Sellafield company admits safety breaches over leak

The firm that runs Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant faces an unlimited fine after pleading guilty in court to safety breaches over a radioactive leak today.

Acid containing about 20 tonnes of uranium and 160kg of plutonium escaped from a ruptured pipe into a sealed concrete holding cell at the site in Cumbria.

No one was hurt and no radioactive material escaped into the atmosphere after the leak at the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) part of the site.

The spillage, discovered in April 2005, may have gone unnoticed for eight months.

Today at Whitehaven Magistrates Court, Cumbria, Sellafield’s operator British Nuclear Group Sellafield Ltd (BNGSL) pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching conditions attached to the Sellafield site licence, which was granted under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965.

The Health and Safety Executive brought the prosecution, arguing the firm failed to ensure safety systems were in good working order and that radioactive material was effectively contained.

The hearing was adjourned for sentence on July 8 at Carlisle Crown Court.