Radiation leak sparks probe into safety at Torness

Published on Thursday 21 April 2011 17:21

AN investigation is under way following a radioactive leak at the Torness nuclear power station.

Health and safety officials were alerted after the problem was found during a routine inspection at the East Lothian plant.

The incident was one of three reported to ministers from plants across the UK which are now under investigation by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).

Groundwater at the Dunbar plant was found to be contaminated with radioactive tritium (an isotope of hydrogen), which was leaking from two pipelines.

A brown puddle containing plutonium five times the legal limit leaked from an old ventilation duct at the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria, while a backup cooling system failed at a plant in Hartlepool.

All three incidents occurred in February and are still under investigation by ONR - the government's nuclear safety watchdog.

They were serious enough to be reported to ministers under safety guidelines agreed after the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine 25 years ago.

According to the ONR, the response to the incidents from the companies that run the plants was "appropriate". The pipelines at Torness were put out of use after the leak was discovered.

A spokeswoman for EDF Energy, the French company which operates Torness, said there had never been any danger to staff or the public, and that the levels of radioactivity that leaked were "extremely low."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) added: "Sepa was informed by British Energy Generation Limited (BEGL) in February 2011 that routine sampling had detected a very small leak in a pipe leading to raised level of tritium in a limited area of groundwater. The leak has been stopped and the levels of tritium in the ground water are returning towards normal levels.

"Sepa has investigated the matter and has requested that BEGL carry out further work on the pipe system to demonstrate its integrity in the longer term. This work is due to be completed later this year.

"The matter was discussed at the local liaison group meeting on March 23 which Sepa attended."

The two-reactor plant began generating in May 1988 and is expected to be decommissionned by around 2023. With an electrical output of 1250 MW, Torness is capable of supplying power to 1.5 million homes and is one of the biggest employers in the region, with more than 500 staff.