Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Warning over safety of Sellafield reactors

Tom Wilkie,Science Editor
Wednesday 02 March 1994 00:02 GMT
0Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

TWO DISUSED nuclear reactors at Sellafield in Cumbria, site of a notorious fire in 1957, are still not safe enough, Government nuclear safety advisers said yesterday.

The Atomic Energy Authority was threatened with legal action last year to force it to speed up safety work on the reactors, known as the Windscale Piles, when the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate served an 'improvement notice'.

But according to the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations, 'there are still serious problems not cleared up since the accident occurred there in 1957'. In a report published yesterday, the committee concluded that the reactors fell 'far below' the normal standard, which is that they should be kept 'as safe as reasonably achievable'.

The Windscale Piles were used to provide plutonium for the first British nuclear weapons but they have been closed since 1957, when Pile One caught fire in what was the world's worst nuclear accident until Chernobyl. After the fire, the reactors were partly sealed and untouched for a quarter of a century.

The committee says there are still 15 tons of damaged fuel in the core and a further five tons in the water and air ducts of Pile One.

Dr Roy Nelson, director of decommissioning and waste management for the Atomic Energy Authority, said improvements had been put in hand since the review was carried out.

Report on the accumulation of radioactive waste arising from sites operated by AEA Technology and from plant decommissioning; HSE; pounds 4.00.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

0Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in