Still no Government stamp on nuclear refit plan for Plymouth

PRESS RELEASE

As the first Vanguard class submarine arrived at Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth for refit on Sunday, pressure on the government to stop the work ever going ahead is increasing, with questions over whether the EA have acted legally in their authorisation of this procedure topping the agenda.

Government Minister's are yet to give the official thumbs up to the Environment Agency's authorisation and with questions now being raised in Europe about the legality of the proposal, all eyes are on the Government to make a decision to either stop or allow the work to go ahead.

Since the plans to refit the subs in Plymouth were open to public consultation, SAS have joined residents of Plymouth in a bid to stop the refit work taking place in the city. The refit process will result in a 500% increase in the amount of radioactive waste discharged into the River Tamar. Particular concern surrounds the radioactive substance tritium, a substance that independent scientists believe can be extremely hazardous to health but which government officials consider to be of little significance.

SAS and others have called on the Secretaries of State to instigate a Public Inquiry into the Devonport issue, before the proposal is given the government's seal of approval. Green MEP's have now stepped into the debate, causing the European Commission to launch their own investigation. The MEP's are also looking at whether in allowing these plans to go ahead at Devonport, the UK government would be in breach of the Euratom treaty and the OSPAR Convention.

Vicky Garner of SAS said today;

"We hope the fact that the government are yet to give the official go-ahead is a good sign, we hope that they have taken a serious look at what is being proposed for Plymouth and are seeing how absurd the idea actually is!"

" Not only is the city of Plymouth home to thousands of people, the waters in the area are heavily used for recreational purposes. If the work is allowed to go ahead, in the short term we are likely to see damage done to the tourist industry, in the long term, who knows? If tritium behaves in the way we are being told it behaves, residents of Plymouth could be looking at a large increase in the occurrence of cancers and genetic defects. What sort of government would allow this development to go-ahead without knowing exactly what the consequences could be for residents and visitors to the region? We must have a Public Inquiry."

ENDS

Editors notes

The OSPAR convention commits Britain to working towards reducing marine discharges of radioactivity to zero. In allowing the work to go ahead at Devonport the UK are clearly ignoring this commitment. Efforts are being made to ensure that the Devonport issue will now be on the agenda for the next OSPAR meeting in June.

The Euratom treaty is the framework within which member states conduct their nuclear power programmes. There is some uncertainty about whether the stringent safety and monitoring provisions of the treaty apply equally to emissions arising from military uses of nuclear power. This uncertainty surrounds the issue of justification, an exercise that must take place before any plans for civilian operations are allowed to go ahead but from which military operations are considered exempt (by the UK government). This issue is being followed up by Green MEP Caroline Lucas and through the South West regional office of the Green Party (contact Mike Hannis or David Taylor).

Letters to the Secretaries of State urging them to call a Public Inquiry into this issue are available to download and send from the SAS website - www.sas.org.uk

For more information call Vicky Garner, 01872 553001