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Publicatie Laka-bibliotheek:
Further Public Consultation on the Justification to the Proposed Uranium Commissioning and Operation of the Sellafield MOX Plant. Submission to the Second Round of Consultation

AuteurM.Sadnicki
Datumapril 1998
Classificatie 2.05.0.40/01 (GROOT-BRITTANNIË - PU / MOX / SMP (Sellafield Mox Plant))
Voorkant

Uit de publicatie:

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The Environment Agency (EA) requested further consultation on the Sellafield MOX 
Plant (SMP) on 14 January 1998 (1) Documents made available included a Report by 
the PA Consulting Group (PA), (2) assessing BNFL's economic case for the Sellafield 
MOX Plant. This paper is primarily an assessment of the P A Report, although where 
relevant, wider comments are also included on the overall justification process of the 
SMP, as it has developed to date.

Comments are reviewed below in six Sections:
1. Analysis of MOX demand
2. Analysis of other SMP benefits and economic costs
3. Analysis of SMP detriments
4. Deletion of "Commercial in Confidence" information
5. Further comments on the PA Report
6. Further comments on the justification exercise

The main conclusions of this paper are:

Benefits

1. The P A Report in the public domain is essentially without meaning as a result of
the large number of deletions on the grounds of asserted commercial confidentiality, 
and cannot be regarded as adequate for the purposes of public consultation.
2. There is insufficient contracted demand for the MOX fuel BNFL would produce
and it is not probable that sufficient contracts would arise in the future. It is 
estimated that demand is likely to be in the range 25-60 teHM/year, compared with 
the PA Report's figure of around 120 teHM/year.
3. Even when reprocessing costs are not included, the costs of MOX fuels are likely
to be a factor of several times higher than the price of enriched uranium fuel. In 
addition, the drive for increased fuel bum-up is likely to limit MOX demand even 
further.
4. Failure by the PA Report to explicitly declare calculations of decommissioning
provisions is a particularly serious omission, with implications for Government 
policy on sustainability. There is a need for the EA to demonstrate clearly and 
publicly any expected economic benefits, before any irreversible commissioning is 
sanctioned.
5. Failure of the PA Report to take into account technical evidence with respect to the
increase in plutonium inventories associated with the use of MOX fuel is of particular 
concern, especially as this was emphasised in first-round consultation responses.

(1) Environment Agency, Explanatory memorandum for a further public consultation
on the application by British Nuclear Fuels plc for the commissioning and operation 
of the mixed oxide fuel plant at its Sellafield site in Cumbria, 14 January 1998.
(2) PA Consulting Group, for the Environment Agency, Final Report - Public Domain
Version: Assessment of BNFL 's Economic Case for the Sellafield MOX Plant, 12 
December 1997. There is another version of the PA Report without deletions of 
"Commercial in Confidence" information. Only the EA has seen this. Therefore all 
comments on and references to "the PA Report" which follow in this paper refer by 
necessity to the public domain version.

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