Avslutning av en fruktbar konferanse

Foto: Vi som organiserte møtet fra høyre Robbie Huston fra NDA (The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) , Veronica Webster fra Bellona Europe, Per-Kaare fra Lofoten mot Sellafield, Elaine.M. Strong fra Sellafield Ltd. og Nils Bøhmer fra Bellona.

Konferansen i Brussel som ble arrangert av Bellona, Sellafield Ltd. og Lofoten mot Sellafield ble avsluttet i dag med oppsummering om at det har skjedd en meget positiv utvikling innen sikkerhetsarbeidet ved Sellafield. Dette etter at det er kommet nye eiere og vår reaksjon på møtet er at de tar både oss og sikkerheten på alvor.

Konferanse ble oppsummert på utmerket måte av biskop Tor B. Jørgensen. Under konferansen jobbet Per-Kaare Holdal, Ben Todd og Nils Bøhmer med en felles erklæring som ble presentert for tilhører fra EU, Nordisk Råd og Norge. Her er erklæringen, men så langt bare på engelsk:

Lofoten mot Sellafield, Bellona and Sellafield Ltd have held their latest conference on nuclear waste and safety in Europe and Sellafield at which concerns from Nordic states were heard and reassurances were received from Sellafield Ltd about the safe operation of the UK nuclear site.

The joint conference in Brussels continued a programme of positive and constructive dialogue that commenced in 2001 and has led to a 95% reduction from Sellafield of sea discharges of Technetium 99.

The dialogue has also created a very effective forum for information exchange, understanding concerns, hearing different perspectives and building trust between Sellafield and Nordic states.

The conference was attended by elected representatives and members of local communities from the UK, Norway and Sweden, as well as technical experts, safety regulators and Nuclear Management Partners, the new management of Sellafield Ltd. The conference focused on nuclear safety, environmental impacts and the oversight by national and international regulators, including the European Commission.

Audun Garberg of the Norway Ministry for the Environment, Marit Tennfjord from Nordland County Counsil and Jan Lindholm from Nordic Counsil expressed their concerns about the hazards at Sellafield and the safety culture of the site.

Stuart MacVean from Sellafield Ltd, provided reassurances of the new management's focus on improving safety performance and reducing hazards.

The conference heard that the operation and decommissioning of Sellafield were issues of great political and public concern for the population in the Nordic countries and for the community around Sellafield.

Providing a further layer of scrutiny, the European Council undertakes to maintain a high level of nuclear safety across the European Union, including at Sellafield. Its nuclear safety and radioactive waste directives, which are based broadly on international conventions to which Norway is a signatory, stress the need to monitor the security and the safety of nuclear installations and to effectively manage wastes. It calls for regular reports from Member States' atomic energy experts, who will maintain close contact with the Commission.

This broad approach to independently ensuring openness and transparency at Sellafield will provide a rigorous basis on which future discussions can take place.

It was agreed that dialogue will continue in order to maintain productive relationships between Sellafield, Lofoten mot Sellafield and Bellona. To maintain the transparency with Sellafield Ltd, meetings will continue annually for regular updates, with the next conference being held in Lofoten next year and at Sellafield the year after that. This will enable our politicians and experts to continue the positive dialogue about nuclear safety to recieve the latest developments and plans regarding the safety at Sellafield and Thorp.

Lofoten mot Sellafield and Bellona have had focused on the safety of nuclear installations at Sellafield since 2001. Bellona will continue to work with Sellafield and will seek to increase their resources for their work.