Workers at hazardous nuclear waste site test positive for drugs
SEVEN workers at the hazardous Sellafield nuclear waste site have tested positive for drugs over the past 12 months.
Three tested positive for alcohol, raising questions over safety at the site in Cumbria which manages spent fuel from Britain’s nuclear reactors.
Four of the positive drugs tests and one of the positive alcohol tests followed random testing, carried out on 741 workers between November 2021 and November this year.
The others were among 36 people tested over the same period after being suspected of being impaired by drugs or alcohol.
The figures were released to The Daily Telegraph after a request under the Freedom of Information Act. It did not reveal what action had been taken.
Sellafield is considered one of the most hazardous nuclear sites in the world, according to the Office for Nuclear Regulation, handling more radioactive material per square metre than any site in Europe.
It is run by the government-owned company Sellafield Ltd, which employs about 11,000 people.
Some 6,000 contractors also work on site, storing and processing waste fuel as well as cleaning up the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo where waste fuel-rod casings were dumped for decades.
The company’s annual report says nuclear safety is its “overriding priority” but it focuses on “all aspects of safety as they are interconnected”.
A spokesman said: “We are committed to providing a safe, healthy and productive working environment for all our employees, contractors and visitors.
“This includes ensuring that all personnel are fit to carry out their jobs safely and effectively in a working environment that is free from substance misuse, including misuse of alcohol and drugs whether prescribed, over the counter or illegal.”
A spokesman for the Office for Nuclear Regulation said: “All nuclear sites are equipped with considerable defence in depth with regards to nuclear safety and security.
“People working on these sites are subject to security checks that increase in scope depending on the nature of the sensitive nuclear information, nuclear material or other radioactive material to which they might have access.
“Our inspectors frequent all civil nuclear sites and there is no evidence that nuclear safety or security has been compromised by drug use among staff.”