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| The Olympic site is said to house radioactive waste |
THOUSANDS of tonnes of radioactive waste is to be
buried in a “nuclear bunker” next to the Olympic stadium under
construction in London.
Contaminated soil found around old industrial
works on the site will be sealed in a radiation-proof concrete container
just 400 yards from the athletics track and 250 yards from Stratford
International rail station.
A
total of 7,300 tonnes of toxic soil will be buried in the “disposal
cell” between the stadium, the station and the River Lee which drains
into the Thames. It will be lined with a plastic membrane and capped
with 4ft of clay.
Two hundred tonnes of the radio- active waste was discovered directly beneath the site of the stadium itself.
The
massive bunker, the size of half a football pitch, will be built under
an approach ramp to a bridge across the River Lee inside the Olympic
Park and next to a site where new homes will be built after the 2012
games.
Documents obtained
by the Sunday Express show houses built in the immediate area after the
Olympics will have to be designed to prevent the radioactive gas radon
leaking in. The documents also reveal contaminated water from beneath
the bunker will be prevented from entering the water supply because of
potential danger.
Last night Liberal Democrat Olympic spokesman Don
Foster MP called on the Olympic Delivery Authority to reveal scientific
proof that the site would be safe for future generations.
The
soil was contaminated by several former industries, including plants
which made luminous dials for military use. Thorium, a radioactive
isotope with a half-life of more than 14 billion years, was used in
making London’s gas street lights.
Radium,
used in the manufacture of luminous dials, decays into radon which can
seep into the atmosphere, into water and into homes.
Experts
say many other radioactive isotopes are likely to be present. The
Olympic Delivery Authority says the contaminated spoil is all “naturally
occurring”, with low-level radiation.
But Mr Foster said: “My immediate reaction is one
of concern. It does not do anybody any good to have stuff like this
buried next door to where they live. The ODA should now provide a
detailed statement of exactly what is there.
“We need independent experts to assure the public that the environment is safe for future generations.”
A
radioactive disposal expert who did not want to be named said: “We need
to see a full safety analysis of the site for the past, the present and
the future. We haven’t seen that and that worries me.”
Mike
Wells, 50, who lives in Hackney, said: “The Olympic organisers have
gone for dig first and think second when it should have been the other
way round. A lot of people here are worried.”
Those familiar with the site have always had doubts about pushing through such a complex project in a limited amount of time.
Many
of the facilities are being built on the former West Ham landfill tip,
where drums of radioactive waste and other chemicals were dumped in the
Fifties and Sixties.
The
stadium complex itself stands on the site of a former nuclear reactor
used by scientists at London University until it was decommissioned in
1982.
A report from
radiological consultants Nuvia told the ODA the overall risk to site
workers and future visitors was “negligible” and within safety
standards. But it warned any future housing “would need to be designed
to minimise radon intrusion”. And it added: “Water should not be
abstracted from below the disposal site to water vegetables, etc.”
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