UK nuclear safety procedures thrown into the spotlight

Public confidence in the safety of nuclear power received a series of blows this week as one power station was fined over radioactive leaks, it was reported that another nuclear waste-processing plant could close after fewer than seven years of operation, and it emerged that the Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee (NuSAC) was quietly scrapped last year.

The government plans to have at least six nuclear power stations built in the UK by 2020 as part of a major "renaissance" of the industry designed to plug a looming energy gap.

It is currently evaluating various sites' applications for new reactors, but developments this week are likely to further dent public faith in nuclear power.

Nuclear power station operator Magnox was yesterday fined £250,000 and ordered to pay £150,000 costs as a result of more than 14 years of radioactive leaks at the former Bradwell Nuclear Power Station in Essex.

It is the highest fine for a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency in eight years and will send a clear message to the new breed of station operators that they must take leaks seriously, according to Phil Heaton, team leader of the Environment Agency's Nuclear Regulation Group.

"This fine sends a clear message to the nuclear industry that we require the highest standards of operation at all such sites and will take firm action – even if the environment beyond a site's boundaries is not affected," he said.

Meanwhile, Sellafield's mixed oxide (Mox) plant – which extracts energy from spent nuclear waste – is reportedly closing, making it likely that a 100-tonne stockpile of radioactive plutonium will continue to be stored at the Sellafield site rather than being reprocessed through the plant.

According to The Guardian newspaper, a report from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) on the plant found that officials "do not believe that [the Mox plant] provides either the capacity or longevity to be used for the UK civil stockpile and… recycle options".

Although it has not yet been decided as to the extent to which the report's concerns will be acted upon, The Guardian cited industry sources who claimed the NDA's ruling would essentially mean the end of the plant.

The news came just a day after it emerged that NuSAC, which had been highly active in advising the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on the safety of nuclear power, has been quietly disbanded.

The HSE said that an advisory body better suited to current challenges in the industry would be set up to replace the committee. But The Guardian again reported that some former members of the committee were fearful that a lack of independent oversight at a time when the industry is seeking to expand could contribute to safety lapses.

"This was just the time to get rid of a potential pest and spanner in the works of the brave new world of nuclear regulation and build," said one, hinting that some within the industry had been frustrated by the committee's criticism of a perceived shortfall in funding for nuclear decommissioning.