Last Friday the discharges of Tc-99, and possible cleansing methods, was discussed during a conference in Lonodn, organised by the Bellona Foundation, and Norwegian NGO Lofoten against Sellafield. The results of the TPP testing obtained thus far show that 95 percent of radioactive Tc-99 is cleansed from the facility’s discharges into the Irish Sea. A final decision on the long-term application of the TPP process will be made this spring.

The definitive answer will come when the analyses of the test TPP treatments are completed in March or April, but signals from the Britain's Environment Agency, or EA, are solely positive. In Bellona’s opinion there is a reason to be very optimistic.

The dumping of Tc-99, from Sellafield's nuclear reprocessing plant has caused frustration and outrage in Norway. The discharges in recent years have led to a dramatic increase of Tc-99 among Norwegian coastal sea products such as lobster and seaweed. Tc-99 has also been measured in the Barents Sea as far north as the Arctic island of Spitsbergen.

Sellafield's liquid radioactive waste is stored in an onshore holding tank. Until last spring, the contents of the tank—which were cleansed of almost all toxic substances except for Tc-99—were being slowly dumped by portions into the Irish Sea three times a year, with the goal of emptying the tank completely by 2007.

‘A Success so far-but still no Champaign’
The high expectations for the experimental TPP treatment were founded on a presentation at the conference by Andrew Mayall, Sellafield Team Coordinator, who spoke of “The Environment Agency's regulation of Tc-99 at Sellafield and an update on the TPP trial.”

He catalogued the EA’s working sphere and Sellafield’s recent discharge history. Mayall has previously referred to early results of the TPP cleansing trial as “promising.”

Mayall said that TPP trials seemed to clean Tc-99 in a satisfactory way, and that they had not experienced any obstacles or failures during the processing. He referred to the cleansing level as “significant,” but he also urged the supporters of the process to wait to uncork the Champaign until the final results of the testing come in March or April.

”We are reasonably sure that the conclusion will be that the cleansing of technetium-99 or the TPP process will be taken into use,” said an optimistic Frederic Hauge, the president of The Bellona Foundation.

”In 2003, the total discharge from Sellafield a level of 35TBq to 34TBq was released before the dumping moratorium was put into force. During the test period 34TBq are cleansed down to 1TBq. This means that the cleaning efficiency is 97.5 percent. This means that the total amount of Tc-99 which will be released form the tanks the coming years, could be reduced form an projected amount of 240 TBq to about 6 TBq,” Hauge said.

Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Environment, was optimistic and glad that the TPP process seemed to be successful

Hanne Bakke/Bellona

The conference began with a "Song from the North,” sung by Johs. Røde from Lofoten mot Sellafield. He told the participants about life in the far north, where summer can come and go over the course of a weekend.

Børge Brende described the process of beginning start the cleansing trials and underscored that Friday’s meeting boasted significantly higher results did the April 2003 meeting. He said that the reason for the active Norwegian engagement in this matter was that the radioactive waste is quickly spread by currents to the Norwegian coast, and many values for Tc-99 were measured as far away from Sellafield as in the Barents Sea.

“This has impact on us Norway as a coastal nation and represents a big problem among others in the industry which harvest seaweed for the production of extracts to be used in cosmetic products and as admixture in food. This is today a NOK 1 billion, and is projected to be a 20 billion NOK industry.

Brende reiterated that the argument in 1994 to begin the Tc-99-containing discharges from Sellafield was that Tc-99 would effectively dissolve in the sea water and that the environmental impact would be insignificant.

But we see now that Tc-99 accumulates and we measure Becquerel levels in seaweed and lobsters nearing the permitted limits. This is very damaging for export industries because it naturally creates concern among customers about the purity of sea food products.

”When you live off the sea, you will not be especially happy if other countries dump their garbage into the sea to solve a problem,” Brende said. “We do not know the long term consequences of this either.”

Frustration and bureaucracy
Brende also described his frustration over the argument he met when the TPP method was proposed—namely that there was a danger of a leakage from an onshore repository in 5,000 or 50,000 years. Indeed, the on shore leakage, if measured against what is dumped into the sea would be less significant comparison.

”This argument struck me then as absurd,” Brende said. ”In addition, there was a forest for bureaucracy which blocked our road before we could move anywhere—and it was me who thought Norway was bureaucratic.”

The minister also said that he was informed that the trial TPP cleansing had, so far, been a big success.

”We are very glad the trials went well. The decision to continue with the TPP treatments is to be made in March or April, which may mean we will never hear more about the discharges from Sellafield,” Brende said.

“But I cannot say that I am 100 percent sure. But we are on the right track and we shall reach the goal,”

Asmund Kristoffersen from the Nordic Council: The cleaned Tc-99 waste should be stored on-land and not be dumped in the sea

Hanne Bakke/Bellona

”We know too little about the impact of Tc-99 and therefore we can take no chances,” Kristoffersen said.

“We can today find traces of Tc-99 along the whole coast and up in the Barents Sea. We are also concerned about the effects the discharges have on the marine exports and on the coast communities especially. Our concern is shared with our Irish and Scottish colleagues and it is unacceptable that this continues.”

Kristoffersen added: “I hope that TPP process is successful and I am sure that this is the way to go.” But he also stated his concerns over possible discharges of toxic TPP material into the sea and said the material should be stored onshore. Information which was distributed at the conference though, shows that potential discharges of TPP from a cleansing program will be far beyond levels which are dangerous for the environment.

Bellona’s Erik Martiniussen presented Bellona’s new report about Sellafield , which also takes up other environmental threats, besides Tc-99, related to the operation of Sellafield facility.

Hanne Bakke

“Since Tc-99 was measured along the Norwegian coast the first time in 1996—which was a result of discharges from Sellafield—the need for information has been huge," Martiniussen said. "There has been a massive interest among the public for information about Sellafield, and the need for correct information accordingly," he added.

Bellona’s report describes the controversial 50-year history of the facility, its current status, and future prospects. Besides the Tc-99 discharges, Bellona has identified what can be classified as two main challenges at the plant. These are what Bellona calls the Cold War legacy, and the projected rise in alpha-emitting discharges. The Cold War legacy can be identified as buildings and plants at the site that have to be decommissioned. Among them are seven nuclear reactors and an old military reprocessing plant known as B204. The storages of 80 tonnes of plutonium and 1500 cubic meter of highly active liquor, or HAL is also part of what Bellona has identified as a legacy that has to be cleaned up.

"The common thing about the legacy is that it is technically possible to find practical solutions on these tasks," Martiniussen said. "But before we can do so, we have to face the challenges, and raise the necessary recourses," he added. The highly-active liquid waste is of particular concern, he said, and treatment of this waste should be of first priority, he stressed.

The projected rise in alpha emitting discharges is a much more controversial issue, Martiniussen said. Predictions made by BNFL show a major increase in the discharges from the plant the coming years. "A projected rise in the discharges from the plant is unacceptable for Bellona. The discharges should decrease, not increase," Martiniussen said.

Frederic Hauge, Bellona’s president, talked about the serious consequences the discharges from Sellafield have for the Norwegian fishing industry.

Hanne Bakke/Bellona

Hauge expressed gratitude that BNFL, or British Nuclear Fuels—the company that runs Sellafield—and British authorities at last had listened to the concerns of people living in Norway and other Nordic countries, and started to clean out Tc-99 from the discharges.

“The fact that BNFL started to search for solutions for Tc-99 on its own initiative and had not waited for the authorities to oblige it to do so shows the responsibility,” Hauge said.

He also used the occasion to praise the Norwegian politicians who had thrown their strong support behind the Sellafield issue. Aside from Brende, Jenny Johnsen (Liberal party), Søren Voie (Conservative party), Alf Ivar Samuelsen (Central party), Asmund Kristoffersen, Rolf Terje Klungeland (Labour) and Steinar Bastensen (Coastal party) all had invaluable contributions.

In conclusion to his remarks, Hauge together with Lofoten mot Sellafield invited representatives from BNFL to Lofoten in April, when the full results of the cleansing where in, to go on a fishing trip and catch some clean fish.