Dounreay told to improve safety after worker hurt

Dounreay’s operators have been told to improve safety at the site after a piece of equipment toppled over and injured a worker.

The accident happened at the nuclear power complex, near Thurso in Caithness, in February.

Industry watchdog the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said the worker escaped with minor injuries, but added that it considered the incident as “significant” and “preventable”.

ONR has issued Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) with an improvement notice.

NRS said it took the protection of people and the environment “very seriously”.

ONR said the a radiological contamination monitor, weighing about two tonnes, toppled over while it was being moved.

Superintending inspector Tom Eagleton said: “This was a preventable incident that could have had serious consequences for those nearby.

“The improvement notice requires the Dounreay site to implement measures that will reduce the risk of similar occurrences in the future.

“Specifically, they must identify all operations involving the movement of heavy equipment and ensure comprehensive risk assessments and appropriate control measures are implemented before the work starts.”

NRS has until 25 July to comply with the notice.

A spokesperson for NRS said: “We take the protection of people and the environment from harm very seriously.

“We are taking action to strengthen our practices and management in this area, and will comply with the requirements of the notice received in April, having reported the incident to ONR and carried out an investigation.”

Dounreay was opened 70 years ago as an experimental nuclear power site and is now being decommissioned and the site shut down.

Last year, ONR raised safety concerns about the state of some areas of the complex.

It found corroded steelwork in a building being used to store drums of radioactive sodium, and leaks from low-level radioactive waste pits.

NRS said it was carrying out urgent repairs and had an action plan to deal with other issues.

These included ONR’s warnings about old and degraded electric equipment and the site’s stockpile of chemicals being over its set limit.