Sellafield no longer produces electricity but still needs to abstract billions of gallons of freshwater from Wastwater yearly for the cooling ponds housing high level waste and reprocessing in order to prevent catastrophe (Up to 4 million 568 gallons a day from Wastwater - enough fresh water daily for Barrow, Millom and Ulverston). Wastwater is geologically young, around 15,000 years old. High-level radioactive waste will remain dangerous for substantially longer. The Freshwater Biological Association has stated that large bodies of water in the Lakes are warming up. This means that ever more water will be needed to feed the nuclear industry. Seawater is too corrosive for such a hazardous job looking after the wastes .
Freshwater is life to the Arctic charr – an indicator
species of healthy diversity found in Wastwater but threatened by climate change. So the arctic charr is already threatened by warmer water but there is more ..small larval fish get sucked into the pipes used by nuclear plants and die even where screens are installed. Blinky the three eyed cooling pond fish in the Simpsons cartoon isn’t such phantasy!
Freshwater is our most precious resource....
A petition from South Lakeland Friends of the Earth can be signed online:
http://www.petitiononline.com/NUCLEARX/