| Administrative History | In late May 1985, a joint application in the name of the UKAEA and British Nuclear Fuels plc. (BNFL) was made to Highland Regional Council for planning permission to construct the proposed European Demonstration Reprocessing Plant (EDRP), at Dounreay. Given the scale of the project and the wider implications of such a proposal, the application was called in by the Secretary of State for Scotland in order that a public inquiry could be held. Dounreay was established in the mid-fifties as the centre for Britain's fast reactor research programme, and in 1959 the Dounreay fast reactor (DFR) became the first experimental power-producing fast reactor. This reactor, which operated until 1977, had its own reprocessing plant, as did the prototype fast reactor (PFR) which ran successfully for twenty years before being closed down in 1994. Therefore Britain, and in particular Dounreay, had extensive experience in operating fast reactors and in the management of
reprocessing facilities. Concurrent with this research and development, similar work was being carried out in other European countries. Given this apparent duplication, the British government decided that its best interest lay in a collaborative arrangement with countries committed to the fast reactor, thereby making best use of all the available expertise and technical facilities.
Within the UK, the government believed that no site could lay such a powerful claim for consideration as Dounreay which had been successfully and safely reprocessing plutonium fuels for many years and was considered a world leader in the development of the necessary technology. Importantly, there was sufficient capacity for further development on UKAEA-owned land adjacent to the existing licensed site. The government was also aware that over the thirty years it had been established a very good relationship had developed with the local community; it also employed over 2,000 people, making it by far the largest employer in the area, and further expansion would probably be welcomed.
It was also felt that the infrastructure of the area - railway, road and airport facilities - had the capacity for further expansion to cope with traffic of all types.
The stakes were therefore high when the Public Inquiry opened in the Town Hall, Thurso, on 7th April 1986. The Inquiry ran until 19 November 1986, making it the longest Public Inquiry to be held in Scotland. It included a two-day session in Kirkwall, and a one-and-a-half-day session in Invergordon. The Reporter ruled against holding a session in Shetland.
The Reporter also carried out external inspections of areas central to the Inquiry both in Caithness and Easter Ross where the use of the ports in the latter area were being considered. He also travelled in the driver's cab of a passenger train from Invergordon to Georgemas (Caithness), observing the line and its built-in safety features.
Over 2,700 written submissions were received of which only twelve, mostly from Caithness residents, were in favour. A petition, containing 10,000 signatures from addresses within the highlands and islands, and a further 10,000 postcards addressed to Greenpeace, all opposing the proposal were presented to the Inquiry. |