SOME of Scotland’s most important fishing grounds could be used to ship tonnes of nuclear fuel from Dounreay, it has emerged.
Papers seen by the Press and Journal show that bosses at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) are considering using ships to shift material known as “exotics” – including highly-enriched uranium.
The body is already under fire for taking 44 tonnes of unirradiated plutonium and highly enriched uranium the length of Scotland by rail.
Now it is firming up proposals to use either rail or the seas around north Scotland to shift another 26 tonnes of fuel, which was used to feed experimental reactors in the 1950s and 1960s.
Last night, opponents criticised the plans, saying the fuel should not be moved from the mothballed Caithness facility at all. But the NDA says it needs to shift the material to Sellafield in Cumbria for reprocessing.
“It will be 30 or 40 journeys over six years, commencing in 2014,” a spokesman said.
“We are considering two options – by rail or by sea.”
He said he could not disclose the rail or sea routes under consideration for “security reasons”. Highland Against Nuclear Transport co-chairman Tor Justad, of Strathpeffer, said the group had “great concerns” over plans to transport more nuclear products from Dounreay.
He said: “We would be opposed to any additional transport because additional transport means additional risk. Accidents, despite what the NDA claims, have happened and will continue to happen.
“We are especially concerned regarding the rail route through the Highlands itself, much which is remote and rural, meaning the emergency services would have difficulty responding to any accident.
“We are equally opposed to sea transport. The waste material should be kept at Dounreay. It is in relative terms a well-managed site and I see no reason why the waste can’t be treated there given there’s going to be low-level waste there for a least 100 years.”
He said the group had concerns over mismanagement at Sellafield and claimed the site could not cope with the waste it had at the moment. Sellafield operator Nuclear Management Partners was accused of a string of management failures in a highly-critical report by accountancy firm KPMG that showed 11 of the biggest projects on-site, including the construction of a storage facility for radioactive sludge, were £2billion over budget.
The train journeys between Dounreay and Sellafield started in December last year, although few details have been released because of security concerns.
It is believed at least one trip takes place every month, with armed guards protecting the convoys.
And with only one line heading south from Thurso, the trains have passed through Inverness and several other Highland communities on their 400-mile journey to Cumbria.
Nuclear fuel, including unirradiated plutonium and highly enriched uranium, is being transported in 55-tonne flasks made mainly of steel. The containers can withstand a drop of nearly 30ft without spillage and a 50mph collision.