British N-power firm suffers worst leak

Press, 24 April 1979, Page 8

British N-power firm suffers worst leak

[NZPA-Reuter [ British Nuclear Fuels, Ltd, which runs Britain’s atomic power programme, has suffered its biggest leak of radioactive material at its Windscale plant since the company was formed in 1971. a spokesman has said. The State-owned company announced last month that radioactive liquid had leaked into the ground from a disused building at the controversial Windscale plant in north-west England. B.N.F.L, now estimated the radioactivity released at “tens of thousands” of curies, the spokesman said. The ground was contaminated up to 10m from i the building, but the seepage was stopped. There was no danger or ■ harm to the public and ; B.N.F.L. estimated it would take 1500 years for contamination to spread as far !

i; as the edge of the Windscale site, when the liquid would ■ be harmless, he said. But environmentalists asked the Energy Minister (Mr Tony Benn) to publish details of the incident. “Windscale has sprung more leaks than an old watering can — we have lost count of the number,” a spokesman for Friends of the Earth said. In Moscow, the Soviet Union’s top Power Minister has for the first time admitted to “several accidents” at nuclear power stations in his country, including an explosion and a radiation leak, a visiting United States Congressman has said. Congressman Robert Michel told a news conference in Moscow that the disclosure was made in a private meeting on nuclear' power safety on Thursday] with Mr P. Neporozhniy, Soviet Minister of Power and] Electrification, touched off!

)[by the Three Mile Island ac< 1 ] cident. Mr Michel said Russia did > not plan to curtail their conr slruction of nuclear powen i plants despite the past prob- . lems. ! “The Soviets make no ; bones about the fact that ■ they intend to press ahead ■ with their nuclear power : development,” Mr Michel added. Experts said that based on ■ the information which Mr Neporozhniy had provided, : the Soviet accidents had been “serious” ones. The Minister specifically cited two accidents, but did not say when or where they had occurred, as well as a series of fires at unidentified stations. At the time of one of the i accidents, Mr Neporozhniy donned a space suit and [went to the site himself “to Imake certain that the site [was safe,” Mr Michel quoted I the Minister as saying.