UK: A1 road reopens after toxic spill

[RedFox]

Ok, this was a very short piece again on the news. In the grand scheme of things it seems like it could be insignificant, but the more I dig the more it seems...odd
They have still not said what the toxic spill was!
For those that don't know the UK, the A1 is one of the UK's main arterial roads.

Highlights added

_http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/7739035.stm

A major road in Cambridgeshire has reopened after a lorry shed its load of toxic chemical waste, in the form of a yellow powder, on Wednesday lunchtime.

Police reopened the road just before the morning rush hour, although there is some congestion.

Emergency services closed the road in both directions between Haddon and Wansford and advised residents to keep windows and doors closed.

Firefighters and the Environment Agency worked all night on a clean-up.

_http://www.cambsfire.gov.uk/incidents/2456.php

19/11/08 - Just after 2pm this afternoon, fire control received a call from the police regarding a lorry that has overturned on the A1 Northbound adjacent to the Water Newton area of Peterborough.

The lorry was carrying toxic waste which has been shed over the central reservation. It is harmful if inhaled, absorbed or swallowed. Therefore the A1 has been closed in both directions.

Local residents are being asked to remain indoors, with their windows and doors closed, and motorists in the area are also being asked to keep their windows closed.

Members of the public should be aware this is a precautionary measure and should not be unduly worried.

As for the incident itself, there are no injuries as a result of the lorry shedding its load.

One crew from Stanground, one crew from Dogsthorpe, one crew from St Neots, a rescue vehicle from Dogsthorpe and a hazardous materials unit from St. Neots as well as Fire Service Hazardous Materials Officers are all at the scene.

A full assessment is taking place and the Environment Agency has been informed.

Further details will be released as they become available.

Now I can't find anything official on line (this is where I start to wonder, I found someone else mentioning it on a message board), but the snippet I heard on the news mentioned the fact that the lorry was from a power station.

So I looked up 'yellow powder' and 'power station'.

Well there only appear to be a few things that match this (I apologise if I'm working on too little data here).....

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapelcross_nuclear_power_station

Leak of Magnox Depleted Uranium (MDU) Trioxide (July 2001)

A small amount of MDU leaked from some corroded mild steel drums due to rainwater ingress and leaching. MDU is a dense yellow powder that is less radiologically toxic than naturally occurring uranium but chemotoxic in a similar manner to lead. Owing to its high density and low solubility, it does not tend to disperse far and dry spills are easy to clean up. This material was stored at the larger sites, including Capenhurst in mild steel drums. BNFL has upgraded the fabric of the building and the original drums are being overpacked into stainless steel drums and dispatched to Capenhurst for long-term storage.

That or Yellowcake (uranium) _http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowcake