Greenpeace Submission to the Public Consultation on Sellafield discharges, March 1998Environment Agency 16 March 1998 Dear------------, Public Consultation on the Applications by BNFL PLC for Variations to the Certificates of Authorisation for the Disposal of Waste Gases, Mists and Dusts and for the Disposal of Low Level Liquid Wastes from the Company's Sellafield Site. Greenpeace's submission to the above consultation is enclosed. Greenpeace is opposed to the granting of these Variations to the Certificates of Authorisation. The proposed authorisations would allow: · A relaxation of controls on discharges from the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP), allowing higher discharges at lower throughputs of spent nuclear fuel. · Significant increases in discharges of radioactive gases from the site, and hence in the doses of radioactivity associated with these. · The continued discharge of radioactive liquids to sea, despite widespread public and international concern. The applications require a "call in" by the Secretary of State as a matter for his own determination. They raise issues of national and international importance, which cannot be properly addressed by the regulator alone. BNFL has failed to comply and/or to demonstrate compliance with the radiological principles of justification, optimisation and dose limitation. The international legal obligation, under the OSPAR Convention, to apply to Best Available Techniques to reduce and eliminate pollution has also not been met. Greenpeace submits that the continued operation of THORP is unjustifiable, and that continued operation of the Magnox reprocessing line is inconsistent with current standards for the prevention of environmental pollution. Yours sincerely,
Dr Helen Wallace
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