Fine for Sellafield contamination
A fine of £75,000 ($123,000) has been handed down to Sellafield Ltd after two workers were contaminated with plutonium in 2007.
A fine of £75,000 ($123,000) has been handed down to Sellafield Ltd after two workers were contaminated in 2007.
The incident occurred in a room being cleaned out from former used to sort and monitor contaminated equipment. Work had been progressing properly until two 'hot-spots' of higher radiation were found, which indicated contamination below the surface of the concrete floor - perhaps from a spillage some years earlier.
At this point, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told World Nuclear News, Sellafield managers should have recognised the change in the situation, halted work and re-assessed the appropriateness of their methods using well-established procedures. Sellafield did not do that and admitted this in the guilty plea put before Carlisle Crown Court this week on charges of breaching health and safety law.
The result was that the drilling of the hot-spot by two contractors produced a plutonium-bearing dust which rose to contaminate the worker's PVC suits. Radiation alarms sounded, work stopped and the contractors were decontaminated appropriately, HSE said, but during this time one worker removed his mask and inhaled some of the dust. "There was no immediate impact on their health," said the HSE, "but they received a significant radiation dose" of 17 mSv and 4 mSv compared to the annual dose limit of 20 mSv.
Mark Bassett, an HSE's Superintending Nuclear Inspector, said the exposure "could potentially have been higher" but "should have been zero," referring to the HSE's requirements for doses to be kept as low as reasonably practicable. Had the increased risk of the work been properly recognised, a range of different equipment would have likely been used, including forced ventilation of the tent in which the drilling actually took place.
"The incident highlights the importance of Sellafield Ltd following its own arrangements for protecting workers when undertaking potentially hazardous work with the risk of exposure to radiation, said Bassett, concluding, "Sellafield Ltd should have properly assessed those risks, and then appropriately planned, organised and carried out the work."
In addition to the fine, Sellafield Ltd must pay court costs of over £26,000 ($43,000).
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