BNFL ordered to cull radioactive animals

12 March 1998

BNFL ordered to cull radioactive animals

THE Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has ordered British Nuclear Fuels
(BNFL) to kill pigeons, seagulls, rabbits and other wildlife before testing them for contamination from the Sellafield nuclear plant, in Cumbria.

The Inspectorate is alarmed at the results of tests that prove contamination in the animals.

On February 14, the Ministry of Agriculture warned people living within 10
miles of Sellafield not to eat pigeons. No figures have been published on the
extent of contamination but investigations have been widened.

BNFL is trying to seal off and close all roosting and nesting sites at
Sellafield. It said all new buildings were pigeon-proof. Older buildings were
being decommissioned. Feathers and droppings risk contaminating areas on which they drop.

• The Guardian 12/03/98 page 4