this affects 
perceptions in relation to the safety of seafood and the enjoyment of amenities.

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