By Professor John Robertson
Thanks to Frances McKie for alerting me to this.
The above two Labour candidates in Ayrshire constituencies have beaches where children play and both are, whether they want to be or not, because Sir Keir tells them to be, supporters of the reintroduction of nuclear power stations across Scotland and, in particular on the the Ayrshire coast, which is still popular on hot sunny weekends with families from all over the West of Scotland.
Sand castle building is still a thing. I see them often on my dog walks. The children building them get right into it, throwing dry sand around, inhaling particles by the million, even swallowing them.
Just down the coast, in Cumbria, next Monday, hundreds of Brownies, wee girls from 5 to 11 years-old and their families will be competing to build the best:
But, according to a letter from Radiation Free Lakeland:
Last year 40 radioactive particles and objects were found on Sellafield beach. This is the area being used for a sandcastle competition by Seascale Brownies in an event sponsored by the Mid-Copeland Community GDF Partnership.
We urge you to cancel the sponsorship of activities involving children digging for hours on the beach.
If the Mid Copeland Community Partnership refuse to cancel the sandcastle competition then we urge you to at the very least give parents sight of the latest “Sellafield Particles in the Environment (1-Jan to 14-July 2023)” report which found: “During the period 1st January to 14th July 2023 a total area of 76 ha of the beaches along the Cumbrian coast were monitored against a programme target of 65 ha. A total of 59 particles and 2 larger objects were detected, recovered and analysed,” Of the 59 particles and 2 larger objects found, 39 of these were at Sellafield beach in the area being sponsored by the Mid-Copeland Community Partnership for a sand-castle competition. Most of the particles are “alpha rich” this means that if they are inhaled or ingested they will cause harm and most especially to children and pregnant women.
The advice from Public Health England is that the risk of encountering and ingesting an alpha rich particle is “low” and equivalent to other risks beach users take. However, a parent can see if a child is about to drown in a rock pool but cannot see the alpha rich particle being put into their child’s mouth or eyes.
The Seascale Gala is celebrating 175 years of the village. This celebration should recognise that 175 years ago a child making a sand sculpture would not risk encountering any alpha rich radioactive particles. After 70 years of Sellafield that is no longer the case and the Mid-Copeland GDF Community Partnership should acknowledge that fact and at least warn parents taking part in their sponsored sand sculpture competition that their child has a “low risk” of encountering radioactive wastes in the form of alpha rich particles and objects on the beach.
We recently had the silt at Whitehaven Harbour analysed and the results were horrifying.
The laboratory used wasEberline Analytical/Oak Ridge LaboratoryUSA
“Eberline Analyticals’ Oak Ridge laboratory utilizes state-of-the-art analytical techniques and laboratory equipment. Key personnel have over 100 years of combined technical experience in the nuclear industry.”
Eberline Analytical recieved the sample in the first week of May 2024 and we recieved a 65 page report back from them on 30th May 2024 (see attached). The report makes it clear that dangerous levels of Americium 241 are present in Queen’s Dock – this material can only have come from the nuclear industry and is also present on Seascale beach in “alpha rich” particles.
The calibration used by Eberline (page 16 -19 of their Report) includes the use of AM 243 which was 36.27 kBq/g. On page 44 of the report is a stark comparison. It would be expected that if Americium was present at all at Queen’s Dock (it should not be there at all) then the Am 241 would be a far smaller spike than the calibration isotope of Am 243. The visual illustrates that the spike from Whitehaven Am 241 is bigger ie it is higher than the calibration isotope of Am 243 at 36.27 kBq/g. The sample we provided to Eberline was a teaspoonful of dried silt.
The speed in which we got this analysis back from the laboratory is in stark contrast to Sellafield’s monitoring program which takes months and years to provide minimal information to the public.
Please warn the public in order to let the public make up their own minds whether they want their children to take the “low risk” of encountering highly dangerous radioactive particles.
Readers may remember that Seascale was formerly the name of the Sellafield Nuclear Re-processing plant responsible for levels of radioactivity in Maidens shellfish and in Troon Harbour Seals way above the safe level. See:
https://www.thenational.scot/news/24091797.sellafield-nuclear-plant-cancer-fears-raised-scottish-mp/
Radiation from nuclear plants has been linked to increased incidents of childhood leukaemia:
German research suppressed by Labour Government and media in 2008 revealed under 5’s living near nuclear plants more than twice as likely to develop leukemia: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2024/06/02/german-research-suppressed-by-labour-government-and-media-in-2008-revealed-under-5s-living-near-nuclear-plants-more-than-twice-as-likely-to-develop-leukemia/
Talking-up Scotland / Facts on NHS, Crime, ferries and everything else you can think of 
LABOUR WERE EXPERT WITH PPI DEBACLE
THEY TRUSTED ‘BROON’
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CAN YOU AYRSHIRE FOLK TRYST LABOUR UNIONISTS
TO SECURE YOUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE!!!!!!!
I think NOT
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These politicians will use their personal inadequate knowledge base of nuclear power and its nuclear waste dangers to excuse themselves from the responsibility a politician has to inform people of the pros and cons of their policies in other words they purposely turn a blind eye to known dangers we now have a political system where you lose your job as a politician in uk of you do not tuen a blnd eye to known dangers , its a sad state of affairs , dangerous too but human nature is such that for many of these politicians they will knowingly misinform people and plead ignorance they do it for money promotion and personal gratification .
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Denmark used to be at the forefront of nuclear engineering but in 1985, realising the dangers of contamination to the general public, the Danish Government passed a recommendation that NO nuclear power plants would be built in Denmark.
There are also NO nuclear power stations in Norway.
2 countries in the worlds top 5 of happiest citizens because their governments have their wellbeing at the forefront of their policies.
Scotland is more Scandinavian, in outlook, than British, but we do not have the independence to make those choices.
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