The British Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is looking into incorrect safety checks in the production of nuclear fuel rods at Sellafield. An inspector was sent to the Cumbrian plant yesterday after British Nuclear Fuels admitted that some data on fuel pellets in rods made for export had been falsified.
BNFL denied a London In- dependent report that the falsifications created serious safety concerns. A spokesman said the problem related only to "secondary manual recheck data", adding the company was "confident that the pellets fully meet the [required safety] specification due to extensive supporting quality data".
The uranium and plutonium mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel rods are made up of small cylindrical fuel pellets. During the manufacture the diameter of each pellet should be checked both automatically and manually. However, some employees apparently by-passed these checks by using data from previous samples. Two British ships are en route to Japan carrying MOX fuel. BNFL said they did not contain any of the pellets implicated in the inquiry.
Reiterating calls for the plant to be closed, Mr Trevor Sargent, a Green Party TD, said it was clear that safety had been compromised through greed for profit. "How can BNFL continue to justify the production of such a dangerous and volatile substance when they cannot even follow their own safety procedures?" he asked.
Senator Fergus O'Dowd (FG) said the incident called into question the credibility of BNFL. The NII must ensure that it can never happen again, he said.
Meanwhile, BNFL has applied to the British Department of Environment for authorisation to discharge high levels of technetium99 into the Irish Sea next year.
Mr Jim Fitzsimons, a Fianna Fail MEP, said the amount to be dumped was 15 times greater than that dumped in 1992, adding the Irish Sea must not be used as "a soft option" for the disposal of radioactive nuclear materials by BNFL so as to save the organisation on its operating costs.
