Watchdog not happy with Sellafield after plutonium oxide went to Workington instead of staying on site Nuclear regulator weighs further action after Sellafield sent plutonium oxide to Workington by mistake
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Back in February a drum with a small bit of plutonium oxide went to the wrong place, a lab in Workington, and the nuclear watchdog says Sellafield's investigation wasn't good enough.
This one's for folk in Workington and right along West Cumbria who want to know nuclear stuff is being moved about safely.
The nuclear watchdog, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), is weighing up whether to take more action after Sellafield sent plutonium oxide to the wrong place in the wrong kind of package, the News & Star says. The ONR put its findings out on Friday 16 October.
On 27 February, a load with a small leftover amount of plutonium oxide went to a National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) site in Workington, when it should have gone to another part of Sellafield. The Workington site took it in before anybody noticed. It only came to light when the driver rang NNL to check it had arrived, and the drum was loaded back up, taken back to Sellafield and locked away in the right place. Sellafield told the ONR on 2 March.
Sellafield stopped moving plutonium oxide from that building, tightened up its transport rules for now and ran its own investigation. It was rated Level 1 on the international nuclear event scale, which means an anomaly.
The ONR said it was happy with what Sellafield did straight away, but not with the investigation, saying it fell short on the risks, the causes and the fixes. It also said Sellafield isn't learning well enough from past transport slip-ups, and that it couldn't report this sooner because Sellafield didn't give it enough information at first. No enforcement action has been announced.
Sellafield has said: "There is no risk to the general public, or the environment and our regulators have been informed." It says it won't comment further.
What you can do: you can read the ONR's full statement on onr.org.uk.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation is considering further action after Sellafield wrongly sent a small amount of plutonium oxide in an unsuitable package to a National Nuclear Laboratory site in Workington in February.
This is for people in Workington and across West Cumbria who want to know how safely nuclear material is moved around the area.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is considering whether further regulatory action is needed after Sellafield transported plutonium oxide to the wrong facility in an unsuitable package, the News & Star reports. The ONR's findings were published on Friday 16 October.
On 27 February, a consignment containing a residual quantity of plutonium oxide was taken to a National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) facility in Workington instead of its intended destination at Sellafield. The NNL site accepted it before the mistake was found. The error came to light when the driver contacted NNL to confirm receipt, and the drum was reloaded, returned to Sellafield and secured at the correct facility. Sellafield told the ONR on 2 March.
Sellafield suspended plutonium oxide movements from the facility, brought in tighter interim transport controls and carried out an internal investigation. The incident was rated Level 1 on the international nuclear event scale, which means an anomaly.
The ONR said it was satisfied with the initial measures, but found shortcomings in Sellafield's investigation, including how it looked at possible consequences, risks, causes and fixes. It also pointed to weaknesses in how the company learns from earlier transport incidents, and said it had not been able to report the case sooner because Sellafield first gave it too little information. No enforcement action has been announced.
Sellafield has said: "There is no risk to the general public, or the environment and our regulators have been informed." It said it would not comment further.
What you can do: the ONR publishes its findings and quarterly updates on onr.org.uk, where you can read the full statement.