DECEMBER 17, 2010 | No. 721 THE REDFERN INQUIRY: THE SELLAFIELD BODY PARTS SCANDAL As Inquiries into nuclear activities go, the findings of the three-year Inquiry led by THE REDFERN INQUIRY: THE Michael Redfern QC, published on November 16, stand out as a refreshingly SELLAFIELD BODY PARTS honest and hard-hitting indictment of the cavalier and unethical practices of SCANDAL 1 harvesting organs from deceased Sellafield workers from the 1960’s to 1992. DECEMBER 8: NUCLEAR 721.6105) CORE - Few individuals or PHASE OUT DAY’ 2 organizations directly involved in the CORE’s spokeman Martin Forwood said removal of an obscene number of organs today: CHERNOBYL STUDY ON during coroners’ or hospital post-mortems “The families will undoubtedly be CONSEQUENCES AVAILABLE remain unscathed by the Inquiry, with experiencing a mixture of relief that the ONLINE 3 criticisms leveled at British Nuclear Fuels truth of the body-parts scandal has been AFRICAN NGOs TRAINED ON plc (BNFL), its predecessor UKAEA, exposed and dismay that they were so URANIUM MINING ISSUES 4 Pathologists and Coroners involved in badly let down by those claiming to have West Cumbria at the time. their welfare and best interests at heart. CHINA: PRESSURE ON For those at the time grieving the loss of NUCLEAR POWER 6 While the long-held suspicions of a family member, it is difficult to imagine a Sellafield’s ‘Body Parts’ malpractices more heartless betrayal of trust by those IN BRIEFS 8 have been well and truly upheld by the directly involved in the scandal”. Inquiry, the level of malpractice will have shocked most observers. For the families The Inquiry paid significant attention to of the 64 Sellafield worker cases, the the role played by Dr Geoffrey Schofield Inquiry’s findings may bring some level of (died 1985) after whom a ‘prestigious’ closure, but trust in the nuclear industry laboratory is named at the Westlakes will have been dented by the extent of the Science Park near Whitehaven. As collusion between the authorities involved Sellafield’s Chief Medical Officer who and the widespread lack of openness and analyzed 53 of the 64 former Sellafield consideration towards the families whose workers organs, he was found to have consent for the harvesting of organs was given no consideration to the ethics of his not sought. work and to have taken dubious steps to obtain organs in cases that were of Providing the Inquiry with over 40 files particular interest to him. His successor containing information relating to Dr Lawson showed an equal lack of Sellafield families, CORE wholeheartedly ethical awareness and the work of both welcomes the work of Michael Redfern remained largely unsupervised by the QC and his team whose Inquiry solicitor BNFL Board. Stephen Jones had earlier thanked CORE for giving ‘a valuable lead into Equally damning is the Inquiry’s finding everything at an early stage’. The files that all the pathologists involved were not had been collated by CORE over a only profoundly ignorant of the law under number of years from the late 1980’s which they carried out the post-mortems onwards during the operation of a but also that they pandered to BNFL’s compensation fund it had organised for needs. In removing organs during post Sellafield workers and families. mortems without family consent, they breached the provisions of the Human “We’ve today heard the Government’s Issue Act 1961. apology for these wrongdoings in Body parts were taken without consent from 64 West Cumbria and elsewhere, and Coroners too came in for criticism former Sellafield employees and provided for been given assurances that a from the Inquiry for leaving analysis by their employers between 1960 and tightening of laws and regulations families in the dark, failing often to 1991. Organs were also taken without consent will ensure they will not be repeated. read post mortem reports, and from 12 workers at nuclear sites in Springfields, We trust that the industry has assisting BNFL, the National Capenhurst, Dounreay and Aldermaston to be learned from Michael Redfern’s Radiological Protection Board tested at Sellafield. lesson, and does not revert to type (NRPB) and the Medical Research The liver was removed in all cases and one or once the dust of his Inquiry has Council (MRC) to obtain organs both lungs in all but one incident. Vertebrae, settled”. heedless of whether family sternum, ribs, lymph nodes, spleen, kidneys consent had been obtained. and femur were also stripped in the majority of Source: CORE Press release, 16 incidents. Brains, tongues, hearts and testes November 2010. With its remit widened beyond the were also taken on the advice of the medical Contact: CORE, Cumbrians former Sellafield worker cases, the officer at Sellafield. Opposed to a Radioactive practice of organ harvesting at All the organs were later destroyed. Environment. other facilities in the UK was also Independent, 16 November 2010 Dry Hall, Broughton Mills, investigated by the Redfern Broughton-in-Furness, Cumbria Inquiry - some 6000 cases in total. LA20 6AZ. UK As with Sellafield, no family Tel: + 44 1229 716523 consent had been obtained. Web: www.corecumbria.co.uk Martin Forwood added: DECEMBER 8: NUCLEAR PHASE OUT DAY December 8 is “Phase Out Nuclear Energy Day” in Japan. The “Phase Out Nuclear Energy Day” campaign, which now includes a wide range of people, is supporting campaigns around country and wants to remain rooted in people’s daily lives. (721.6106) “Phase Out Nuclear Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture. About a opposition, Monju was restarted in May Energy Day” Organizing Committee - month later Shigeo Nishimura, deputy this year. There has been a series of In September this year a few people general manager of PNC's general problems, culminating in an accident on formed a “virtual group” to initiate a affairs department and one of the team August 26 in which a 3-ton fuel-loading “Phase Out Nuclear Energy Day” leaders of the in-house team tasked with device dropped into the reactor when it campaign. They created an email list looking into the cover-up, jumped to his was being removed. Monju has been and drafted a statement about the death from a hotel in Tokyo and many out of action since then. nature and purpose of the campaign details of the accident remain unclear to and publicized it through “Twitter” and this day. Monju is part of Japan’s failed nuclear “Mixi”. Supporters began to join the fuel cycle program. The Rokkasho email list and a poster and Blog were What is clear, however, is that Reprocessing Plant, another core created to gather supporters, further plutonium-fueled, sodium-cooled Monju nuclear fuel cycle facility, is also in publicize the campaign and generate is an exceptionally complicated and serious trouble. Commercial operations “phase out nuclear energy” actions all dangerous nuclear reactor, subjecting were officially postponed for the over Japan around the December 8 the public to even greater risks than eighteenth time in September. date. The campaign, which now includes “normal” light water reactors and a wide range of people, wants to remain exacerbating the problem of nuclear In earthquake-prone Japan, nuclear rooted in people’s daily lives. proliferation. power is the most unsuitable way of generating electricity. There are now 54 The “virtual” group is limiting its aim for Believing that the Monju accident should nuclear power plants operating in Japan this year to getting “Phase Out Nuclear have been the end of nuclear power in (not including Monju). Besides the Energy Day” known. We do not plan to Japan, we chose December 8 as “Phase danger of accidents, the warm water organize a major event ourselves this Out Nuclear Energy Day” to released from nuclear power plants year, but we are supporting other events simultaneously commemorate the Monju damages the marine environment and (see below). accident, call for the closure of Monju radioactivity released into the and call for a total phase out of nuclear environment during the course of regular Why December 8? power. operations bio-accumulates in the food December 8 is the fifteenth anniversary chain and exposes human beings to of the sodium leak and fire at the Monju Why phase-out nuclear energy? radiation. Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor in Unfortunately, in spite of strong 2 NUCLEAR MONITOR 721 Nuclear energy is unable to contribute to around Japan, including the 28-year Our Japanese blog is on the following solving the problem of global warming. opposition of the people of the island of link http://ameblo.jp/datsugenpatsu1208/ Rather it exacerbates the problem. Iwaishima to Chugoku Electric Power entry-10696488685.html There is an urgent need for the whole of Company’s plan to construct the Japan to shift to renewable forms of Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Plant in Source: Mari Hoshikawa, Member of energy. Yamaguchi Prefecture. We are the “Phase Out Nuclear Energy Day” sponsoring a film screening and public Organizing Committee Specific actions meeting on December 4 in Yamaguchi Contact: Kazuhide Fukada The “Phase Out Nuclear Energy Day” City. Email: [email protected] campaign is supporting campaigns CHERNOBYL STUDY ON CONSEQUENCES AVAILABLE ONLINE Most people understand that radiation from nuclear weapons production or civilian nuclear power plant accidents carry large potential health threats. Since the 1986 catastrophic Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine, a conservatively estimated 9,000 people have contracted or died from radiation-caused cancers. And an area of the Earth that is home to three billion people was contaminated by Chernobyl fallout which is found in every country in the Northern Hemisphere. Twenty-five years after the accident, sheep from parts of Wales cannot be sold because their pastures are still contaminated with radioactive Cesium-137.