JUNIOR environment minister Angela Eagle and her expert advisers are
decidedly dischuffed鈥攊f that is the word we should use in connection with
air pollution鈥攚ith my friend Mick Hamer. Last year Hamer reported that the
government鈥檚 new system for reporting air pollution understated the health risks
because the instrument chosen for the measurements does not give sufficient
weight to particles with diameters below 10 micrometres
(This Week, 29 November 1997, p 5).
Not so, says Eagle: 鈥淭he way in which the health effects of particles are
assessed in the UK does take account of the way in which the particles were
measured.鈥� Eagle鈥檚 boss, Michael Meacher, has gone further. He asserts that
people have a right to accurate, comprehensive and timely information on the air
they breathe. 鈥淭he new system gives people here more access to information on
national air pollution levels than anywhere else in the world,鈥� he says. Meacher
also tells us defiantly that transparency in government means taking action:
鈥淎ction like this, which enables people to judge our progress in achieving our
air-pollution goals every hour of the day and night, and which enables them to
play their part by, for instance, avoiding that journey by car on days when
pollution levels are high.鈥�
IT IS 44 years since Alan Turing, fellow of King鈥檚 College, Cambridge, was
found dead in his bed in Manchester, in mysterious circumstances. Before this he
had been imprisoned for being a practising homosexual. The official verdict was
suicide, but some had their doubts.
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Turing was one of Britain鈥檚 most brilliant mathematicians. At the Government
Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, he led the project
that successfully cracked the Enigma code, which Germany used to conceal its
radio messages in the Second World War. As a result, Allied convoys were able to
avoid German U-boats and improve their chances of a safe passage across the
North Atlantic.
The late Frank Adcock, one of the editors of The Cambridge Ancient
History and another great code breaker, told me that Turing鈥檚 originality
was quite incredible. Yet Britain鈥檚 only memorial to the mathematician is part
of a ring road around Manchester which was named after him in 1993.
Which is why Ian Taylor, a science minister in the previous government, asked
me to join a committee to raise funds for a more fitting memorial.
The committee aims to create an endowment to enable a biannual award, the
Alan Turing Medal. This will go to the individual who, in the eyes of the award
team, has displayed in his or her life and work something of Turing鈥檚
originality of thought and personal integrity.
We also hope to improve public awareness of Turing鈥檚 life and work. In
particular, we want to raise enough money to produce a 35-millimetre print of
Hugh Whitemore鈥檚 TV programme Breaking the Code, starring Derek Jacobi,
which was broadcast on BBC1. This print will be an educational and fund-raising
tool worldwide.
Anyone interested in supporting this venture should contact me at the House
of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
THE issue of radioactive discharges at sea has become highly emotive.
Ministers have declared that there must be a 鈥渕ajor reduction鈥�, and this has
been echoed since the return of the Commons in October by backbenchers
representing Britain鈥檚 seaside resorts and fishermen. Michael Meacher, the
Environment Minister, has pointed out that the contamination of lobsters by
technetium-99 from Sellafield has risen worryingly
(This Week, 6 September 1997, p 10).
For some technical background I approached Neville Chamberlain, deputy
chairman of BNFL, the company that runs Sellafield. 鈥淭echnetium-99 is a
radioactive nuclide with low toxicity,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t is soluble in water and the
predominant uptake pathway to man is through the consumption of crustaceans and
molluscs. Technetium-99 is produced in nuclear reactors and is then released
into the liquid effluent stream during the reprocessing of Magnox fuel. However,
its low toxicity means that the dose impact on individuals is minimal.
鈥淭echnetium discharges, and their effect on marine life, have been known
about for some time. Discharges were reported in BNFL鈥檚 Report on
Radioactive Discharges and Monitoring of the Environment (1995). The
Environment Agency and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food have been
kept fully informed at all times.
鈥淭echnetium discharges are related to historical and present reprocessing of
Magnox fuel. THORP, on the other hand, has been designed to divert technetium
into the high-level waste stream, which is then treated and stored.
鈥淏NFL operates a policy of continuous improvement and use of best practicable
means in its environment performance. It has already applied to reduce
technetium discharge limits by 25 per cent in its variation to the Sellafield
Discharge Authorisation, which is currently being considered by the Environment
础驳别苍肠测.鈥�
BNFL recognises that there are variations of discharge levels due to the
batch processing through the Enhanced Actinide Removal Plant. As a result, it is
studying the life cycle of lobsters, and looking at ways of reducing their
take-up of technetium. I am glad that tidal flows and discharge timetables are
also being investigated to reveal the best ways of dispersing and diluting
technetium. Alas, the lobster faces many other threats, in particular the
alarming destruction of reefs in northern seas.
NOTHING in the countryside is more unsightly than a pile of old tyres. And if
they catch fire, the smoke is terrible. So I was particularly interested in a
proposed method of ridding the world of these ugly and hazardous heaps
(This Week, 7 March, p 11).
The solution is a reverse vulcanisation process that
effectively creates new rubber from ground-up old tyres. When I mentioned this
to Nigel Griffiths, a junior minister at the Department of Trade and Industry,
he agreed that the process looks interesting but pointed out that it may not be
entirely new.
鈥淢any researchers have worked in this area previously, and similar techniques
are reported to have been developed. The difficulty has been in finding a market
for the materials. But I shall have the process brought to the attention of the
tyre producers and retreaders on the Government/Industry Scrap Tyre Working
Group, who will want to consider whether the material has applications in their
manufacturing process.鈥�
I hope that the group gives this process its urgent attention.
AFTER allegations that the Royal Navy is using mahogany unlawfully, I
approached Lord John Gilbert, the procurement minister, for comment.
He admits that the Ministry of Defence has bought Brazilian mahogany, mainly
because of its durability and ease of use. But he believes that it comes from
legal sources, and that the MoD has taken all reasonable steps available to
ensure that this is the case.
Gilbert says that the MoD is pursuing the
allegations. 鈥淏ut we believe the prospects of determining whether any of the
timber supplied to the MoD is illegal are slim,鈥� he admits. 鈥淚n addition, we are
reviewing our policy on the purchase of Brazilian mahogany.鈥�
I can understand the Navy鈥檚 need for mahogany in Nelson鈥檚 time鈥攂ut in
the age of synthetic materials?