Nearly 2 kilograms of uranium missing the Dounreay reprocessing plant
in Scotland is still unaccounted for after a three-month search, says the
UK Atomic Energy Authority.
A 鈥榣oss鈥� of over 10 kilograms of uranium was reported after a routine
inspection last December, but about 8 kilograms of that is now known to
have been discharged as waste (This Week, 1 February). While inspectors
hunted for the missing material, the reprocessing line has been shut
down, and it has been flushed out to check how much uranium was lodged in
pipework and vessels.
This latest news of nuclear 鈥榤aterial unaccounted for鈥� at Dounreay emerged
as the Department of Energy released similar details for all the country鈥檚
civil nuclear sites.
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The announcement coincided with a statement from the European Commission
that amounts to an official rap over the knuckles for the UKAEA. The Commission
accepts that none of the enriched uranium has been stolen, but has told
the UKAEA that it cannot reopen the reprocessing line until Euratom inspectors
are satisified that record keeping and management at Dounreay are up to
scratch. The UKAEA says it will modify the plant so that it 鈥榝ully satisfies
the relevant authorities鈥�.
Meanwhile, the authority has another problem at Dounreay. The beleaguered
fast reactor has been shut down since the middle of last year because of
technical problems with one of the main cooling pumps. The Nuclear Installations
Inspectorate is refusing to allow the reactor to start up again until the
UKAEA has checked that filters beneath the pump have not been damaged. This
will add to the delay and the cost of bringing the fast reactor back on
stream.
The energy secretary, John Wakeham, is considering a plea from the chairmen
of Britain鈥檚 biggest nuclear companies to keep the reactor running beyond
1993, when it is due to close down for good.
