Much of the environmental work that is required before Lydd airport, close to Dungeness nuclear power station, can extend its runway has now been completed, according to recently published documentation (the 84 page Construction Environment Management Plan) from Shepway District Council, says Louise Barton from the Lydd Airport Action Group. However, nuclear safety has been downgraded, at the same time as environmental concerns have gained more attention, she claims.
Completion of the environmental work means that the runway extension is closer to happening, whilst still initially making use of the old terminal building, and it could now be used for over 100 flights a day by much larger aircraft, such as Boeing 737s. Barton, who has led the Lydd Airport Action Group’s campaign for the last 11 years, therefore continues to highlight the dangers of an aircraft accident at Dungeness, which could cause a serious radiological release to unacceptably high levels.
This probability, she asserts, has been greatly strengthened by the current permission to allow up to 40,000 flights per annum in the vicinity of the nuclear power station. This is up from 6,000 permitted flights (around 16 a day) in the earlier 1992 consent, a increase of almost 700 percent. Barton concludes: “The net result is a considerable decline in safety standards from a nuclear safety perspective between the two decisions”.
The 1992 permission only allowed 6,000 flights of “aircraft with the critical mass to cause a significant radiological release should an aircraft crash into the Dungeness nuclear power complex”, she says. “In addition, flight paths are allowed that result in aircraft pointing directly at the power stations. In the 1992 decision, these flight paths were not permitted” she added.
However, at the same time, Barton points out, “while the envioronmental conditions imposed with this new permission have been strengthened considerably, relative to those attached to the 1992 decision, those relating to nuclear safety have been correspondingly weakened”.
(Source: Lydd Airport Action Group)
Illustration: Lydd Airport Action Group