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This letter was published in the Whitehaven News on Wednesday January 11th 2023 under the heading: Coal Mine vs GDF
The heading sent in was: Coal Mine Boss Compiles Latest Nuclear Dump Plans for Government (who have just approved his coal mine)
Dear Editor,
With the UK average annual temperature topping 10C for first time it should be obvious that industries topping over one million tonnes of CO2 (e) yearly should be curtailed. However there is one industry that has recently taken to calling itself “clean” while emitting way over a million tonnes. This is the UKs growth industry of nuclear waste. From the horses mouth: "Using Greenhouse Gas Protocol methodology, the total NDA (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) group carbon footprint for 2019/20 is 1,046,950 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)”
The NDA go on to justify this by claiming that: "This figure is comparable to other similar UK industries” but they fail to name even one of these “similar UK industries.” Why? Is it because the other industries don’t claim to be “clean”? What industries similar to the “clean” nuclear waste industry emits over one million tonnes of CO2(e) yearly ? This figure is projected to increase with “the biggest environmental project ever in the UK” namely a deep nuclear dump containing humanity’s most toxic legacy. The key Government advisor for this nuclear dump happens to be the CEO of the recently approved coal mine, Mark Kirkbride. The coal mine would officially emit 400,000 tonnes of CO2 yearly - a drop in the ocean of nuclear waste’s ongoing legacy of CO2(e) and the arguably more likely extinction level event of the UKs radioactive wastes near the earthquake inducing coal mine.
What industry "similar to the NDA" produces over one million tonnes of CO2(e) yearly with this figure set to rise with Geological Disposal Facility proposed construction? (as advised by the coal mine boss!)
The Planning Inspector for the coal mine indicated that the geological instability created by the coal mine meant that induced earthquakes "could not be ruled out." Will the NDA be safeguarding the UK's nuclear waste stockpile and the subsea geology of the Irish Sea (which the Government plan to use as a Geological Disposal Facility) by challenging the Governments decision to approve the coal mine?
yours sincerely,