Children told to stay off radioactive beach*

By Simon Barber
(Filed: 04/09/2006)

UK - A beach near Dounreay power station has become Britain's first
officially acknowledged radioactive public landscape after pieces of
plutonium fuel rods were found there.

Signs warning visitors of the radiation dangers have been posted on the
beach, and last month a potentially carcinogenic 4mm fragment of fuel
rod was found — the latest in a series of discoveries involving
radioactive material.

Signs from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency warn visitors to
Sandside of the dangers of radiation
Scottish Environmental Protection Agency signs warn visitors to Sandside
of the dangers of radiation

These are thought to have come from accidental discharges from Dounreay
over a 30-year period.

The beach, part of the Sandside estate in Reay, north-east Scotland,
used to be a popular destination for locals and visitors. But the area
is now considered such a risk that the Scottish Environmental Protection
Agency is advising people not to take children on the sands.

"It used to teem with life — people came here from all over," said
Geoffrey Minter, 62, who bought the estate in 1990. "Now you hardly see
anyone. When I came here, I thought I'd realised a dream.

"There's a beautiful golf course looking out over the bay, and some
excellent wild salmon fishing. Nobody knew about contamination then."

One day in 1997, Mr Minter was informed that the beach had been fenced
off after routine monitoring by Dounreay's inspectors uncovered a
radioactive particle.

Managers from the plant assured him that the event was a one-off. But
since then, 66 more particles have been found. The latest comes from
rods that Dounreay's workers call "bone seekers". They pose a danger to
anyone who comes in contact with them.

Mr Minter has carried out his own investigations and says he has
uncovered numerous cases of incompetence and errors, including serious
accidents covered up by the Official Secrets Act. Faced with the
evidence of their own records, the plant's managers admitted that the
particles on the beach probably came from accidental releases. They said
that, over the years, tens of thousands of irradiated particles could
have been spread over the local coastline.

Mr Minter initiated legal proceedings against the plant for damaging the
environment and in 2003 a judicial review found that the plant had
failed in its duty of care by contaminating the landscape. Dounreay then
began regular monitoring.

Two weeks ago, talks between the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA),
which runs Dounreay, and Mr Minter over how to deal with the
contamination broke down. In a statement, the UKAEA said: "We wanted to
ensure that we could find a fair, reasonable and documentable resolution
to this issue. Unfortunately, despite every effort, it has not been
possible to achieve this."

Mr Minter says UKAEA officials now want him to sell Sandside beach to
them. He believes that under the 1965 Nuclear Installations Act,
Dounreay would not be at legal risk from contaminating its own land.

He says he is not interested in selling the beach, and wants the UKAEA
to commit to returning the landscape to its original condition and to
keeping it clean and safe.

Last month, the plant was fined £2 million over a radioactive spillage
last year, and the past decade has seen a series of well-documented
safety failures at Dounreay.

These include the loss of 375lb (170kg) of weapons-grade uranium, enough
to make several bombs, as well as serious contamination of employees.

Herbie Lyall, 74, who worked as an inspector at the plant for many
years, cites errors, accidents and bad procedure, including claims that
workers commonly disposed of radioactive material in the sea at night to
avoid having it appear on official documents.

"I once saw a man taking test samples using a Wellington boot tied to a
piece of string because the proper equipment had rusted," he said. "It
was like a Laurel and Hardy film."

His accusations have been denied by the UKAEA, although the agency said:
"There were practices from the 1950s to the 1960s that we would not
repeat today. Standards have risen in health and safety and
environmental protection, and government legislation has also been
tightened considerably."

The Dounreay reactor is now decommissioned, and the plant's personnel
are mostly occupied with cleaning the site. This will cost £2.6 billion
and take until 2036.

Mr Minter said: "Some of the plutonium particles lying on the sea bed
have a half-life of 300 years. I want to ensure that future generations
can enjoy the beach in safety and that they won't look back at us and
ask why we did nothing while this beautiful landscape was being polluted."