The Sellafield controversy: The state of local attitudes

Two coincidental incidents in late 1983 drew attention to the controversy surrounding the Sellafield reprocessing plant. One was the broadcasting of a television documentary about the plant called 'The Nuclear Laundry', which alleged that Sellafield discharges more radioactivity than any other nuclear plant in the UK. The other was the disclosure that a serious operational error at the plant led to the discharge into the sea of radioactive effluent that should have been treated further. Research has been carried out into the attitudes of local people to key issues in the Sellafield controversy. The results of the local findings are presented. It was found that active opposition to Sellafield comes not from the immediate vicinity but from groups based some distance away, at Barrow and Maryport. (UK)