Sellafield Ltd has been given more time to fix a safety breach endangering its workers. Last year, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) gave two improvement notices to the nuclear site in Cumbria because “it failed to manage the risks of working with nickel nitrate and to prevent or adequately control exposure of workers to this hazardous substance.” However, the ONR acknowledged that such failure did not compromise nuclear and radiological safety. Sellafield Ltd has until September to solve the issue. It said it has already completed one improvement notice and made “significant progress” on the other.
Nickel nitrate is not radioactive and is used in the treatment of effluent. However, it can cause harm to the health of the workers exposed to it. According to the ONR, contamination was found outside the glovebox area at the Sellafield facility which implied that workers had been potentially exposed to the chemical. Sellafield Ltd should have presented evidence of preventing or controlling the nickel nitrate issue in March, but the ONR recognised that there were “technical challenges” to respect such a deadline. Therefore, it has given the nuclear facility until September 30 to fix the problem. Hygiene controls would remain in place at the site until full compliance with the two improvement notices was achieved.
