The number of formal reports documenting safety concerns at UK civilian nuclear facilities has reached its highest level in at least 12 years amid declining inspections, The Guardian may reveal.
Experts said the news raised concerns about the regulator’s ability to cope with the project’s expected expansion.
A total of 456 incident reporting forms documenting safety issues at UK nuclear facilities were sent to the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) in 2021, according to information obtained by the Guardian and the Point Source investigative journalism organization.
This is 30% higher than the 320 reports submitted throughout 2020 and more than double the 213 reports submitted in 2018.
Nuclear safety warning chart
Reported incidents include physical security issues, such as unauthorized access to unsafe areas, as well as cybersecurity issues such as malware attacks.
Dr. Paul Dorfman, chairman of the Nuclear Advisory Group and former secretary of the government committee examining the radiation risks of internal emitters (Cerrie), said operators and the regulator should take steps to address the increase in reported incidents. .
“The number of safety issues we are seeing documented at nuclear facilities is extremely worrying,” he said.
“These figures seem to show a relaxation in safety standards when it comes to the operation and regulation of sites that have the potential to cause great human and environmental damage.
“When the stakes are so high, it’s important that the ONR takes all these security incidents seriously, examines why they’ve happened, tries to address the relevant issues, and reduces the number of incidents that are occurring.”
Dorfman added: “The broader picture raises important concerns about the technical and human capacity of the ONR to regulate and control what is potentially a very risky industry.
“This is especially worrying in the context of the aging of the UK’s nuclear fleet, as well as the new construction plans the government is currently pushing for.”
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The recent increase in reported security incidents comes ahead of a planned large-scale expansion of the UK’s civilian nuclear sector.
Last month, Boris Johnson said the nuclear plant was “returning home” when it unveiled plans for eight new reactors in the UK.
Johnson has set a goal of 25% of electricity coming from nuclear power. This means increasing capacity from 7 GW to 24 GW by 2050, a process that will be overseen by a new body, Great British Nuclear.
During the year 2021, there has been an increase in the number of “moderate” security incidents reported, according to data obtained from the ONR through the freedom of information legislation.
During the year, a total of 42 documented security incidents were described as “moderate.” This is an increase from the 24 moderate incidents reported in 2020 and is the highest number recorded in at least 12 years.
Moderate is the second most severe category and the ONR describes it as an incident where there has been “a significant deviation from expected standards.”
The increase in the number of reported security incidents is due to a decrease in the number of security inspections carried out by the regulator.
There is concern that during 2021 the frequency of nuclear safety inspections conducted by the ONR may have fallen to its lowest level in at least four years.
The data obtained in a separate request for freedom of information show that in 2021, until December 17, only 136 security inspections had been carried out by the ONR, below the annual figure. of 144 in 2020 and 169 in 2019.
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Information security inspections are among the modalities that have experienced the largest decline, with only 40 carried out in 2021 through 17 December, compared to 74 throughout 2020.
Dorfman said this was especially worrying, given the growing risk of cyberattacks on nuclear infrastructure.
“There is no doubt that nuclear is operating in an increasingly dangerous and unstable world where the threat of sponsored or non-state-sponsored cyberattacks is on the rise,” he said.
In a statement, the ONR said: “We welcome the increase in reported events, as our analysis indicates that this reflects improvements in security awareness and culture across the industry. The vast majority of events reported (80-90%) are minor breaches of security agreements, which have been proactively reported to us. “
The regulator also said it believed its commitment to nuclear operators had increased in recent years despite declining official inspections.
He added: “The data we provided under the Freedom of Information Act only relates to on-site compliance inspections and does not include any other assessment work. This separate regulatory control, which is not represented in the data, is essential to ensure that site security agreements comply with the law and includes site visits to strengthen regulatory judgments. ”