Radioactive seagulls face cull
- Thu, 25 Feb 2010
- Comments (8)
Yachtsmen sailing the waters around the Irish Sea may have even more reason to ward off seagulls dropping bird lime on their decks as operators of Sellafield the atomic re-processing site are planning a cull of toxic seabirds.
The gulls swim around on open ponds which contain plutonium and radioactive waste at Western Europe's most heavily contaminated industrial site.
Martin Forwood of CORE, Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment, said the gulls then fly off to 'poison the wider area.'
A spokeswoman for the site said the culling programme under discussion could include drugged bait.
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February 26 16:19
Jay
Never mind, they can shoot them at night by the glow they give off!
"most heavily contaminated industrial site" is a very emotive description, but I wonder just what levels of contamination they're talking about in real terms! Most 'anti' people do tend to exaggerate the problem, as per Greenpeace, a few years ago, who insisted that an Oil production platform that Shell intended to sink, contained 'vast amounts of toxic waste', which actually turned out to be way less than 50 tons, out of a total weight of in excess of 1500 tons. And was only 'mildly' toxic anyway!
February 26 22:52
Chris Beeson
What are the actual levels in the ponds? The inspection and safety regimes are incredibly strict, and there's unlikely to be a health risk to the birds themselves, let alone anyone who comes into contact with them. The proposal for a cull is an indication of just how tight the health and safety controls are; but the story is a gift to CORE, who conveniently avoid giving any useful details about levels of toxicity or radiation.
February 27 15:37
John Whelan
How about you get a boat and put the drugged bait in it with access for seagulls into the boat but not out... then the dead radio active seagull bodies can all be collected and disposed off sensibly...just a thought!
February 27 21:39
DenC
Amazing. These failures always seem to happen in Britain. What's going on?