Call to prosecute Dounreay

ENVIRONMENTAL groups have called for prosecution of the management at Dounreay after the worst nuclear contamination incident in the reprocessing plant’s history.

The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate has been informed of the accident where 20 workers were contaminated with radioactive particles on Tuesday morning and is expected to launch a separate inquiry.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority confirmed that it is already investigating the cause of the contamination, which was discovered during routine checks when radiation was found on the shoes of one worker. Further checks revealed 18 other workers’ shoes were contaminated, and two employees had traces on their hands while one had traces on his face. A UKAEA spokesman said there was no radioactive release into the environment and there was no evidence that any of the workers ingested particles.

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The Scottish Green Party led the call for an inquiry by the NII with a view to "possible prosecution" of the management.

Robin Harper MSP said: "Whilst this incident is a consequence of working with an invisible and deadly poison, at the same time everything must be done on the management side to minimise the danger to the workers and the public.

"I’m calling for an external inquiry by the NII. It’s not good enough just to allow an internal inquiry."

The Transport and General Workers Union backed Mr Harper’s calls and said "urgent questions needed to be addressed to allay fears".

Chris Kaufman, the national secretary of the TGWU, inquired whether the fragmentation of the operations on site, which he claimed had led to a number of employees taking various responsibilities, has led to a "lack of centrally controlled management direction".

He added: "An investigation by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is required. [We] believe the focus should be on whether or not there was proper management control in place and whether or not there are sufficient people employed to ensure safety standards are met."

John Swinney, the SNP leader yesterday said the incident showed that nuclear energy is "a risk that [Scotland] can not afford to take", adding: "It is not safe, Scotland doesn’t need it and it shouldn’t be on our soil."

In January this year, Dounreay met all the short-term recommendations outlined in a safety review. The Health and Safety Executive said the plant fulfilled 89 of the 143 recommendations made.

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A further 27 outstanding matters associated with strategic decommissioning and waste management issues will take decades to address.

And 27 medium-term recommendations will be introduced over the next few years, as part of the normal regulatory regimes of both the HSE and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).

Lorraine Mann, of Scotland Against Nuclear Dumping, also called for Dounreay officials to be prosecuted over the incident. She said: "We are quite horrified by this. There really have been serious attempts to improve safety at Dounreay but clearly they have not been effective and incompetence at the heart of the plant remains."

At the time of the incident, 70 employees at the D2001 plant were carrying out decommissioning work.

Dounreay spokesman Colin Punler denied it had downplayed the incident.

He said: "Our priority is to minimise the exposure of staff to radiation and any incident of this sort whereby radioactive materials gets into the workplace is a matter for concern."

The plant will not restart until investigations into the incident have been completed.