BNFL memoir revives nuclear safety fears

[Aurora]

The Guardian - 07/03/10

The autobiography of a former director of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) is likely to reignite fears about the safety of nuclear power, as Britain prepares for a new generation of reactors, by exposing the panic that rocked the industry two decades ago when a link was suggested between radiation and childhood leukaemia.

At its height, workers at Sellafield were advised not to have children, while bosses at the Cumbrian nuclear complex even proposed establishing a sperm bank or calling for "radiation volunteers" from among older workers in order to reduce levels of exposure for workers of child-bearing age.

The Tenth Child, by Harold Bolter, a former chairman of the Nuclear Industry Association, reveals the extent of concern within the industry following a damaging report into clusters of illness around the Cumbrian reprocessing facility in the 1990s. It comes as Britain prepares to build up to half a dozen nuclear power stations, some of them possibly sited in that area.

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