BNFL is participating in a public hearing held by the European parliament's in Brussels on 17 and 18 April to examine the impact of nuclear reprocessing on communities and regions with the EU.

Forum Response: BNFL

John Clarke, head of safety at Sellafield, told ePolitix.com: "We are very pleased to have the opportunity to directly address the parliament and to present the facts. There is a lot of misinformation about the nuclear industry in general and reprocessing in particular and I think this debate is a very valuable contribution.

"Sellafield's discharges are tightly regulated and controlled under UK and EU legislation and within the context of international agreements. Numerous studies by scientific organisations and regulatory agencies have confirmed that our activities do not threaten public health or the marine environment.

"One of the greatest misrepresentations is that two million gallons of 'nuclear waste' are discharged every day. Most of this volume is actually just rainwater collected on the site, with more than 99.99% of the total radioactivity retained.

"We have invested more than £2 billion in waste management and effluent clean up plants at Sellafield over the last fifteen years. Discharges of the most significant radioactive substances are now around 1% of what they were in the 1970s."