Dounreay is a facility on the north coast of Scotland that was used to develop prototypes of fast breeder reactors and to test submarine reactors. There are five nuclear reactors at Dounreay, three of which are operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority which is a government agency responsible for the development of nuclear fusion. The other two nuclear reactors are operated by the Ministry of Defense. The Dounreay site is being decommission. A low level nuclear waste storage facility is being dug underground to store wastes from the demolition of the Dounreay reactors. The nuclear fuel from the Dounreay reactors is going to be shipped to the Sellafield reprocessing plant in Cumbria on the northeast coast of England.
There have been shipments of fuel from Dounreay to Sellafield via rail and anti-nuclear activists have protested the shipments. Now there is talk of shipping nuclear fuel from Dounreay to Sellafield by sea. There have already been controversial sea shipments of nuclear fuel to Belgium from Dounreay. Sea trials are scheduled later this year to test the concept of shipping to Sellafield. The details of the tests and shipment plans are being kept secret on the grounds of national security.
Critics point out that the sea is rough around Cape Wrath and the west coast of Scotland. People living on the coast along the proposed shipping route have not been consulted about the plan and they have been complaining. The weather in that part of Scotland can be severe and would pose a threat to shipments. An emergency tug boat has been lost in that area so currently there would not be a tug that could go out to rescue a radioactive shipment in trouble.
Dounreay's record of handling nuclear fuel is poor. There have been calls to close public beaches in the area because there are particles of nuclear fuel on the beaches in the area. Authorities say that there is no danger to the public but the public is not convinced. There is a whole bank of nuclear fuel fragments on the seabed off Dounreay.
The question of Scottish independence is also a concern for the shipment plans. There will be a vote held soon by the Scots to see if they want to secede from the United Kingdom. If they do secede, this will complicate the planned shipments. U.K. law says that once fuel is reprocessed, it must be returned to the country of origin. An independent Scotland would have to go through a process of negotiation to arrange for shipments of nuclear fuel to Sellafield in England for reprocessing.
There is a U.K. naval base for nuclear submarines in Faslane, Scotland. If Scotland becomes independent, the status of that base would come into question. Moving the base would be very expensive. There have been calls for the U.K. to declare the naval base to be sovereign U.K. territory in an independent Scotland.
If Scotland achieves independence, it will further complicate an already complicated situation with respect to U.K. nuclear installations in Scotland and the movement of nuclear fuel and nuclear waste from Scotland to England.
Dounreay nuclear research facility:
