AWE Aldermaston remains under scrutiny for third year

AWE Aldermaston was first placed under special measures by ONR in 2013

The company responsible for a nuclear weapons factory in Berkshire has been ordered to make safety improvements for a third year running.

The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston remains under an "enhanced level" of regulation.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said the site remained under increased scrutiny over its continued use of "ageing facilities".

AWE said it was working to "focus on delivering safety improvements".

The regulator said although improvements had been made in the past year, it was still "seeking to secure confidence in safety improvements".

The ONR report said: "We judge that deteriorating programme performance has resulted in delays to new build assembly/disassembly facilities which has led to the need for extended use of current ageing facilities."

The nuclear safety watchdog said the plant also had a shortage of skilled personnel.

The weapons factory stores nuclear waste from Royal Navy submarines

Peter Burt, of the anti-nuclear weapons pressure group Nuclear Information Service, said: "Safety standards at many nuclear sites are improving, but AWE is just muddling along.

"AWE is clearly unable to deliver the improvements. It is time for the MoD to cancel the current AWE management contract and bring the site under the control of a new, competent management team."

The ONR said it had finished an investigation into a failure to treat 1,000 drums of radioactive waste at the site by February 2014.

It said: "We will not seek prosecution given that we are satisfied with waste storage conditions in the short term and that the safety of the public and the workforce has not been affected."

Paul Rees, head of environment safety and health at AWE, said: "AWE continues to enhance its safety standards and this is illustrated by a consistently high level of safety performance."

The company said "a key focus" was "the replacement of ageing infrastructure on both the Aldermaston and Burghfield sites to support our crucial role in national defence".

AWE Aldermaston was first placed under special measures by ONR in 2013.

Aldermaston is responsible for making Britain's Trident nuclear warheads. It also stores nuclear waste from Royal Navy submarines.