Government ‘public records’ archives from the 1970’s have been released this year revealing concerns over dumping ground for Nuclear waste. Scilly appears to be the nearest land to some of the areas used, around 200km North West of Scilly.
Throughout the 1960’s the government routinely dumped nuclear waste from installations across the country in deep-sea areas around the West Coast of Britain. At the time, Green-peace were concerned that the sites were not deep enough and the containers were more fragile than once thought.
One of the main areas of concern is a spot West Nor-West of Scilly, about an equal distance from Scilly as it is from the Southern tip of Ireland. The Irish government also voiced concerns at the time. Andrew George, the MP for SW Cornwall and The Islands, is seeking government assurances that the sites pose no credible, current threat to the marine or human environment. The picture shows a view looking out towards the North West passage from The Islands.
The detained archive information tells of a catalogue of errors whilst dumping the waste. In one case, crewmembers on board the ship were exposed to radiation because of a cracked barrel. Some of the radioactive material used is reported to have a half-life (time it takes for the substance to decay and become half as radioactive) of upward of 100,000 years. The government has maintained that the containers were always built to outlast the active danger period.
Nuclear dumping in this area has been an issue for speculation up until now, even the channel four comedy series, Father Ted, eluded to the dumping off Ireland in one of their shows. The group who are mainly concerned seems to be the fishermen who fish in this area and are in fear of dredging up one of these canisters. There is, at the moment, no credible threat to the Islands or the people who inhabit them, the main concerns seem to be for fishermen. If Andrew George gets any further on the Issue, the matter could be a big news story in the near future.