The pit of doom

Britain?s nuclear industry is accused of complacency after claiming the problem of radioactive particles discovered outside the Dounreay nuclear plant is not harming attempts at the environmental clean up.

The UKAEA has to return the Caithness complex to a near-greenfield site within 50 years at a cost of ?4.5bn.

Since 1983, over 200 radioactive hotspots have been found on the foreshore at Dounreay and approximately 50 more on the nearby Sandside beach, which is open to the public. A further 750 have been discovered on the seabed during surveys and it is thought that up to 50,000 may be in the sediment close to Dounreay.

The infamous pit in to which scientists for many years discarded radioactive material was originally thought to be the source of contamination.

Lorraine Mann, the convener of Scotland Against Nuclear Dumping, said it shows a quite extraordinary level of complacency by the new management of the clean up team and ?reveals that they have no grasp of the magnitude of the problem they are facing.?

Dounreay yesterday opened a ?7.5m plant to control and dispose of low-level effluent from the decommissioning of the plant.