Letter on radioactive waste

11.02.10

Dear Editor,

The Conservative Council continues to adopt a strategy of denying everything and not letting the cat out the bag when it comes to the incinerator. In spite of this, it is reassuring that they recognise that radioactive waste has no place in a waste burner. Yet, it still doesn’t explain why “radioactive waste” appears with “hazardous waste” on the procurement contract issued by the London Borough of Croydon on behalf of the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP).

Equally, their response is somewhat different to their Liberal Democrat counterparts in Sutton, who are also part of the SLWP. At a recent meeting in Beddington Village, the Lib Dem cabinet member for the Environment was not as forthright with regard to radioactive waste not being part of the mix. When asked about the prospect of radioactive waste from decommissioned nuclear reactors being sent to this new South London site, he simply couldn’t say one way or the other.

One assumes that New Forest District Council also denied any possibility of radioactive waste from nuclear reactors ever ending up at their incinerator in Fawley. Nevertheless, contaminated lubricants and oils from the Sellafield Nuclear facility could now arrive in truckloads as early as the spring.

Influential nuclear lobbying firms, with strong connections with former Labour ministers, are pressing hard to lower the levels of safety for radioactive waste from power stations. For example, presently there are 80,000 tonnes of contaminated or irradiated graphite in the UK. Power and waste companies will instinctively look to dispose of this type of waste in the most profitable way possible, and burning this material is ‘win/win’ as far they are concerned.

What it all boils down to is this: can local people trust the authorities to take decisions that place the health of people before profits?

Yours sincerely

Shasha Khan

Croydon Green Party

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Tags croydon, greenparty