BRITAIN’s Environment Agency plans to allow emissions of a radioactive gas from the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria to rise threefold.
In recommendations to health and environment ministers, the EA has rejected an option from its own consultants to introduce technology to freeze and store the gas in question, krypton-85, and in doing so make money by extracting valuable xenon gas. The EA’s decision has been dubbed “spineless” by Greenpeace.
As the krypton freezes, the xenon condenses from the air. The market is growing for xenon, which is used in car headlights, double-glazing and lasers.
Krypton-85 is created in nuclear…
