Nuclear Scare
The two year legacy of a potential nuclear accident in a village outside Oxford was brought to a close last week when Oxford Crown Court fined the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and AEA Technology a combined total of £8,000. The incident occurred in September 1999 when an experiment went badly wrong and almost led to an explosion at Harwell International Business Centre - the home of numerous nuclear technology companies. The accident occurred following a blunder by scientists at AEA Technology during a pilot procedure to recover silver from a chemical solution. Rather than be left for the required 77 hours, the solution was mistakenly left for 17 days.
As a result the bomb squad was called and an exclusion zone set up around the area. Due to their bravery in negating the threat of an explosion two army officers were subsequently awarded the George Cross.
Following this, the Health and Safety Executive commissioned an investigation, and subsequently brought charges against both AEA Technology and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, owner of the laboratory. Although found not guilty by the court on counts of failing to protect employees, both firms pleaded guilty over failing to produce a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. Each company was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £57,000 costs. After the ruling John Wilkins, UKAEA's Head of Site at Harwell, said he was "pleased that the Health and Safety Executive had dropped the serious safety charges against us", but admitted that "in this case our monitoring of AEA Technology could have been more comprehensive".
The Harwell International Business Centre, also owned by UKAEA, is a large science park around 15 miles south of Oxford, near the town of Didcot. The nature of its work means it has links with Oxford University, however its safety and pollution record has come under criticism. Dr. Mike Woodin, a Balliol tutor and Oxford Green Party Councillor, said "I'm delighted that AEA Technologies have been fined for this particular incident, but there is a long history of concern over the safety of the Harwell site and their management of waste and emissions. I hope they will now conduct a thorough review of their operations to make sure nothing like this happens again."
24th Jan 2002