London CND homepage

Dangerous Cargoes:

London's Nuclear Trains Trains carry highly radioactive cargoes across London most weeks, stopping for several hours at sidings at Stonebridge Park. They transport used fuel rods from nuclear power stations in the South East to the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing factory in Cumbria to separate out the plutonium they contain.

Train map

THESE CARGOES ARE DANGEROUS

  • They emit radiation continuously - and any increase in radiation means increased dangers of cancers.

  • In a serious accident escaping radioactive material would spread for miles - killing thousands of people.

  • The only current use for the plutonium extracted from the rods is in nuclear warheads, like those on the missiles carried on Britain's Trident submarine

NUKE WASTE TRAIN SPOTTING

Loaded nuclear waste trains pass through London any day, Tuesdays to Fridays. We can let you know the time(but not the day) they pass through your local station.

What the government says

* There is no danger being near a loaded nuclear waste flask. This is because radiation is "within permitted levels which are set in accordance with internationally recognised radiation protection standards"

* The nuclear waste flasks are "designed and tested to be safe under all likely conditions of transport, including serious accidents".

* "Flasks have been carried by rail for many years. Experience has proven that this is a practical, efficient and safe means of moving these very heavy loads"

* Nuclear waste is "sent to Sellafield in Cumbria for reprocessing". It is operationally convenient to transport it by rail from the various nuclear power stations in Britain. (Dept. of Environment, Transport and the Regions fact sheet)

What we say

53 nuclear waste containers have shown radioactivity levels above the international safety limit in the last 3 years. (The Observer 21/06/98)

There is "no such thing as a safe dose of radiation" (The National Radiological Protection Board 1995)

* The flasks were tested in 1985. A locomotive was driven at 100 mph into a stationary nuclear waste flask, which remained intact. However trains often travel at speeds greater than 100mph such as the train in the Southall accident on 19/11/97. The flasks also survived a drop of 9m onto concrete and an 800oC fire. However, many railway viaducts are more than 9m high and fires involving petrol tankers could burn at more than 800oC.

* In the first 3 months of 1998, 3 nuclear waste trains were derailed and one in March 2001. The French and German governments have suspended nuclear transportation due to excess levels of radioactivity

* Reprocessing is a costly operation, which produces plutonium, one of the most dangerous substances known, as well as more nuclear waste.

 

Cricklewood residents ran a successful campaign to stop British Nuclear Fuels Limited moving marshalling of nuclear trains from Stonebridge Park to Cricklewood sidings.

As part of a mediation process, concerned groups are currently questioning BNFL on the safety of the trains. Channel Four's Mark Thomas Comedy Product programme on 10 February 1999 highlighted how easy it would be for terrorists to hijack a nuclear waste trains from Dungeness power station 2 nuclear train protesters met with Bromley Councillors and outlined the dangers of nuclear waste trains passing through the borough. The Councillors asked for a detailed report, which they passed onto the Association of London Authorities.

In November 2000, the Nuclear Trains Action Group (NTAG) organised a Day of Action against nuclear trains which involved protests at 11 places nationwide along nuclear train lines. In March 2001, the Greater London Authority (GLA) began "an investigation into the safety of radioactive waste that is transported through London by train." NTAG welcomes this enquiry and is one of the bodies submitting evidence to it.