Waste particle found at Dounreay measures highest level in radioactive category
Dounreay's former nuclear power complex is being demolished and cleaned up
A waste particle found at the decommissioned nuclear power operation in Dounreay was the most radioactive fragment to have been found in the past three years, it has been reported.
The fragment, categorised as “significant”, was found in April this year during monitoring work around the Highland facility, based near Thurso in Caithness.
It is understood the latest particle was found on the western part of Dounreay's foreshore. Eight other fragments have since been found which have, according to reports, been categorised as "minor" or "relevant".
A Dounreay spokesperson said: "Particles are a legacy of industrial practices dating back to the early 1960s and our commitment today to environmental protection includes their monitoring and removal from the marine environment and transparent reporting of our activities."
The different categories for the particles found are minor, relevant and significant.
“Significant”, according to independent experts who advice Dounreay and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), means a reading greater than one million becquerels of CS-137 - becquerel is defined as a small unit of radioactivity.
The last time a significant-category particle was found was in March 2022.
Thousands of particles of different categories have been removed from surrounding beaches, foreshore and seabed at Dounreay.
As a precaution, fishing is prohibited within a 2km radius of a point near Dounreay, where the most hazardous fragments have been detected, and the Dounreay foreshore and Sandside Bay are monitored “on a regular basis”.
The find comes as UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said he will invite the world’s nuclear power industry to Scotland on day one of a Labour government in May next year should they win.
Should this happen, he said it would overturn the SNP’s longstanding opposition to nuclear energy in Scotland.
Mr Miliband said his government department is already looking into locations for potential nuclear power sites at Torness in East Lothian and Hunterston in North Ayrshire.
This comes after a senior UK Government source told Scottish journalists they are considering submitting planning applications for these sites now in anticipation of a Scottish Labour victory at the 2026 Holyrood election.
There has been an effective ban on new nuclear facilities in Scotland as the SNP has a longstanding commitment to block any potential projects through devolved planning laws.
Earlier this year the former Hunterston B power station was formally declared nuclear free after three years of defuelling.
The station stopped generating power in January 2022 after 46 years. It was closed after hairline cracks were found in the graphite bricks which make up its nuclear cores.
Meanwhile Torness is due for decommission in 2030.
Commenting on Dounreay’s recent find, SNP MSP Bill Kidd said: “This discovery at Dounreay is a stark reminder of the inevitable risks that come with nuclear energy - and the folly of Labour's nuclear obsession.
“Decades later, Scotland is still cleaning up highly radioactive, ‘significant’ nuclear waste, while Westminster agitates to push new nuclear power plants on Scotland.”
The MSP pointed to the cost of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk, which he said has doubled to £40 billion and will not be operational for at least a decade.
Mr Kidd added: “With costs at Sizewell C spiralling out of control and Scotland’s renewable energy output stronger than ever, it simply makes no sense to double down on outdated and dangerous technology like nuclear energy.
"New nuclear would put bills up, take years to build and would leave us dealing with dangerous nuclear waste for decades to come.“Scotland doesn’t want or need new nuclear – and the SNP will stand against any Labour attempts to impose it on us.”
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