Nuclear station cleaning balls wash up on beaches

Dozens of bright blue balls used for cleaning a nuclear power plant have washed up on a beach.

Walker Neil Baldwin said more than 40 taprogge balls, which come from Hartlepool power station, were spread along the high tide mark along Redcar beaches.

He said he had seen them regularly during the 20 years he has lived near the beach and was worried about birds or dogs eating them.

EDF Energy, which runs the power station, did not address questions about possible faults in its system, instead the company claimed to have "significantly reduced the number of releases over the past 18 months".

Taprogge balls are used to clean stretches of pipework and, occasionally, some are released into the environment, according to the company.

EDF said tide patterns can wash debris on to nearby beaches but it had received no reports of similar finds since April.

The firm did not confirm how many balls it had collected in the last year but did say the balls are biodegradable in seawater.

Baldwin said water companies were under a lot of scrutiny for water quality so the same questions should be asked of EDF Energy as the balls had been washing up for years.

"I noticed a lot of them and I kept seeing more and more as I was walking," he said.

"I looked for a bag to pick them up in and I found a plastic bottle which I filled on my walk back."

Saltburn resident John Stevens said he "didn't understand what they were" when he started litter picking 14 months ago.

"I understand they can cause an ingestion risk to marine wildlife and they contribute to coastal litter in the ocean," he said.

"I find it ironic that they clean the power plant machines, but there is a potential they come out and mess up the sea life and beaches."

EDF said anyone who finds taprogge balls should report the exact location to the company or the Environment Agency so debris can be removed.

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