Nuclear leak closes part of Sellafield site
A recent leak at Sellafield nuclear engineering plant could close part of the site for months, it was reported today.
Production stopped at the site’s Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) in April after the discovery of a leak from a pipe, which went undetected for up to eight months.
Sellafield’s managing director, Barry Snelson, told the BBC the plant may remain closed for months.
He described the incident as “a stumble, not a fall”.
Safety regulators have indicated the discharge could result in criminal charges, the BBC reported.
An investigation by British Nuclear Group last month found the pipe may have begun to fail as early as August 2004, and that opportunities were missed between January 2005 and April 19 that would have shown material was leaking.
The pipe fractured and discharged nitric acid onto the floor of a concrete-lined cell in the Thorp complex.
A secondary containment cell ensured there was no release of radioactivity to the environment. The leak could not have been prevented, but the amount of liquid released could have been reduced, the report found.
No staff at the Cumbrian plant were contaminated.
