Papers and slideshows by David Smythe

These are all in pdf form, in chronological order:

Why the whole of West Cumbria is unsuitable for a nuclear waste repository (November 2010). My initial slideshow demonstrating why the BGS 'screening' report of October 2010 is essentially irrelevant, because the BGS had already shown that none of the region is suitable.

Why West Cumbria is not Switzerland (January 2011). This slideshow was prepared in response to a nuclear industry geologist's critique, saying in effect that 'If a mountainous country like Switzerland can find a repository site, what's wrong with Cumbria?'

PIEDA initial list of 537 sites (January 2011). I compiled this list of the sites considered by the British Geological Survey in the late 1980s, summarised from documents I obtained under Freedom of Information. It shows that the Sellafield Longlands Farm site was never in the initial list.

How is the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) analysing the geology of potential waste repositories? (January 2011). A critique of the NDA document Geological disposal: step towards implementation, showing that the geological content of this paper is derisory.

Why a deep nuclear waste repository should not be sited in Cumbria: a geological review (April 2011). In response to the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM ) “that there is presently no credible scientific case to support the contention that all of West Cumbria is geologically unsuitable.” This paper provided a lot more detail on the local geology, supplementing my initial paper of November 2010, to refute CoRWM's case.

Response to letter submitted to MRWS:Cumbria by Dr J. Dearlove (September 2011). Dr Dearlove had been commissioned by MRWS:Cumbria to review my April 2011 paper. I refute his objections (his letter is reproduced in  the paper as an appendix), particularly with regard to his suggestion that the Mercia Mudstone Group of the Solway plain area should now be considered as a potential host rock.

Unsuitability of the Eskdale Granite as a host rock for high- and intermediate-level nuclear waste (October 2011). This paper refutes in detail Dr Dearlove's suggestion that the Eskdale granite could also be considered as a potential host rock.

The problem of rock spoil from a proposed underground nuclear waste repository in West Cumbria (October 2011). Out of the Eskdale study came the realisation that the NDA appears to be misleading and misinforming the public about the huge amount of rock spoil to be stored. This paper provides the figures.

Slideshows used in public lectures in West Cumbria: Cockermouth (2 Feb 2012) and Keswick (3 Feb 2012). They are almost identical, but the latter is slightly shorter. The lectures (no sound available) are a résumé of the separate documents listed above.

Response to West Cumbria MRWS consultation: Why a deep nuclear waste repository should not be sited in Cumbria (20 Mar 2012). This is a pdf compilation of all my arguments and presentations to date, comprising 87 pages of text and 70 diagrams.

The 1995-96 Sellafield Public Planning Inquiry

The Inspector's report

Inspector's Report (text-searchable pdf, complete,16 Mb)

Inspector's Report in three separate parts (A, B and C) Inspector's Report conclusions.

Assessor's Report (Appendix A to the Inspector's report, pdf).

Appendix 2 (Appearances) and Appendix 3 (combined pdf)

Submissions by the Objectors

The Objectors were Cumbria County Council, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace. All the Proofs of Evidence on the science were collected and published soon after the hearings as:

Radioactive waste disposal at Sellafield 
site selection, geological and engineering problems
Edited by RS Haszeldine and DK Smythe

University of Glasgow, 1996, ISBN 085261524-8.

It is available for download here.

Nirex submissions

These were on the Nirex website until about 2000, but can still be found on the Internet Archive Waybackmachine (www.archive.org), by searching for http://nirex.co.uk, then looking at an archive dated 30 May 1998, then clicking on RCF Public Inquiry Proofs of Evidence, then clicking on the Title of Proof required. I have collected here the Proofs on scientific matters, plus the Closing Submissions. The web page versions of the Proofs have been assembled into separate pdfs. The quality of reproduction of the diagrams is very low, as the original high-resolution images were never archived. I have printed versions of the Proofs in case anyone needs a high-quality copy of any of the figures.

Proofs of Evidence (S - Supplementary proof)

Science overview (Dr J. Holmes)

Science overview (S) (Dr J. Holmes)

Geology and hydrogeology (Dr R. Chaplow)

Geology and hydrogeology (S) (Dr R. Chaplow)

Repository performance (Dr. A.J. Hooper)

Repository performance (S) (Dr. A.J. Hooper)

Role of the RCF (Dr D.W. Mellor)

Scientific case for the RCF (Prof. R.K. O'Nions)

Multi-attribute decision analysis (Dr L.D. Phillips)

Closing submissions

Key papers on repository siting

Strategy for radioactive waste disposal in crystalline rocks. J. D. Bredehoeft and T. Maini (1981).

Geological environments for deep disposal of intermediate level wastes in the United Kingdom. N.A.Chapman, T.J.McEwen and H.Beale (1986).

The BGS screening report of West Cumbria, 2010

Main report text, Figs 3-14 (excl Fig. 9), Figure 9, and Non-technical summary.

Nuclear safety regulation

UK nuclear safety regulation is complacent, compared to that of France. In 2011 the governments of both countries commissioned reports to review nuclear safety in the light of Fukushima. The full reports are here:

UK Office of Nuclear Regulation final report, September 2011.

French report by the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), December 2011.

The release of the final UK report, authored by Dr Mike Weightman, was covered in The Guardian and by the BBC. An interim version had been reviewed by Greenpeace. The rather more comprehensive French report was discussed in Nature in January 2012, both in an article and in an editorial. It also received seven full pages of coverage on 4 January and 5 January in Le Monde.

Miscellaneous

I shall add stuff here (scientific journal papers, for example) once I am sure that it is not in copyright.

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