Revealed: major safety fears at Europe's most dangerous nuclear site

Sdílet
Vložit
  • čas přidán 3. 12. 2023
  • Sellafield's controversial history dates back to the Cold War, when the huge industrial site played a crucial role in the UK’s development of nuclear weapons. A Guardian investigation can now reveal that Sellafield has failed to contain numerous threats, including a cyber security breach by groups linked to Russia and China, and growing physical cracks in its ‘most hazardous facility’.
    Subscribe to The Guardian on CZcams ► bit.ly/subscribegdn
    The Guardian publishes independent journalism, made possible by supporters. Contribute to The Guardian today ► bit.ly/3biVfwh
    Sign up to the Guardian's free new daily newsletter, First Edition ► theguardian.com/first-edition
    Website ► www.theguardian.com
    Facebook ► / theguardian
    Twitter ► / guardian
    Instagram ► / guardian
    The Guardian on CZcams:
    Guardian News ► bit.ly/guardiannewssubs
    Guardian Australia ► bit.ly/guardianaussubs
    Guardian Football ► bit.ly/gdnfootballsubs
    Guardian Sport ► bit.ly/gdnsportsubs
    Guardian Live ► bit.ly/guardianlivesubs
    #Nuclear #NuclearPower #Sellafield #Cumbria #UK #News

Komentáře • 616

  • @TheStubertos
    @TheStubertos Před 5 měsíci +50

    I work in nuclear and I regularly work with people who spend time on the Sellafield site.
    This is incredibly sensationalist journalism and they've made such little effort to conceal their agenda that it is just blatant fear mongering. To compare the waste in Sellafield (used fuel and low-level waste) to the Chernobyl power station (an active reactor packed with live fuel and the conditions for criticality) is ludicrous.
    Also the UK disposal project, has found 3 willing communities and huge amounts of studies have been put into the project to ensure it's safe. Nuclear isn't ideal but it's far better than coal and gas.

    • @benpinder889
      @benpinder889 Před 2 měsíci

      I get what you're saying but it's still a national disgrace. It's still Europe's most hazardous nuclear site that has huge economic impact.

    • @TheStubertos
      @TheStubertos Před 2 měsíci +1

      @@benpinder889 Tell me about it's huge economic impact.

    • @benpinder889
      @benpinder889 Před 2 měsíci

      @@TheStubertos For you to argue it's not, yeah I'm okay thanks.

    • @halonothing1
      @halonothing1 Před 25 dny

      But all radiation is the same! Didn't you know that? A glove with a smudge of unpurified uranium salts on it is just as dangerous as a pure 1 gram sample of polonium-210, which is just as dangerous as soil contaminated with strontium-90. And we all know that your cell phone is far more dangerous than all of those sources put together. Never mind your microwave oven. That thing will give you radiation poisoning[sic] in a second without the lead shielding.
      [READ: IMPORTANT] This was (hopefully) obviously just a joke. But on the off chance someone took it seriously (you never know) nothing above was true.

    • @bobshuwab1988
      @bobshuwab1988 Před 9 dny

      So which parts of this piece are you contesting, which parts are not factual?
      And, 'willing communities'? You imply that they were given a choice.

  • @W.J.Blythe
    @W.J.Blythe Před 5 měsíci +179

    I would have thought the most dangerous nuclear site in Europe would be in Zaporizhia

    • @jamieclifford5491
      @jamieclifford5491 Před 5 měsíci +18

      Yeh that’s what I assumed too

    • @markrainford1219
      @markrainford1219 Před 5 měsíci +54

      Well, it is the Guardian lol

    • @TheRetroManRandySavage
      @TheRetroManRandySavage Před 5 měsíci

      No, you're thinking of the guardian hq.
      That's the most dangerous site.😂

    • @MarcinMoka1
      @MarcinMoka1 Před 5 měsíci +5

      Indeed. I was questioning their maps in the opening.

    • @user-fk8rb8ue5h
      @user-fk8rb8ue5h Před 5 měsíci +3

      It will be, but you don't expect the lefty Guardian to say that do you

  • @ccooxxyy
    @ccooxxyy Před 5 měsíci +30

    Oh Guardian… You have no idea… Shame on you…

  • @williamcoulter5462
    @williamcoulter5462 Před 5 měsíci +325

    What you failed to add is the company who run the UK nuclear facilities is French and has been importing waste from the plants in France and failed to build the six new power stations they promised when they won the contract. Chernobyl was a gigantic mistake caused by shifts not handing over properly and tests being carried without authorisation, the chances of this happening in UK is slim and scaremongering by anti Nuclear groups does not help.

    • @z0n0ph0ne
      @z0n0ph0ne Před 5 měsíci +28

      UK nuclear facilities is French and has been importing waste from the plants in France"
      Phukn Tories outsource everything.

    • @8ballphil150
      @8ballphil150 Před 5 měsíci +21

      THEY HAVE BEEN IMPORTING WASTE SINCE AT LEAST THE 70S . MY MATE WAS AN OFFICER ON BOARD A SHIP THAT DONE 2 TRIPS A YEAR FROM JAPAN . .

    • @thoughtexplorer
      @thoughtexplorer Před 5 měsíci

      lol did you just call Gordon a Tory? @@z0n0ph0ne

    • @mfx1
      @mfx1 Před 5 měsíci +10

      Sellafield isn't owned by the French.

    • @homematvej
      @homematvej Před 5 měsíci +12

      Nuclear waste is actually just a fuel we can't use yet.

  • @Kefuddle
    @Kefuddle Před 5 měsíci +10

    How do we know when the media is lying about nuclear. When the guardian does an investigation and inserts Geiger counter sounds.

  • @columbus7950
    @columbus7950 Před 5 měsíci +161

    The likelihood of a Chernobyl scale event is essentially zero.

    • @peter_meyer
      @peter_meyer Před 5 měsíci +21

      That was said before Fukushima, too.

    • @peter_meyer
      @peter_meyer Před 5 měsíci +10

      @@Benedictus-tl5uz Correct. It wasn't just one, it was 4 reactors blowing up.

    • @Garycarlyle
      @Garycarlyle Před 5 měsíci +5

      @@peter_meyer It was contained reasonably well. Updates were made to their world's nuclear infrastructure as a result.

    • @hofimastah
      @hofimastah Před 5 měsíci +8

      1. Cog icon
      2. Report
      3. Misinformation

    • @eachypinky118
      @eachypinky118 Před 5 měsíci +1

      ​@@peter_meyerFukushima was totally different wasn't it

  • @Eddygeek18
    @Eddygeek18 Před 5 měsíci +141

    This sounds very fear mongering to me. Just quick google search shows plutoniums half life is 24k years, so it remains radiocative a lot longer than that, and again with cyber security aspect their internal network that handles the nuclear waste is seperate from their general IT systems meaning no matter how much anyone tries they can't reach it without physically being there. I would love to know what nuclear physics and cyber security degrees the team has because my very limited knowledge on those 2 areas are ringing alarm bells in my head about the validity of this video. After a quick search neither Alex Lawson or Anna Isaac have the qualifications for a story like this.

    • @0w784g
      @0w784g Před 5 měsíci +34

      You don't kick off a video with ICBM launches, dramatic music and the clicks of geiger counters if you have an interest other than vulgarity.

    • @geoffreycodnett6570
      @geoffreycodnett6570 Před 5 měsíci

      It's not quite true to say Plutonium has a half life and will be around a lot longer. Half life means that 50% of the Plutonium isotope concerned will no longer be the same after the period. It will be a different element. Uranium is exactly the same. Since 24,000 is a short period any Plutonium present when the earth formed is gone into different elements by now. Different isotopes of the same element will have different half lives. The elements with the highest atomic weights and numbers have a greater number of isotopes.

    • @littlehuub
      @littlehuub Před 5 měsíci

      Just report this as misinformation, cause it is misinformation / a journalist who is not informed well on her or his subject. And its only used to fearmonger against nuclear energy.

    • @bmuller1119
      @bmuller1119 Před 3 měsíci

      Simple: reprocess the Plutonium(Pu) and make electricity from that. It's what's in MOX nuclear fuel used in plants currently does. GEH has a plant (search for GEH PRISM) that can use Pu, and other actinides, from spent fuel from light-water reactors to generate electricity; it's not new technology either. Pu isn't waste, it's a valuable resource to generate huge amounts of CO2-free electricity while simultaneously cleaning up Sellafield.

  • @davidmacdonald4296
    @davidmacdonald4296 Před 5 měsíci +96

    Breathtakingly irresponsible journalism. The journalist's assertion that plutonium "remains radioactive for 24,000 years" shows they don't even understand the most fundamental concept of half-life.

    • @geoffreycodnett6570
      @geoffreycodnett6570 Před 5 měsíci

      Imagine the horror when they realise that uranium which is still radioactive has been on the planet since it formed. Even worse, the lead in car batteries will at least in part be a radioactive ☢️ by product from natural sources. There's also radioactive radon being released in various places and that may even cross to Ireland from the UK! The lack of proper education in sciences for 30yrs is taking its toll.

    • @ManchesterMan-zy5ye
      @ManchesterMan-zy5ye Před 5 měsíci +2

      Well it's true. It's actually much longer than that. But that (true) snippet is more impactful than a longer explanation that we're all radioactive for ever....

    • @wobblybobengland
      @wobblybobengland Před 4 měsíci

      @@ManchesterMan-zy5ye 'potentially'

  • @tonytomlin5674
    @tonytomlin5674 Před 5 měsíci +8

    Nuclear is the best and cheapest 'green' energy.

  • @stratosky
    @stratosky Před 5 měsíci +77

    CZcams needs Community Notes like X. So much misinformation in this article it's ridiculous. Classic Guardian.

  • @silverXnoise
    @silverXnoise Před 5 měsíci +221

    This is what we need, more nuclear fear mongering. Let’s put scary music and stock footage together, compare it to Chernobyl-whether or not it’s accurate or relevant! There’s no reason to take this remotely seriously considering they’re clearly more interested in fancy graphics than accurate reporting.

    • @wilfredsterling2124
      @wilfredsterling2124 Před 5 měsíci +27

      Isn't it better to have thorough independent scrutiny and oversight of risks to health and life than to choose the path of complacency. Plus, has this Tory government given the British, European and global populations reasons to trust their professionalism and care for the safety of the population. I'd say not. Plus has our security agencies given us reason to trust what they say when they have been found to lie in the name of selling weapons for war and the destruction of other countries which creates further security risks. Sellafield needs huge public investment to provide security. The whole country needs huge public investment because the private enterprise that this government swears by can't deliver. Instead money is syphoned off by greed, and jobs such as building housing is done on the cheap with flammable materials as regulations are slashed. What I am saying is Sellafield is symptomatic of a wider problem with how Britain is governed, but is, as the presenter stated, the most dangerous industrial site in Europe as assessed by the body that oversees nuclear sites. By my judgement your comment oozes with stupidity or ignorance toward the office for nuclear regulation. If you read this, it wouldn't surprise me if you were part of the Conservative party who seem ooze with stupidity.

    • @suekelleher2786
      @suekelleher2786 Před 5 měsíci +1

      @@wilfredsterling2124totally agree Wilfred, the government relies on folk sticking their heads in the sand 👍

    • @mrb.5610
      @mrb.5610 Před 5 měsíci +21

      Agree. Chernobyl was an inherently poor reactor design deliberately driven into an unstable condition. There's absolutely *ZERO* comparison with any reactor in the UK.

    • @lukemorgan6166
      @lukemorgan6166 Před 5 měsíci +4

      The geiger counter got me trembling lol 😂

    • @moomin7461
      @moomin7461 Před 5 měsíci

      ​​@@mrb.5610and the Titanic was unsinkable. The fire at Windscale burned for three days and released radioactive fallout which spread across the UK and the rest of Europe.

  • @emmapelham2847
    @emmapelham2847 Před 5 měsíci +30

    Do they even know what they're talking about? At 03:20 in, she says that Plutonium "remains radioactive for 24,000 years". Well, Pu-239 has a half-life of about 24,100 years, which is I guess where they got the number from. But "half-life" and "remains radioactive" is not the same thing at all. What utter tosh.

    • @Deontjie
      @Deontjie Před 5 měsíci +1

      I don't understand the difference. But I realized this video is junk.

    • @snaporatz
      @snaporatz Před 5 měsíci +3

      ​@@Deontjiehalf life - time it takes for half of the mass to degrade. So (1) the other half is still plutonium and (2) plutonium decays to Uranium

    • @Deontjie
      @Deontjie Před 5 měsíci

      Straight to the .@@snaporatz

    • @emmapelham2847
      @emmapelham2847 Před 5 měsíci +1

      @@Deontjie And from what snaporatz has said, it follows that the half that is still plutonium is obviously going to also be still radioactive!

  • @silverXnoise
    @silverXnoise Před 5 měsíci +124

    Pro-tip: when you hear horror-movie music and sounds in a “news” video-that’s when they’re manipulating you.

    • @fox0yeah410
      @fox0yeah410 Před 5 měsíci +8

      Or your watching cartoon network 😂😂😂😂😂😂

    • @maximusg88
      @maximusg88 Před 5 měsíci

      Says the guy who is manipulated by the nuclear lobby - just like so many of us for decades. I trust the technology - not the people who run it

    • @theclotshotdidit3115
      @theclotshotdidit3115 Před 5 měsíci +5

      Lol, I'm old enough to remember, people dropping dead on the streets of China a few years ago, who's seen it happen in the UK 🤔🤔🤔
      Not at all, plenty of people dying from "suddenly" and "unexpectedly" though, I miss actual cause of death being printed

    • @crazychrisfromessex1740
      @crazychrisfromessex1740 Před 5 měsíci +7

      It's nice to see how few people take the guardian seriously..

    • @0liver0verson9
      @0liver0verson9 Před 5 měsíci +2

      @@crazychrisfromessex1740 amen to that

  • @giovannifacci
    @giovannifacci Před 5 měsíci +141

    They totally missed to explain (intentionally) that spent nuclear fuel (which is the most dangerous one) aka high-level waste, it’s just a small 3% of all the nuclear waste we produce.
    90% percent is just lightly-contaminated materials like working cloths and similar.
    Goelogical repository IS the only solution.
    Spent nuclear fuel being a mere 3% means we accepted to juggle it around for a little longer until someone with enough will, will start digging underground these geological repository (like in Finland)

    • @abeelvago
      @abeelvago Před 5 měsíci +15

      well... you are reading The Guardian, so what did you actually expect?

    • @rungus24
      @rungus24 Před 5 měsíci +3

      Is that relevant to anything in the video? And they did mention the need to bury the waste, which I think is what you're saying that they didn't explain. But, again, that wasn't the point the video was making.

    • @LouiseBrooksBob
      @LouiseBrooksBob Před 5 měsíci +2

      Spent nuclear fuel is actually pretty safe. It contains high active and medium active waste together in a solid form and is stable to store. The problem is when it is reprocessed and the high active waste is separated out. The high active waste is then in a liquid form and is difficult to contain. This is where the vitrification idea came in. I am not sure if this technique has been perfected yet. I can only hope so.

    • @hofimastah
      @hofimastah Před 5 měsíci +1

      1. Cog icon
      2. Report
      3. Misinformation

    • @DavidJohnson-yg8qm
      @DavidJohnson-yg8qm Před 5 měsíci

      Even so it can be degraded using fusion.

  • @eileenmcchrystal8471
    @eileenmcchrystal8471 Před 5 měsíci +12

    Some of us are old enough to have remembered Windscale.

  • @lukeqq8830
    @lukeqq8830 Před 5 měsíci +34

    As someone who has a physics degree and has worked at Sellafield before, this is complete nonsense and portrayed in a way to elicit a certain response from a viewer whom doesn't know any better.

    • @leosmith848
      @leosmith848 Před 5 měsíci +2

      Guardian readers by definition don't know any better. They just think they do.

    • @tabularasa7775
      @tabularasa7775 Před 5 měsíci +4

      Which parts were nonsense , specifically ? It's a nuclear site , risks and threats are always there , no ? I've worked there before too and i met a lot of really dense and incompetent people , the site itself constantly fails on it's targets and shows incompetence in many areas also mistakes , accidents or sabotage is always possible , no ?

    • @leosmith848
      @leosmith848 Před 5 měsíci

      @@tabularasa7775 Have you really worked there? I could claim I have worked at the Guardian and its full of a lot of really dense and incompetent people, and is supported by kickbacks from the renewable industry. As it happens I wont lie, but I am fairly sure that big money, not a desire to expose the truth, is behind this 'exposé'...

    • @lukeqq8830
      @lukeqq8830 Před 5 měsíci

      @@tabularasa7775 in 2023 and the future, no it’s far too safe and extremely regulatory. There’s no way anything serious would ever happen.

  • @tonyjones9442
    @tonyjones9442 Před 5 měsíci +35

    Is it just me or am I no better of than before I watched the video? Non of this was news or unexpected. They way it was titled was if they had some kind of expose to say? Or am I wrong?

    • @SuperBicycleRepairMan
      @SuperBicycleRepairMan Před 5 měsíci +4

      Absolutely agree

    • @bigkuriboh3814
      @bigkuriboh3814 Před 5 měsíci +4

      Typical fear mongering for clicks.

    • @stephenthompson585
      @stephenthompson585 Před 5 měsíci

      False news regurgitated
      to scare people can you please explain specifically what's the problem, its a nuclear storage facility. Well protected and audited to the highest safety criteria. End off

    • @ange1098
      @ange1098 Před 5 měsíci +4

      Sensational journalism 🤮

  • @conradmilligan
    @conradmilligan Před 5 měsíci +58

    Absolute Peak Guardian. i'm no nuclear physicist but I know enough about nuclear power that the chernobyl comment got an eye roll from me.

    • @carterjones8126
      @carterjones8126 Před 5 měsíci +9

      You know someone at the Guardian got paid a lot to write & publish this deceptive article.

    • @jaydowg1914
      @jaydowg1914 Před 5 měsíci

      ​@@carterjones8126greenpeace, funded by big oil

    • @johnw574
      @johnw574 Před 5 měsíci

      They are evil for spreading such lies

    • @TheStubertos
      @TheStubertos Před 5 měsíci +1

      Haha love this comment. Nice to see that the British people are able to think for themselves!

  • @AlexPacker
    @AlexPacker Před 5 měsíci +4

    Full of misinformation, sensationalism and fear mongering. This poor standard of journalism is shocking at such a crucial time for the future of energy and left me with no choice but to cancel my digital subscription.

  • @jodejones262
    @jodejones262 Před 5 měsíci +28

    I went there as a child. It was a museum, there was a huge planetarium inside. I don’t know if it’s still like this? But I was on holiday when we went there, the place was full of children looking around this huge interactive museum. The planetarium was amazing. I’ve never forgotten it.

    • @colintuffs568
      @colintuffs568 Před 5 měsíci +2

      Sorry to say it has all been closed down under the present need for security 😬

    • @The_Original_KL
      @The_Original_KL Před 5 měsíci

      I went too, it was fascinating.

    • @rockets4kids
      @rockets4kids Před 5 měsíci +2

      Read up on the Windscale fire of 1957. (That's why they changed the name.)

    • @jodejones262
      @jodejones262 Před 5 měsíci

      @@rockets4kids I know about that. There was a section of the museum dedicated to it. It was called Sellafield already at the time of the museum.

    • @olmo4445
      @olmo4445 Před 5 měsíci +2

      And know is huge threat for the whole continent....

  • @Natasha26
    @Natasha26 Před 5 měsíci +23

    I have so many issues with The Guardian that I am inclined to take this video with a shovel of salt. We need an independent investigation of Guardian’s investigation.

  • @thomasshaw6936
    @thomasshaw6936 Před 5 měsíci +26

    Very ill informed this report. I would hope that the Guardian would at least get it’d facts right.

  • @pef1960
    @pef1960 Před 5 měsíci +6

    When Windscale was renamed Sellafield, I remember comics joking that radioactivity would now be referred to as "magic moonbeams"...

  • @samedjones
    @samedjones Před 5 měsíci +6

    Is this an Opinion piece or something?

  • @richardellis8102
    @richardellis8102 Před 5 měsíci +4

    Just what we expect from the Guardian - Scaremongering Tripe

  • @carlgrainger2669
    @carlgrainger2669 Před 5 měsíci +20

    It’s OK, just the guardian trying to be relevent

  • @krashd
    @krashd Před 5 měsíci +4

    The Guardian was the last place I ever expected to see fearmongering and misinformation. RIP 1821 - 2023

  • @michaelc3977
    @michaelc3977 Před 5 měsíci +17

    Shame on The Guardian for this misleading content.

  • @Jabberstax
    @Jabberstax Před 5 měsíci +37

    Nothing wrong with nuclear power.

    • @CatatonicImperfect
      @CatatonicImperfect Před 5 měsíci +5

      More expensive than green alternatives, for one

    • @moomin7461
      @moomin7461 Před 5 měsíci

      Radiation causes cancer.

    • @domtweed7323
      @domtweed7323 Před 5 měsíci +1

      ​@@CatatonicImperfectIt's a different type of energy service. Nuclear power saves you having to buy energy storage, and lasts twice as long as a wind turbine or solar panel (60 years + for most nuclear power stations, under 30 for most green energy products).
      So neither is better or worse, there different solutions for different contexts/geographies.

    • @domtweed7323
      @domtweed7323 Před 5 měsíci

      Yes. But this was one of the world's first nuclear power stations, so they did make some large mistakes.

    • @markrainford1219
      @markrainford1219 Před 5 měsíci +3

      But they actually produce electricity...when it's needed.

  • @ashort01
    @ashort01 Před 5 měsíci +11

    The number of weasel words in this - whatever it is - was extreme, even for the Guardian.

  • @netroy
    @netroy Před 5 měsíci +24

    3:22 Pu-239 has a half life of 24,000 years. So any significant amount of it will be radioactive even after much much longer.
    So in about 100,000 years there will be still over 6% of it left.

    • @flabbergasted376
      @flabbergasted376 Před 5 měsíci +4

      Yep...she clearly has no understanding of half-life and the relatively low dangers of long half life isotopes. I'd quite happily hold a freshly cast block of weapons grade plutonium. However I'd be very concerned about breathing the air in a Cornish granite mine!

  • @raniericampellodellaspina2340
    @raniericampellodellaspina2340 Před 5 měsíci +1

    The errors in this videoreport and in the article deserve a lawsuit. Insane fearmongering...

  • @elegantrebel
    @elegantrebel Před 5 měsíci +5

    Not a single mention of the nuclear disaster protocols that the gov has recently issued for the public.

    • @ohnoitisnt
      @ohnoitisnt Před 5 měsíci +1

      or the warnings to stock up because of upcoming power outages this winter

  • @MrMikomi
    @MrMikomi Před 5 měsíci +23

    The usual half-baked pseudo-science that we can expect from the Guardian. You'd think they would embarrassed but evidently not.

  • @keithatkinson7649
    @keithatkinson7649 Před 5 měsíci +1

    "widely considered the most dangerous nuclear site in Europe"
    "a legacy of the UK trying to keep pace with the US and Russia"
    What a load of absolute bull.

  • @NovaG0
    @NovaG0 Před 5 měsíci +8

    Wait....where is the safety fears and evidence of hacks? I didn't se it in the video unless I'm blind

    • @The_real_sock_puppet_account
      @The_real_sock_puppet_account Před 5 měsíci

      imagine these people are supposed to keep a nuclear power plant safe they cant even install an anti virus software or a firewall what hope is there? total BS for whats about to become massive news and it involves Ukraine and Zelensky

    • @Bluelady777
      @Bluelady777 Před 5 měsíci

      I heard of the hacks on an American page earlier

  • @peterstorey393
    @peterstorey393 Před 5 měsíci +4

    They have struggled to contain leaks since the eighties

  • @stephenskinner3851
    @stephenskinner3851 Před 5 měsíci +2

    Oh, it's the Guardian.

  • @ianjackson8371
    @ianjackson8371 Před 5 měsíci +23

    It took about a minute for the Guardian to blame Russia. Standards are slipping.

    • @user-tt6il2up4o
      @user-tt6il2up4o Před 5 měsíci +5

      Or the far right, Brexit, the tories, Nigel farage etc

    • @leosmith848
      @leosmith848 Před 5 měsíci +1

      Odd. They usually support Russia

  • @couldbebetter7187
    @couldbebetter7187 Před 5 měsíci +1

    Comparing this to Chernobyl is an unfair comparison. Do better research. Nuclear waste is pretty harmless when left on its own

  • @klz5218
    @klz5218 Před 5 měsíci +1

    I waited the whole video for the big reveal of these major safety fears. None were presented. Instead it turned out to just be a generic nuclear scare word jumble. Shame on you.

  • @mfx1
    @mfx1 Před 5 měsíci +22

    Stuff with a very long half life of decay sounds scary but is actually relatively safe. It's the stuff with short half lives you want to be scared of.

    • @ManchesterMan-zy5ye
      @ManchesterMan-zy5ye Před 5 měsíci

      Depends. Plutonium is fine to be close to, but is extremely nasty if it gets inside you (in the lungs or through a cut on the skin). The Alpha radiation it gives off buggers up any cells it is close to very badly.

    • @Kylem6875
      @Kylem6875 Před 5 měsíci

      Sort of, Iodine-129 is the longest living fission products and it can pose a problem during reprocessing. All the short-lived elements are long gone by the time they reach Sellafield.
      But you're right, by far the greatest hazard is active reactors.

  • @rob66181
    @rob66181 Před 5 měsíci +2

    Nothing new or especially interested. B30 for example is one of the most active parts of the site. They make it look like it's just being left to rot and nobody is doing anything about it.

  • @brendanpells912
    @brendanpells912 Před 5 měsíci +14

    Most of the waste is from the early magnox program, the current PWR reactors generate a far smaller volume of waste. Plutonium has a long half-life, so what? So do radioactive materials that are abundant in the earth's crust, and it's estimated that about half of the heat generated within the earth's core is due to reactive decay. This heat keeps the iron core molten and sustains the magnetosphere which deflects solar radiation and keeps us alive. Anyway, I thought global warming due to CO2 emissions was the critical global emergency?

  • @Mithennesss
    @Mithennesss Před 5 měsíci +6

    I imagine the nuclear-phobic government may be a reason as to why upgrading the facility is difficult. Not much can be done about adversarial actors besides better cybersecurity so that isnt really "their" fault.

    • @Kylem6875
      @Kylem6875 Před 5 měsíci +1

      And I imagine drawing unnecessary attention to the Site (from potential hackers) will not be doing anyone any favours anyway. I'm fairly confident most plant control systems have their own internal networks that are not connected to the internet. The claims are completely spurious and found on little evidence.

    • @Mithennesss
      @Mithennesss Před 5 měsíci

      @@Kylem6875 Im not sure about uk systems but us sites its kinda mandatory

  • @Cheezwizzz
    @Cheezwizzz Před 5 měsíci +3

    I just found out that a chipper not to far from sellafield closed recently, they did a lovely leg of cod 😋

  • @andyasdf2078
    @andyasdf2078 Před 5 měsíci +3

    So refreshing to hear someone pronounce the word 'nuclear' correctly.

  • @MrJaspett
    @MrJaspett Před 5 měsíci +1

    As a Guardian reader I find this embarrassing. A series of sensationalist headlines trotted out about unrelated elements of an enormous site. Right of reply limited to tacking on a statement at the end of the piece and not even voicing any sections of it. Stick to print.

  • @silverback7170
    @silverback7170 Před 5 měsíci +35

    In the up to date sites like Hinckley Point and Sizewell C, there is far less nuclear waste than in older sites!, and when the small modular reactors (SMR) come into play, then we should be energy efficient.

    • @rungus24
      @rungus24 Před 5 měsíci +8

      Those small modular reactors don't exist, so aren't very useful.

    • @sanfrancrisko9962
      @sanfrancrisko9962 Před 5 měsíci +6

      SMRs should be a total non starter - all the overhead and security issues of a nuclear site, multiplied many more times. If we are going down the road of nuclear, we should stick to as little a number of sites as we can. Use high voltage DC lines to transport the power to other parts of the country.
      If we had Gen IV breeder reactors that could burn up plutonium from Gen I-III reactors, fair enough, but Hinkley Point C is still a Gen III reactor that will generate marginally less nuclear waste than previous designs, but not much.

    • @ccooxxyy
      @ccooxxyy Před 5 měsíci

      @@sanfrancrisko9962 DC lines? Enlighten me….

    • @colintuffs568
      @colintuffs568 Před 5 měsíci +1

      With nuclear waste the quantity is irrelevant

    • @geoffreycodnett6570
      @geoffreycodnett6570 Před 5 měsíci

      ​@@sanfrancrisko9962To correct your idea high voltage DC is not an efficient method of transmission of energy. The high school model of little balls called electrons flowing down a wire like a pipe isn't how it works. AC is more efficient for many reasons.

  • @silverXnoise
    @silverXnoise Před 5 měsíci +28

    Thanks Guardian, for guaranteeing the continuation of coal burning. 🖕

    • @crativecraft
      @crativecraft Před 5 měsíci +10

      Questioning the safety of such an important infrastructure doesn't mean that we need to burn coal, it emphasizes that we need to be careful and to invest in nuclear safety.

    • @smythharris2635
      @smythharris2635 Před 5 měsíci +8

      Germany has already signed off on reopening coal fired power stations.

    • @susanb4816
      @susanb4816 Před 5 měsíci +1

      There are more than two options
      Every home and business could generate their own power but how do you control people then eh

    • @composedlight6850
      @composedlight6850 Před 5 měsíci

      From a quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. As over 98% of the CO2 in the air is produced by plants where is the proof its man made CO2 that is the trigger for global warming? I recall it was claimed only 20 years ago that the climate change and ice melting was due to holes in the Ozone Layer and driven by aerosol; that crisis seems to have been dropped now and its all CO2 !

    • @silverXnoise
      @silverXnoise Před 5 měsíci +2

      @@susanb4816There are very few alternatives to nuclear power, coal and natural gas primarily, which are worse in every possible sense. Renewables *cannot* serve the same role as these stable and tunable sources. We need as much renewable energy as possible, and we need nuclear to fill its very real and obvious gaps. This irresponsible fear mongering absolutely does not promote renewables. It’s promoting coal and natural gas.

  • @samfromportadown
    @samfromportadown Před 5 měsíci +21

    The anti nuclear power movement (as distinct from the anti nuclear weapons movement) would never have gotten off the ground if it wasn't for astroturfing by big oil, who had vested interest obviously in making sure that nuclear power never became the dominant form of power generation.

    • @hofimastah
      @hofimastah Před 5 měsíci +3

      1. Cog icon
      2. Report
      3. Misinformation

    • @leosmith848
      @leosmith848 Před 5 měsíci +2

      And renewables, which Big Oil Loves because it means we still have to burn fossil fuel.

  • @tiggydorset9041
    @tiggydorset9041 Před 5 měsíci +10

    The scaremongers always place nuclear power plants in the same catergory as nuclear weapons. They are very different things and unrelated.

  • @aaronwalderslade
    @aaronwalderslade Před 5 měsíci +1

    And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how you are powering your "environmentally friendly" electric car.

    • @Kylem6875
      @Kylem6875 Před 5 měsíci +1

      There’s a difference between commercial nuclear power and government nuclear weapons programmes, which was the whole reason for reprocessing in the first place.
      It just took someone smart to realise that it can be used for commercial power generation too. Without the lessons and knowledge gained in the nuclear field, we would be no where near as competent in nuclear technologies as today. Modern nuclear has never been safer and environmentally friendly.

  • @flabbergasted376
    @flabbergasted376 Před 5 měsíci +2

    Quick question in reference to your scary Norway graphic.... what if the wind was a northerly?

  • @BioHazardCL4
    @BioHazardCL4 Před 5 měsíci +3

    Nothing can be properly completed until a GDF is build and the government needs to pick a location and just build one.
    NIMBYs are putting the UK at risk.

  • @duncan649
    @duncan649 Před 5 měsíci +2

    Astonishing how childish and ill informed this is. Cue concerned presenter and Geiger counter crackling sound to irresponsibly whip up fear. Yes there is a large quantity of highly radioactive material at the site and many old buildings that are not ideal. Much progress has been made with this, why wasn't this reported? To draw an equivalence with Chernobyl is the worst form of gutter journalism.

  • @alannorman4097
    @alannorman4097 Před 5 měsíci +25

    This must be factual because no way would The Guardian ever do the UK down. They are for all of us.

    • @integinteg9222
      @integinteg9222 Před 5 měsíci

      Do your homework

    • @colinelliott5629
      @colinelliott5629 Před 5 měsíci

      ​@@integinteg9222Irony .......

    • @pauln6803
      @pauln6803 Před 5 měsíci

      It's a media outlet, just the same as any other.
      Clickbait and misinformation has had to take centre stage now that a politician caught with their trousers around their ankles isn't such a scandal anymore.

    • @RR-us2kp
      @RR-us2kp Před 5 měsíci

      ​@@integinteg9222dude I think he was being sarcastic

  • @nickwinn7812
    @nickwinn7812 Před 5 měsíci +1

    There are certainly many worrying issues at Sellafield, but this "report" is total nonsense.

  • @pauladw
    @pauladw Před 5 měsíci +2

    "The burden of nuclear waste is here for countless generations to come"... Yeah well, you use a voluntarily scary way to name things while not actually describing the burden. The burden is literally investing a few pounds per citizen in waste management in exchange for almost free & almost unlimited ENERGY. The benefits far exceed the costs.

    • @nlwilson4892
      @nlwilson4892 Před 5 měsíci +1

      "Almost free" that was what they promised us in the 50s. It has never been the case, not even close. All those various grades of waste, the containment facilities, the security, it all costs rather a lot of money. They're about 20 years into a 100 year programme of decommissioning the site and they still don't have solutions for some of the problems.

  • @wobblybobengland
    @wobblybobengland Před 4 měsíci +1

    "Europe's most dangerous nuclear site" Guardian is so full of toxic radioactive waste, I can't believe a word they say.

  • @Cornz38
    @Cornz38 Před 5 měsíci +4

    Shameless plug: Kraftwerk with their brilliant "radioactivity" and the even better WIlliam Orbit 12" remix

  • @Revup1
    @Revup1 Před 5 měsíci +48

    I especially loved the cloud of waste projected over Norway 4:52. A cursory glance at any weather system over the UK will show you that such a spread would be impossible. Strange that the two nations that worry about selafield, Norway and Ireland, are also anti-nuclear states!

    • @alexmanojlovic768
      @alexmanojlovic768 Před 5 měsíci

      Actually a nuclear explosion the magnitude of a power station going boom could cause a superheated pocket of rapidly rising air which could alter weather patterns locally. Look into the US HAARP weather control arrays that exist & DO work as designed.

    • @EdKenny
      @EdKenny Před 5 měsíci +9

      Ireland aren't anti-nuclear. They are honest in their assessment that they couldn't run large nuclear facilities. But to be clear, despite no risk of a meltdown, there is still the possiblity of nuclear material becoming airborne from Sellafield and weather systems spreading that material.

    • @Bigtimecharliepotatoes
      @Bigtimecharliepotatoes Před 5 měsíci +4

      Someone wants to check out the cancer rates & birth defects & infant deaths in the area. I have said that for years especially in the 70s & early 80s 😢

    • @brutonstreettailor4570
      @brutonstreettailor4570 Před 5 měsíci +5

      So safe they had to change its name from Windscale in order that over the years people would “forget” the negative associations with it.

    • @Kylem6875
      @Kylem6875 Před 5 měsíci +5

      @@brutonstreettailor4570 Given its primary purpose shifted from the production of atomic weapons to reprocessing commercial nuclear fuel, it sort of makes sense.

  • @blanne9628
    @blanne9628 Před 5 měsíci +2

    the guardian out to lie about everything as usual

  • @riksstuff.6429
    @riksstuff.6429 Před 5 měsíci +4

    The biggest measure of the validity of this drivel is that they showed the spectacular train crash but failed to mention the result. The nuclear flask was fine. The rest of the article can be viewed in the same light - not sure I want to get on another train though. Maybe an in depth exposé on the number of people killed by trains yearly vs. nuclear disasters might bring some balance?

  • @iangreenstreet1407
    @iangreenstreet1407 Před 5 měsíci +1

    A very misleading report- shame on you Guardian

  • @artistphilb
    @artistphilb Před 5 měsíci +1

    You got it wrong about how long Plutonium remains radioactive, 24,000 years is the half life, that means it will be only half as radioactive after this time. If less CO2 is desirable nuclear energy will have to be part of the solution so these issues will have to be resolved.

  • @terrythomas8482
    @terrythomas8482 Před 5 měsíci +5

    The cooling ponds were leaking 30 years ago & still are....

  • @user-ls7xf4lk6t
    @user-ls7xf4lk6t Před 5 měsíci +1

    The Guardian is on par with The Sun. Only a simpleton would believe The Guardians unprofessionalism.

  • @CA_I
    @CA_I Před 5 měsíci +1

    The site does carry risks, i mean, they've got the worlds largest store of civil plutonium there, for one. The risk may differ from Chernobyl, but to be dismissive of the risk is wrong.
    The point being, we still have no long-term solution for the storage of highly radioactive waste. They kept reprocessing spent fuel and have no current use for the recovered Pu. Attempts to use it to make MOX fuel failed.
    The cost of storing the stuff securely is huge.

    • @Kylem6875
      @Kylem6875 Před 5 měsíci

      Plants are currently being constructed on the Site to repackage the Pu until a long-term solution is agreed upon.

  • @JTV84
    @JTV84 Před 5 měsíci +1

    no mention of cockrofts follies and the part they played. sheer negativity.

  • @Cornz38
    @Cornz38 Před 5 měsíci +3

    You do know that the longer a half life, the less dangerous the radioactivity?

  • @warnz9701
    @warnz9701 Před 5 měsíci +2

    More BS from a BS media company

  • @kitcat4512
    @kitcat4512 Před 5 měsíci +3

    For safety reasons French courts banned fracking in France, nuclear and fracking don't go well together.

    • @piscesDRB
      @piscesDRB Před 5 měsíci

      Why?

    • @krashd
      @krashd Před 5 měsíci

      @@piscesDRB Fracking can cause minor earthquakes and in the event of an earthquake a nuclear plant has to be shut down and inspected, so a country with more nuclear power plants per area than anywhere else would obviously see fracking as a huge problem.

    • @leosmith848
      @leosmith848 Před 5 měsíci +1

      @@krashd The UK has over 2000 'minor earthquakes' every year without any fracking. Keep you oil company shilling out of it.

  • @markwebster4996
    @markwebster4996 Před 5 měsíci +17

    The site has issues and concerns of its own but a Chernobyl it is not. Chernobyl involved a majorly flawed design, a complete disregard for safety protocols and a government actively trying to hide the incidents. The general public was not nearly as knowledgeable about nuclear power and its risks then as they are now. The layers of failure that occurred in Ukraine in 1986 are essentially impossible in the UK. Even with mass corruption and failures, what happened in the USSR is a special kinda of disaster.

    • @geoffreycodnett6570
      @geoffreycodnett6570 Před 5 měsíci

      The point is that there is no nuclear power station or reactor on the site. Like Dounreay the place no longer exists as a producer of energy or is a breeder reactor
      There is nothing there that could explode in any way. No reactor being designed for use in the UK would be capable of causing the problems that were present in designs of the 1950s. Sellafield as it's now called is a recycling plant.

    • @Kylem6875
      @Kylem6875 Před 5 měsíci +2

      @@geoffreycodnett6570 You’re correct, none of the 7 reactors on the Site pose any radiological risk. They’re all, for the most part, defuelled. Recycling is possibly far-fetched by today’s considerations as all reprocessing operations have stopped. All that remains is the task of remediation and cleaning up the legacy facilities and constructing new ones to house the waste generated as a result of that.
      This video is complete nonsense and tries to paint modern nuclear in the picture of the past with the usual rhetoric and focus on incidents from many years ago. THORP’s leak, whilst serious, was completely contained within the cell, as are nuclear installations designed to do in the event of a release of internal containment. The cascade ventilation systems within the plant would mean absolutely none of this would be released into the wider environment.

  • @f0rtuzer0
    @f0rtuzer0 Před 5 měsíci +21

    Pretty much exactly what you'd expect from the Graun and most other major outlets currently. Manipulative and just `wrong` on so many things.

  • @robertbrook1658
    @robertbrook1658 Před 5 měsíci +1

    Guardian is Britain's worst newspaper

  • @user-ne4ry5wz1i
    @user-ne4ry5wz1i Před 5 měsíci

    Electricity is expensive,we can't stop it,we need money

  • @TuaTagovailoaTouchdowns
    @TuaTagovailoaTouchdowns Před 5 měsíci +1

    Too often is nuclear energy vilified.

  • @composedlight6850
    @composedlight6850 Před 5 měsíci +20

    and at the same time, a blind eye is turned to Dounreay -- that site is and will remain polluted with radioactive waste; a shaft with unknown quantities of waste it has been left to contaminate groundwater and then there is all the radioactive waste that has been pumped out into the sea and regularly gets washed up on beaches .

    • @ronniewilliams9884
      @ronniewilliams9884 Před 5 měsíci +4

      The shaft you refer to is currently being emptied

    • @bikechainmic
      @bikechainmic Před 5 měsíci +6

      Having done a survey up there, I will tell you the background radiation is worse than the alleged spilt nuclear material. And NO I did an independant survey for a non govt company interested in quoting for a clean uing up.

    • @jackking5567
      @jackking5567 Před 5 měsíci +1

      @@bikechainmic So in other words you said it wasn't bad as a reason for quoting a low price, ensuring you got the contract?

    • @jimsaq
      @jimsaq Před 5 měsíci

      @@jackking5567 i don't think you thought that through very well

    • @dogsnads5634
      @dogsnads5634 Před 5 měsíci +3

      A massive cleanup costing billions is underway at Dounreay....including clearing up the shaft....
      Thats hardly a blind eye...

  • @MervynPartin
    @MervynPartin Před 5 měsíci +13

    "Widely considered to be...…" by The Guardian, no less! So it must be true- Help!

  • @Weaponsandstuff93
    @Weaponsandstuff93 Před 5 měsíci +6

    The only similarity it ever had with Chernobyl was the Windscale fire back when it was being used as a weapons manufacturing reactor.

    • @piscesDRB
      @piscesDRB Před 5 měsíci +1

      That's what the Windscale reactor was for, which is why WE ARE FREE!

  • @GraphicalRanger
    @GraphicalRanger Před 5 měsíci +2

    Must be some way to keep warm instead of incompetent companies and government planning. If Gov actually want people comfortable the should talk peace and should look at leveling up technical skill to deal with nuclear power instead of of half-hearted abandonment - no wonder there's problems...
    Shocking journalism too but that's no surprise these days ...

  • @erikson024
    @erikson024 Před 5 měsíci +4

    Extremely poor journalism from Guardian as usual , no new material or evidence just some annonymous sources about a cyber attack and decade old articles being brought up....keep it up Guardian ...no wonder you are failing

  • @japfourme381
    @japfourme381 Před 5 měsíci +1

    I didn’t realise Sellafield reactor, was still here!!

    • @leosmith848
      @leosmith848 Před 5 měsíci +2

      Ther is no reactor at sellafield

    • @Kylem6875
      @Kylem6875 Před 5 měsíci

      @@leosmith848 There are reactors at Sellafield, they're just devoid of fuel.

  • @aidenwoodburn7646
    @aidenwoodburn7646 Před 5 měsíci

    Who did the year long investigation?? 😂

  • @RebelSaturn-ld2oi
    @RebelSaturn-ld2oi Před 5 měsíci +1

    I spend my entire life in fear of cosmic destruction , at any point ... an infinitely powerful incident has the power to vanish our planet and / or solar system. Nuclear waste is my second biggest fear , followed by ww3 war

    • @leosmith848
      @leosmith848 Před 5 měsíci +4

      I feel extremely sorry for you. My greatest fear is that we are incerasingly run by people like you. And that 'renewable' energy will bankrupt the West...

  • @user-zo2rx6pj8j
    @user-zo2rx6pj8j Před 5 měsíci +22

    Storage of radioactive waste is easier than you think. See letter in the professional Engineer. We have just been thinking about it in the wrong way. But I agree the current above ground storage is unacceptable.

    • @domtweed7323
      @domtweed7323 Před 5 měsíci +1

      Why can't we reprocess it to make new nuclear fuel rods, like the French.
      If it really is that radioactive it's full of energy. Energy that should be making green electricity.

    • @knightsnight5929
      @knightsnight5929 Před 5 měsíci +2

      ​@@domtweed7323nope tried that, it was a commercial disaster.

    • @domtweed7323
      @domtweed7323 Před 5 měsíci +2

      @@knightsnight5929 Yes, because natural uranium is much cheaper.
      But it's worth it for energy security. Reprocessing means that when there's a severe shortage (and every energy market gets severe shortages every few decades) your supply is stable.
      It's the same reason we subsidies British farmers. It's commercially unviable, but worth it when there's a shortage

    • @peter_meyer
      @peter_meyer Před 5 měsíci

      "See letter in the professional Engineer." That was a letter to the editor?

  • @asphyxxiant
    @asphyxxiant Před 5 měsíci +2

    If you comment without reporting this video for misinformation, all you are doing is helping the YT algorithms promote it. Hit that report button, don't be lazy.

  • @Sxuk
    @Sxuk Před 5 měsíci +1

    Insanity

  • @BruceDuncan
    @BruceDuncan Před 5 měsíci +1

    Hmm, pretty poor reporting. Expected better.

  • @colintuffs568
    @colintuffs568 Před 5 měsíci +9

    The Iron Lady signed an agreement with Japan to take their nuclear waste and reprocess it . The building is The Thermal Oxygen Reprocessing Plant known as THORP HEAD END .

    • @piscesDRB
      @piscesDRB Před 5 měsíci +4

      Thermal Oxide. Refers to fuel type. Head End is just part of the plant receiving fuel. Are you opposed to making money in a safe and regulated manner?

    • @colintuffs568
      @colintuffs568 Před 5 měsíci +1

      @@piscesDRB what if its not safe for the next 25000 years ?

    • @Kylem6875
      @Kylem6875 Před 5 měsíci +3

      THORP reprocessed fuel from many other countries, including Japan, and was able to handle various types of oxide fuels, such as our domestic AGR fuel.
      As previously mentioned, Head End refers to the stage where fuel is sheared and dissolved prior to chemical separation.
      The reprocessed waste is now being returned to Japan and other customer via container transport on ships.
      THORP discontinued fuel receipts in 2018. The plant is now being cleaned out. This information is all available on the Sellafield CZcams channel.

  • @BeThVeMy
    @BeThVeMy Před 5 měsíci +1

    It was 1986 year. You are an amateurs that looking for topic in nuclear area. Or I misunderstood in dates.

  • @ub3rfr3nzy94
    @ub3rfr3nzy94 Před 5 měsíci +1

    Guardian stepping up the anti-nuclear rhetoric as the oil companies line their pockets.

  • @Daniel-go6sw
    @Daniel-go6sw Před 5 měsíci

    Why is Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan incorporated into China at 0:50 ?

  • @felisasininus1784
    @felisasininus1784 Před 5 měsíci

    Congratulations, Northern Europe!

  • @neilmclachlan3931
    @neilmclachlan3931 Před 5 měsíci +3

    The Guardian often gets arts graduates to do it's science, they don't do science and struggle with basic arithmetic.

  • @rushy4062
    @rushy4062 Před 5 měsíci

    Just so you know, the map with Russia and China at 0:50 shows Kyrgyzstan as a part of China 🤨

  • @STKS1991
    @STKS1991 Před 5 měsíci +4

    Sellafield can never cause problems like chernobyl - because sellafield is a storage site, not a reactor. There is no possibility of a nuclear meltdown and subsequent fire.

    • @SnakePliskin762
      @SnakePliskin762 Před 5 měsíci +2

      Worse. We're talking about a criticality amongst weapons grade plutonium in crumbling legacy buildings built in the 50s.

    • @tabularasa7775
      @tabularasa7775 Před 5 měsíci +3

      Never , ever say never

    • @derekp2674
      @derekp2674 Před 5 měsíci

      @@SnakePliskin762 I believe the plutonium stored at Sellafield is civil grade.

    • @SnakePliskin762
      @SnakePliskin762 Před 5 měsíci

      @@derekp2674 believe or know?

    • @Kylem6875
      @Kylem6875 Před 5 měsíci

      @@SnakePliskin762 That’s not worse. Criticalities don’t explode like bombs do. Nobody has died from a criticality more than 1 metre from the source. Stop spreading nonsense.

  • @stoicsceptic8420
    @stoicsceptic8420 Před 5 měsíci

    Of course …..

  • @benpinder889
    @benpinder889 Před 2 měsíci

    A national disgrace.