Nuclear Weapons 361 - U.K. Ministry of Defense Receives Five Notices Of Safety Violations From the U.K. Defense Nuclear Safety Regulator

Nuclear Weapons 361 - U.K. Ministry of Defense Receives Five Notices Of Safety Violations From the U.K. Defense Nuclear Safety Regulator

       The U.K. Defense Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR) has notified the U.K. Ministry of Defense (MoD) of a “failure of safety culture,” “inadequate resourcing” and “continued non-compliance.” The DNSR issued two safety improvement notices to the MoD in 2010, two more in 2016 and one in 2017. These notices claim that there were a series of safety errors at the U.K. facilities for the construction and maintenance of the U.K. fleet of nuclear submarines. These safety notices were revealed last year after the MoD released them in response to a freedom of information request.
       In April of 2010, the DNSR accused the naval base at Devonport in Plymouth of a “failure to reinstate primary systems” following routine submarine maintenance. In May of 2010, the DNSR said that the Nuclear Propulsion Project Team was guilty of “failure to meet good safety management practice.” This failure took place in the construction of new Astute-class reactor-driven submarines. The DNSR notice said, “Inadequate resourcing forms the root cause of failing to address regulatory concerns. DNSR’s concern is that future nuclear reactor program safety may compromised.”
        In September of 2016, the DNSR criticized the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire for “continued non-compliance” because they did not provide safety documents that were required. In October of 2016, the DNSR told the Naval Reactor Plant Authorisee that it did not have “an adequate, extant nuclear baseline.” The DNSR notice said, “DNSR considers that the lack of a nuclear baseline and therefore the lack of control of organizational change demonstrates a non-compliance.” 
        In September of 2017, the DNSR sent a safety notice to the Strategic Weapons Project Team at Abbey Wood near Bristol. The DNSR said that the SWPT had failed to meet safety requirements “on organizational capability.” The MoD was instructed to make “adequate arrangements to control any change to its organization structure or resources which may affect safety.”
         Stuart McDonald is a member of the Scottish parliament. He is the defense spokesperson for the Scottish National Party. He said, “The number of safety improvement notices served on the MoD for nuclear safety failures is alarming, and shows a lack of regard for public safety and transparency. It’s appalling that it takes a freedom of information request to uncover this information, which speaks to a wider concern over transparency at the MoD.”
       Mark Ruskell is a member of the Scottish Parliament representing the Green party. He expressed a fear that a “corner cutting culture” was compromising nuclear safety. He said, “Despite the vast sums spent on maintaining these weapons of mass destruction there is clearly a corner cutting culture that has seriously compromised safety standards.”
        The MoD defended its record of compliance with tight safety requirements for dealing with nuclear materials. A spokesperson for the MoD said, “We continue to deliver on our commitment to strengthen the management of all our nuclear programs, ensuring they are managed, advanced and delivered as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.”
       Over and over again, defense departments of nuclear armed nations fail to rigorously follow regulations for nuclear safety. It appears that they often feel that in the pursuit of nation security, adhering to regulations is optional.