The Oubliette

Note: Part 01 of this essay can be found here whilst part 02 can be found here and if you have the stamina part 04 is located here.

Sellafield Reprocessing Plant – The site of one of the world’s more notable environmental contests.  (Image reproduced, some would say surprisingly, from the Visit Cumbria web site).

Despite the apparent increase in the amount of people that support the provision of electricity generated by nuclear power, there are still underlying concerns about the safety record of the industry.  Significant elements of society remain concerned about the use of nuclear power and cite recent surveys and reports that still question the safety of these facilities. Many people believe that alternative options have yet to be fully explored.

The reluctance of communities to have reprocessing facilities located nearby has manifested itself in the concept of Locally Unwanted Land Use or LULU.  A LULU is an area that has been decreed viable for a certain purpose but whose implementation will be considered detrimental to neighbouring communities.  It should be noted that the purposes for the use of these spaces is generally for facilities required by either the local community or society as a whole.  Examples are plentiful but can include prisons, landfill sites and of course, nuclear power stations.

As noted previously, even those in favour of nuclear power would be reluctant to have a power station situated on their doorstep.  However, in a rather cynical but nonetheless workable compromise people can be persuaded from their reticence.   Often governments will offer money in the form of jobs and local investment to those communities wishing to house a LULU.  It is this weighing up benefits (often, but not always financial) against values (often, but not always aesthetic) that leads to clashes between environmentalists and community planners.  These clashes will even occassionally exclude the local community from any form of input.

Sellafield is a perfect example of this form of environmental contest.  The acceptance of the need to meet demand for electricity is offset against the fears about the use of nuclear power.  Factor in the place that the Lake District has within the British psyche and all the criteria for conflict are in place.

A war of attrition has developed between groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace and British Nuclear Fuels Limited. The environmental groups regularly stage protests at the site.  Sellafield (and the nuclear industry in general) have not helped their own case with a historyof high profile ‘incidents’ such as the reactor fire in 1957 and more recently, the fine imposed for the leaking of 83,000 litres of radioactive liquid.

One of the major areas of contest is the locating of the Sellafield plant on the outsirst of the Lake District.  It is something of a irony that due to the safety concerns that so preoccupy the environmental groups, that nuclear power stations are situated away from major conurbations.   Therefore a LULU is sought out – most of which are found in peripheral areas (from a city and mainly London perspective), have high unemployment and poor economic foundations.

Sellafield ticks all of those boxes and since it’s inception is now the major employer in the region with a staff of about 11,000 people.  It has developed an academic centre of excellence, set up an apprenticeship program and invested extensively in the local community.  This has led to a dependence of the local community on the power plan which some have claimed has led to a sense of guilt and fatalism.  This possibly due to the recognition of the purportedly negative impact that Sellafield has on the environment.

The isolated nature of the communities tied to Sellafield further exacerbates matters.  This is due to any decisions or discussions about the plant invariably occurring in Westminster, Dublin or at the BNFL headquarters in Risley.  Even the campaign groups tend to come from outside of the area.  This can lead to a sense of powerlessness within the community and could go some way to explaining the fatalism alluded to above.

Sellafield from the air.  Locating the power plant on the outskirts of the Lake District and next to the sea has led to protests from many people (often those who visit as tourists rather than live in the area).  Picture reproduced from the Visit Cumbria website.