October 1999

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BNFL Sacks MOX Workers

BBC, 6 October 1999

[Posted 06/10/1999]

The Company File Nuclear workers sacked for fake checks Nuclear chiefs have sacked three Sellafield workers Three nuclear fuel workers have been sacked for faking checks at the Sellafield plant in Cumbria. The three were suspended after an investigation by British Nuclear Fuels was carried out last month.

BNFL Chief Executive John Taylor said the falsification of quality checks was something the company could not tolerate. Nuclear plants around the world have been put on alert over safety procedures since Japan's worst nuclear accident last week left three workers injured and dozens of people needing medical checks.

BNFL said that 22 checks had been forged at the Mixed Oxide Demonstration Facility.

Company chiefs said the false data were detected in routine quality control checks and had been reported to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate.

The irregularities involved manual checks on the diameters of samples of fuel pellets.

But the company said no fuel made up from falsified lots had left the area where they were manufactured and there were no safety risks.

The sacked workers have the right to appeal.

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