Why is Sellafield Europe's most dangerous nuclear site?

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’.

The Guardian on YouTube:

#Nuclear #NuclearPower #Sellafield #Cumbria #UK #News

[TheStubertos]

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.

[W.J.Blythe]

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

[williamcoulter]

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.

[Eddygeek]

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.

[ccooxxyy]

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

[Kefuddle]

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

[stratosky]

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

[giovannifacci]

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)

[davidmacdonald]

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.

[columbus]

The likelihood of a Chernobyl scale event is essentially zero.

[silverXnoise]

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.

[eileenmcchrystal]

Some of us are old enough to have remembered Windscale.

[lukeqq]

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.

[emmapelham]

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.

[tonyjones]

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?

[jodejones]

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.

[conradmilligan]

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.

[pef]

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

[silverXnoise]

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

[AlexPacker]

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.