Sellafield firm charged over cyber security
A State-owned company responsible for cleaning up decades of nuclear waste at the Sellafield site in Cumbria is being prosecuted over alleged cyber security blunders.
It follows an investigation prompted by fears that the business’s digital defences were breached by hackers.
Sellafield houses a massive range of highly radioactive wastes, including 140 tons of plutonium – a key ingredient for nuclear weapons.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has told Sellafield Ltd, the business tasked with clean-up, that it will be prosecuted under the Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003. The charges relate to alleged information technology security offences between 2019 and early 2023.
The announcement coincides with reports that Richard Meal, who is chief information security officer at the Cumbrian site, is to leave later this year.
It follows the exit of Mark Neate, the director responsible for safety and security, who announced in January that he intended to quit.
Sellafield has denied claims that the site had suffered serious security breaches and the ONR has supported this. The new charges are thought to relate to failures in compliance – meaning they are more about lax security than linked to actual breaches.
An ONR spokesman said there was no suggestion that public safety had been compromised. Details of the first court hearing will be announced when avail- able. Sellafield Ltd is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, a quango overseen by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which is tasked with cleaning 17 decaying nuclear sites across the UK.
Sellafield is the most expensive, costing taxpayers £2.5bn last year.
Some government estimates suggest the total cost of the clean-up will reach £263bn, with Sellafield accounting for the largest portion.
A Sellafield spokesman said: “The ONR’S Civil Nuclear Security and Safeguards has notified us of its intention to prosecute the company relating to alleged past compliance. As the issue is now the subject of court proceedings, we are unable to comment further.”