Sellafield fined £380,000 after worker’s plutonium scare

A SELLAFIELD employee who was contaminated with plutonium was told his risk of cancer had increased, a court heard as the plant was fined £380,000.

Jonathan Greggain, 51, was working within a sealed container, known as a glovebox, at the nuclear fuel reprocessing and decommissioning site in Seascale, Cumbria, when he felt a pricking sensation on his left hand as he handled a conductivity probe.

One of the legs of the probe had corroded in the acidic environment and effectively become a dangerously sharp object, Carlisle Crown Court heard. Tests later revealed he had sustained an internal dose of plutonium, which has slightly increased his risk of developing cancer.

Mr Greggain, who took six months off following the incident, said in his victim personal statement that he had been diagnosed with depression.

Yesterday Sellafield pleaded guilty to failing to discharge its general health, safety and welfare duty to its employees. Sentencing, Judge James Adkin said: “By its plea the defendant has accepted that its employees were exposed to risk while carrying out work within the glovebox in question and that they did not take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure they were not.”

Nigel Lawrence QC said plutonium entering the bloodstream via a wound was “by far the most dangerous pathway to individuals” with deposits remaining in body tissues for the lifetime of the person affected.

He said Mr Greggain received eight times the statutory dose limit per year, although the defence pointed out the effective dose would be received over 50 years from intake and not on the day of the incident itself.

A Sellafield spokesman said: “This was an isolated incident that did not cause wider risk to workers.”