LISTEN: Caithness uranium warning from Friends of the Earth
700kg set to go from Dounreay to the USA
Friends of the Earth are warning the public not to be fooled by the PR campaign to convince them that nuclear is safe, when the opposite is true, and now they claim the UK Government's going to put people at risk by shipping radioactive waste thousands of miles to the US.
700kg of enriched uranium will be sent across the Atlantic from Dounreay in Caithness in the largest-ever shipment of radioactive waste from the UK.
Prime Minister David Cameron is calling it a "win-win" with the UK getting rid of waste, and in exchange the European Atomic Agency will receive American uranium which will be converted into medical isotopes to diagnose and treat cancer. The US uranium will be processed in France for use in hospitals across Europe.
Friends of the Earth have said that transportation across an ocean in two directions carries huge risks and radioactive waste should be treated as close to the source as possible.
Dr Richard Dixon is director of Friends of the Earth Scotland:-