Scientists Say UK Nuclear Waste Committee Was Rubbish

Two scientists who served on the British government's Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) but later resigned from it have gone public with harsh criticisms. Professor David Ball and Dr. Keith Baverstock accuse Prime Minister Tony Blair of "manipulating" the CoRWM for "political ends." The CoRWM approved of underground storage for high-level nuclear waste; the scientists say this conclusion "was used to push through the Cabinet the decision to go ahead with a new generation of nuclear power stations." They also expressed concern that four of the 12 CoRWM members had financial ties to consultancies working for the committee. Baverstock warned that CoRWM's compromised process "has resulted in continued and unnecessary exposure of the public to the ongoing risk of temporarily stored nuclear waste, surely a legitimate public concern in this age of terrorism." Parliamentarian Alan Simpson said, referring to how to handle waste from nuclear power plants, "No one has a clue how to do this safely."