Nuclear site breaches hazardous material rules

Sellafield Ltd says it has launched an investigation into the breaches

A nuclear site has breached hazardous substance handling regulations, a watchdog said.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has served two improvement notices on Sellafield Ltd, located near Whitehaven, in west Cumbria, after it "failed to manage the risks of working with nickel nitrate and to prevent or adequately control exposure of workers to this hazardous substance".

The breaches did not compromise either nuclear or radiological safety, the ONR said.

Sellafield Ltd said it took the breaches "extremely seriously" and had started an investigation.

Used in the treatment of effluent, nickel nitrate is not radioactive, but is a hazardous substance and could cause harm to the health of a worker exposed to it.

To mitigate these risks, operations involving the chemical should be conducted in a glovebox to protect workers from any harmful health effects.

However, contamination was found outside the glovebox area at a Sellafield facility, which resulted in workers potentially being exposed to the chemical, the ONR said.

A poorly designed and maintained glovebox appeared to have contributed to the situation, it added.

'Enhanced monitoring'

Sellafield Ltd is required to complete a nickel nitrate risk assessment by the end of October, and to "prevent or adequately control" the exposure of workers to nickel nitrate by March next year.

ONR superintending inspector Ian Bramwell said the watchdog would "closely monitor" Sellafield Ltd and it would "not hesitate to take further action to bring about improvements if we need to do so".

Hygiene controls would remain in place in the facility, monitored by an occupational hygienist, until full compliance with both improvement notices was achieved, the ONR explained.

In response, a Sellafield Ltd spokesman said traces of nickel nitrate had been found "outside of its primary containment cabinet" and that following the inspection "enhanced monitoring and cleaning of the affected area was carried out".

He added: "As with all site incidents, we are taking this extremely seriously. A formal investigation has been initiated to understand the root cause and to prevent this from happening again in future."