When NWS tells us how safe Geological Disposal will be, They show us Onkulu in Finland which has just started operations or Bere in France which is a long way from completion. You would never guess that there has been and underground repository near Carlsbad, New Mexico that has been operating since 1999.
So why are they not using this as an example of how safe it is to operate an underground dump? The answer may be that the one operational GDF is not a shining example of safe disposal. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Near Carlsbad is 600 metres (30% deeper than the proposal for Theddlethorpe) below ground. It caters mainly for low and Intermediate level waste. Despite being approved by the US regulator, in February 2014 two accidents resulted in the contamination of land within a one mile radius and the detection of trace amounts of Plutonium and Americium twenty miles away.
We are told that it couldn’t happen here, but an inquiry has put both accidents, a truck fire and an explosion in a waste container, down to human error. Likewise, the failure of the filtration system to prevent the escape of radioactive particles is also due to human failings. Unless NWS can eliminate the human factor it is difficult to see how they can be certain.
The big difference between Carlsbad and Theddlethorpe is that no one lives near the New Mexico site. At Theddlethorpe people live within 50 metres and Mablethorpe’s largest Holiday Park is within 200 metres.
Doubtless people will accuse us of scaremongering, However, they can't deny that it happened when the US Office of Environment, Health, Safety & Security investigated it, it's hard to deny
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