from Sunday Herald, 16 March 2014
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has clarified a correction made by the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, last week after he was accused by the First Minister, Alex Salmond, of deceiving parliament.
Hammond admitted he had been wrong to say that the January 2012 radiation incident at the Vulcan reactor in Caithness had resulted in "no measurable change in the radiation discharge". The Sunday Herald revealed last week that it had in fact led to a tenfold increase in radioactive gas emissions.
In his correction, Hammond said that he had meant to say “no measurable change in the alpha-emitting particulate discharge" from the site. But the Scottish Environment Protection Agency pointed out that no such discharges were permitted from Vulcan so they should “always be zero”.
Salmond criticised Hammond for causing further confusion. “Even in the correction, there still seems to be a dedication to obfuscation and to concealing information,” he told the Scottish Parliament.
The MoD accepted that alpha-emitting discharges have been zero in recent years. “Increased levels of alpha-emitting particles can be an early indication of issues with pressurised water reactors, which is why the Defence Secretary wanted to be clear that there has been no increase in alpha-emitting discharges,” said an MoD spokeswoman.
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