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I, John Dyer, have been researching, since 1983, the decommissioning and subsequent dumping of nuclear materials/waste by Shell at its Thornton Research Centre, Cheshire, in 1968. Shell's illegal mass nuclear dumping was an act planned, executed, and authorised by Shell at the highest (director) level. The full story has many extraordinary, strange, almost unbelievable turns. I was first informed of the nuclear decommissioning in 1971; however, it wasn't until a seemingly innocuous remark by one of the nuclear decommissioners in 1988 that I understood the reality and possible (horrifying) significance of the allegations. In 1993, my findings led to the commissioning of a 'Shell nuclear dumping' programme for Carlton Television. Shell reacted in a wholly unreasonable (hysterical is not, I believe, an exaggeration) manner. Investigators were assigned to keep me under surveillance, my phone was tapped, my mail intercepted and/or withheld. Another arm of Shell's strategy was to file a seemingly endless line of complaints with the ITC, Carlton Television's lawyer, and others, concerning my alleged conduct. A matter of days before the proposed transmission date, 10 February 1994, Shell produced an extensive and detailed 'Narrative' setting out its official position/defence. Shell's 7 February 1994 Narrative asserted, 'Yes, a nuclear building had been demolished; however, it was, Shell claimed, a low-level (radiation) nuclear facility'. Not the reactor/testing cell, I had alleged. In short, Shell maintained I had it wrong. Shell's Narrative, combined with its policy of discrediting and rubbing out the messenger and its media contacts, resulted in the television program being canceled. The reality is that, contrary to any suggestion of my 'getting it wrong', Shell's Narrative regarding the 1968 Thornton nuclear decommissioning was a calculated criminal fabrication. By 1998, my research findings compelled Shell to acknowledge that their 7 February 1994 Narrative 'was a mistake'. However, Shell's Narrative was not a mistake. As stated in my letter to Shell's legal head dated 23 May 2000, it was 'a tissue of lies from start to finish'. Evidence now shows that Shell knew the actual events before constructing its 7 February 1994 Narrative, which explains its fabrication. The Narrative ran for several hundred words and described, for example, radiation levels that Shell allegedly 'recorded' during the purported Cobalt-60 Thornton decommissioning. In reality, none of these events occurred. The Cobalt-60 Narrative, built on falsehoods, was part of Shell's criminal efforts to conceal its nuclear dumping and related misconduct. The events related to the nuclear decommissioning are complex. This site contains line-by-line analysis of the inaccuracies in Shell's Narrative dated 7 February 1994 and related correspondence. I have now chosen to reveal the identities of the
individuals involved in the decommissioning because this is Shell's crime(s) and cover-up. Consequently, Shell's sort-out, hired 'criminals'
were actually its first victims. A
Background. Since the inception of the post-war nuclear age, Shell, one of the world's largest multinational corporations, has participated in both covert and public nuclear research programs in collaboration with various organisations. Shell's partnership with the British nuclear establishment, despite correspondence indicating that the establishment regarded Shell as untrustworthy, was driven by necessity. The most skilled applied chemists and related experts were primarily located in private industry rather than universities, contributing to the formation of the so-called military-industrial complex. Shell's nuclear undertakings required building a high-power nuclear reactor/testing cell at Shell's Thornton Research Centre, all kept secret. However, in 1968 the facility was 'panic' decommissioned; its classified status and its location in the middle of an oil refinery meant the reactor could never be acknowledged. This blocked any formal decommissioning or waste reprocessing. Some of the most dangerous materials had already been retrieved. The plan was to retrieve the remaining mandated 'waste'. The rest was destined for illegal dumping. To carry out this covert task, they hired a contractor with prior nuclear waste disposal ARREST, who received over £500,000 (cash) in today's money. The waste generated from the demolished reactor and testing cells contained Strontium-90. Radioisotopes such as Strontium-90 and Cesium-137 are commonly found in irradiated fuel elements from nuclear reactors. The radioactive isotopes Strontium-89 and Strontium-90, with a half-life of 28 years, represent some of the most hazardous byproducts of the nuclear industry. Strontium is chemically similar to calcium and accumulates in bones and other tissues, where its radioactivity causes significant biological damage. A former Thornton technical manager I interviewed not only recalled the decommissioning and its process but also identified the specific area of the Thornton site that housed a nuclear research reactor. The former Manager further explained the rationale for Shell's use of Strontium-90 at the Thornton Research Centre. Nevertheless, I was not willing to accept these claims without verification. Therefore, I spent several years locating and analysing relevant documentation to substantiate or refute the alleged nuclear research programs. My research confirms that the Manager's account was accurate. In my letter to Shell Thornton's MD, of 8 February 1999, I inquired as to how Shell would be able to square its inability, 'despite extensive research', to find any evidence about my allegations of Shell Thornton's extensive nuclear involvement, following my interviewing a senior Shell Research/Thornton (technical) Manager. He not only recalled the reactor's decommissioning; he also identified the site as housing Thornton's 'research reactor'. Given Shell's claimed inability to find any nuclear reactor evidence, I offered to hand over a transcript of my interview with said Shell's former Manager along with irrefutable documentary evidence showing that Shell Thornton and its employees and/or agents were carrying out precisely the nuclear research programs I had alleged. Only to have the offer refused on the grounds of 'costs'!(C) 2000 The contents of this WEB site are the sole property of John Alfred Dyer and cannot or may not be communicated, copied or transmitted, for commercial gain, without my expressed prior agreement, John Dyer- johndyer@nuclearcrimes.com |