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Tour of Radley
PFA
Disposal at Radley
Since
1984, Didcot Power Station
has been pumping Pulverised Fuel Ash, or PFA, in
the form of a slurry, into various gravel pits at Radley.
The water used to transport the ash is drained off into
the Thames, leaving the ash to settle and solidify within
the lake void. Nine lakes have already been filled this
way, including several to the east of the mainline railway
(phase 1). Since the late 1990s, filling has moved to
the western lakes (phase 2) using a far more brutal
process that devastates not only the lake, but also
its surroundings, which disappear under huge clay bunds
now required to contain the deposited ash. Not only
that, but the Power Station has been unable or unwilling
to maintain the original ground levels, with the result
that the lakes eventually become raised barren plateaux
intruding onto the Thames flood plain.
A
campaign is underway to prevent the remaining lakes
from being destroyed.
[Map]
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