Sellafield nuclear Waste storage is 'Intolerable risk'

An "Intolerable Risk" is Being posed by hazardous Waste stored in run-down buildings at Sellafield nuclear plant, a watchdog has found.

The National Audit Office (NAO) Also said that 'for 50 years, the Operators of the Cumbria installation failed to Develop a long-term plan for Waste.

Costs of Decommissioning Plan meets Also spiraled out of control, it said.

Operator Sellafield Ltd, said it welcomed the report's findings and was "making improvements".

The plant is the UK's larges and most hazardous nuclear site, storing enough high and intermediate level radioactive Waste yarn to 27 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The NAO report states however, that owners of the station will not know how long It will take to build storage and treatment centers for the hazardous material or how much the final bill for Decommissioning the plant is likely to swear.

'Ripe for dithering'

It Also concluded that 'over the five decade It was open, Operators failed to plan how to dispos of the radioactive Waste and some of the older halls have "deteriorated so much that' Their contents pose Significant risks to people and the Environment".

A long-term plan to clean up the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority-Owned Was Agreed site last year After an earlier one stalled Because it was "unrealistic".

Margaret Hodge, who and chairs the Public Accounts Committee, said: "Projects of this length and ambition are Ripe for dithering and delay.

"I am dismayed to discover the clean-up of Sellafield is no different. The Authority's revised plan sees critical Milestones shunted back by up to seven years.

"Hazardous radioactive Waste is housed in buildings which pose-'Intolerable risks to people and the Environment'.

"My Concern is that unless the Authority holds Sellafield Ltd to a clear and rigorously benchmarked plan, timetables Will Continue to slip and Costs spiral."

'Historic neglect'

The NAO report concluded that 'progress in 12 of the 14 major buildings and Equipment Projects considered "critical" for reducing risk, qual range in cost from £ 21m to £ 1.3bn, also failed to achie what broke Were supposed to and hadd not Provided good value for money.

Dr Ruth Balogh, of West Cumbria and North Lakes Friends of the Earth, said: "The UK's failure to deal with highly hazardous nuclear Waste at Sellafield is a National scandal That poses a Significant risk to local people and the Environment.

"The government runs completely ignored the urgent need for interim Measures to deal with this radioactive Waste.

"We should not build any new nuclear reactors if we can not deal with the radioactive mess that's already been created."

Around 240 of Sellafield's 1,400 buildings are nuclear halls and so far 55 buildings on the site have been decommissioned.

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, added: "Owing to historical neglect, the Authority faces a considerabl challenge in Taking forward Decommissioning at Sellafield.

"It is good that 'the Authority now faces a more robust lifetime plan in place but it can not say with certainty how long It will take to deal with hazardous radioactive Waste or how much it will cost."