The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is pleased to announce that it has returned AWE Plc’s Aldermaston site to routine regulatory attention for safety.
Due to significant and sustained safety improvements by the licensee at the West Berkshire based site, ONR has taken them out of enhanced attention following a period of increased focus.
Tim Allmark, Head of Regulation for ONR's Weapon’s Sub-Directorate, said: “With our enabling regulatory approach, we have worked closely with AWE Plc to ensure required safety improvements have been made.
“We are satisfied that the site has clearly demonstrated positive steps forward in terms of leadership, organisational capability, decision-making, and internal assurance and challenge which has allowed us to return them to routine regulatory attention.”
Aldermaston had been in enhanced regulatory attention since 2013 due to safety issues as a result of ageing facilities and delays to deliver new build projects at the site.
But AWE has now demonstrated to ONR that it has the capability and capacity to deliver sustainable safety performance through their decommissioning programme and an improvement in plant status and maintenance for their ageing facilities.
ONR has carried out numerous inspections and interventions at Aldermaston and identified a period of consistently secure operations, with the leadership at the site showing a positive approach to safety management and culture.
Aldermaston, along with its neighbouring site Burghfield, provides and maintains the warheads for the UK’s nuclear deterrent on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
Regulatory attention levels are set by ONR and are assigned based on the regulator’s assessment of overall performance, considering a broad range of safety and operational issues that a site is addressing.
It also reflects an overall judgement across ONR’s nuclear safety, nuclear site health and safety and civil nuclear security purposes.
Tim Allmark added: “Our ongoing regulatory activity at Aldermaston will focus on ensuring the improvements in safety performance at the site continue.”