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Irish Times
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
‘Simply not good enough': MPs concerned by ‘intolerable risks' at Sellafield site
'Intolerable risks' at the most hazardous parts of the Sellafield nuclear site are being exacerbated by poor performance, substandard equipment and staff shortages that make the facility even more dangerous, according to a report by MPs in Westminster. The UK's public accounts committee (PAC) also raised concerns about the proliferation of non-disclosure agreements to settle staff whistle-blowing complaints about safety and bullying at the site, located on the Cumbrian coast about 170km from Ireland. It said safety concerns and galloping cost overruns were 'simply not good enough'. The committee has released a report on the £136 billion (€162 billion) clean-up job at Sellafield, a former reprocessing and power plant that now essentially operates as a nuclear dump. It said the clean-up of the site is too slow and management keeps missing targets. It highlighted problems at decrepit buildings such as the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS), which has leaked hazardous nuclear pondwater into the soil for seven years. The committee said it was enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool every three years. READ MORE The committee accused Sellafield Ltd, the company that operates the site on behalf of the British state, of 'underperformance' by taking too long to clear crumbling old buildings such as the MSSS. Its report said the 'consequence of this underperformance is that the buildings are likely to remain extremely hazardous for longer'. It complained that the timeline given by the company for clearing Sellafield's most dangerous buildings has slipped by 13 years since 2018. The leaking MSSS is being slowly emptied of its lethal material, but the PAC said it needs to be removed 24 times faster than it was last year within a decade, if it is to hit targets. [ Inside Sellafield: behind the razor wire, gun-toting guards and blast barriers at the toxic nuclear site Opens in new window ] 'The intolerable risks presented by Sellafield's ageing infrastructure are truly world-class,' said Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the Tory MP who chairs the PAC. 'When visiting the site, it is impossible not to be struck by the fact that one can be standing in what is surely one of the most hazardous places in the world.' The PAC found that management needs to 'fundamentally transform how the site functions'. It is already estimated the clean-up of the site will take at least 100 years. Sellafield told the PAC it had made progress in some areas. The report also warned management must do more to 'build a culture where all employees feel able to raise concerns and report poor behaviour'. The PAC was told the company had used non-disclosure agreements 16 times in the last three years when settling staff claims. [ Nuclear accident in UK or Europe could significantly contaminate food in Ireland, EPA told Government Opens in new window ] Alison McDermott, a former executive at Sellafield who fought a legal battle with the company after she made a whistle-blowing complaint about safety and bullying, said the PAC report 'vindicates everything I said' about a 'toxic and dangerous' culture at Sellafield. She said 'Ireland is not safe' due to the way the site is run: 'This is not a British problem – it's a threat to everyone across the Irish Sea. The Irish Government must wake up.' The Irish Government once sued Britain over safety fears at Sellafield. It is believed the State made no submissions to the UK's PAC as part of its latest inquiry into the site.
Telegraph
26-05-2025
- Climate
- Telegraph
Steam trains win bank holiday reprieve as Network Rail lifts fire-risk ban
Steam trains will be able to run on the mainline during one of the busiest weeks of the year after heavy rain eased concerns about the threat of track-side fires. Network Rail lifted a steam ban on popular routes in North West England including the Settle & Carlisle and Cumbrian Coast lines, while the operator of the Jacobite train in Scotland said it would switch back to steam from diesel. Amber alerts indicating a risk of fire across the wider network were meanwhile downgraded after downpours on Friday night soaked lineside vegetation that had been tinderbox dry. An expert on Network Rail's special trains team said that months of minimal rainfall had created 'brown corridors' at substantial risk of being ignited by embers jettisoned by steam engines. He said: 'The entire country has been at high alert, but some routes, particularly in the North West, have been forced to ban steam in recent weeks as the risk has just been too great. 'But with the weather turning and rain arriving Friday night and over the weekend, the risk is reducing and steam can once again run on our metals.' This year has seen the driest start to spring in England since 1956, with half the expected rainfall in April and only a quarter of the long-term average in March.
