Roche welcomes Sellafield prosecution

Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has welcomed news of the prosecution of the operators of Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility after a leak in a pipe in the Thorp plant in 2005.

Over 83,000 litres of radioactive waste leaked from a pipe into a containment chamber. Staff at the factory did not notice the leak for at least eight months.
The plant has since been closed. On Wednesday, May 4th, the health and safety executive for England and Wales announced it was bringing a criminal prosecution against the British Nuclear Group (BNG), the subsidiary of the state-owned British Nuclear Fuels responsible for operations at Sellafield.

Mr Roche stated that the leak had brought concerns in the Republic of Ireland in 2005.
“The bringing of this criminal prosecution against the operator of the Thorp plant correctly seeks to hold accountable those responsible for what occurred,” he said.
An investigation found that there was complacency among staff at the plant. Staff thought that a leak was impossible because of its design even though there was evidence to the contrary.

The leak caused 83,000 litres of radioactive material, with 20 tonnes of uranium and plutonium, spilling from a pipe into a concrete containment cell. It did not, however, lead to the emission of radioactive material into the environment or the Irish sea.