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Statement of nuclear incidents

ONR has provided its quarterly statement on incidents at nuclear installations in Britain to Ed Davey, the Secretary of State for DECC and Michael Moore, Secretary of State for Scotland.

For the period 01 April – 30 June there were three incidents at civil licensed nuclear sites that met the HSE publication criteria.

The first incident at Dungeness B in Kent, involved the licensee shutting down one of the two reactors to make a series of improvements following a reassessment of potential flooding at the site.

The other two incidents were both related to the discovery of historical contamination levels at Sellafield & Calderworks in Cumbria. In one instance, the contamination was found on a redundant ventilation duct previously connected to an active facility, demolished in the early 1990s. In the other, the contamination was found around part of a building floor slab, the structure of which was demolished in the 1980s. ONR is satisfied that there was no serious risk of harm to the public or workforce from these events.

When submitting the statement, Colin Patchett, Acting Chief Nuclear Inspector for ONR said, “Investigations into these incidents by my inspectors, together with corrective actions by the respective duty holders, provide me with assurance of nuclear safety on the sites.” 

More information on the incidents is available here.