Specialists fear large amounts of radioactive waste will one day leak from this site

Apr 22, 2014 18:49 GMT  ·  By
Specialists warn rising sea levels constitute a threat to nuclear waste dump site on the UK's Cumbrian coast
   Specialists warn rising sea levels constitute a threat to nuclear waste dump site on the UK's Cumbrian coast

A recent report issued by the Environment Agency in the United Kingdom says that a nuclear waste dump site in this country is currently threatened by rising sea levels.

In its report, the Environment Agency details that the site in question is the Drigg Low-Level Waste Repository on the Cumbrian coast in North West England, Business Green reports.

It spans over about 110 hectares (roughly 272 acres) and sits at about 5 to 20 meters (approximately 16.5 to 65.5 feet) above sea level, the same source details.

Specialists say that, according to information at hand, about one million cubic meters of radioactive waste has been abandoned at this site by both the civil and military nuclear industry over the past 55 years.

What the Environment Agency in the United Kingdom is now worried about is the fact that, should rising sea levels erode the Cumbrian coast to a significant extent, the Drigg Low-Level Waste Repository is likely to leak some of the nuclear waste it currently accommodates for.

In its report, the Agency further explains that, apart from springing leaks, the dump site could also find itself losing contaminated objects such as tools that were used at nuclear sites across the country and that are now tainted by traces of radioactivity.

Thus, media reports say that what specialists fear is “the potential appearance on the beach and in its accessible surroundings, during the process of erosion, of discrete items carrying a significant burden of radioactivity individually.”

The good news is that, according to the United Kingdom Environment Agency, it will probably be a few hundred, maybe even several thousand years until rising sea levels take their toll on the Drigg Low-Level Waste Repository.

Consequently, specialists urge that the companies in charge of operating this nuclear waste dump site move to remove some 800,000 cubic meters of contaminated material over the next century. They detail that the waste that should first be dealt with is the one originating from nuclear power stations, nuclear submarines, and nuclear weapons.

Interestingly enough, the Environment Agency says that, in light of this new information concerning how rising sea levels will affect the Cumbrian coast, it is doubtful that high officials in the United Kingdom would once again approve the construction of a nuclear waste dump site in this location.

“It is doubtful whether the location of the LLWR [Drigg Low-Level Waste Repository] site would be chosen for a new facility for near-surface radioactive waste disposal if the choice were being made now,” the Agency reportedly wrote in its paper on the matter at hand.