NIS Nuclear Information Service | nuclear sites

Nuclear emergency exercise is a good start - but real-life test needed for bomb factory

An emergency exercise for the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) has resulted in invaluable learning for emergency services – but further improvements in planning for an accident are needed as a result of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, according to a new report from Nuclear Information Service.

£2 billion and rising: the cost of redeveloping the Atomic Weapons Establishment

The Ministry of Defence has pledged at least £2 billion of spending on new developments at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), according to new information released in response to a Parliamentary Question from Caroline Lucas MP.

The answer, which exposes the true scale of development at AWE, gives a breakdown of the costs for a number of new-build projects which are intended to keep the current Trident warhead in service and, if a future government so decides, allow the development of a new warhead in years to come.

£2 billion and rising: the cost of redeveloping the Atomic Weapons Establishment

Revealed: the £700 million price of AWE's new uranium facility

The full costs of 'Project Pegasus', the proposed new enriched uranium facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Aldermaston, have been revealed to Nuclear Information Service following a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

Boundary Hall development at AWE: Inspector says no, Minister says yes.

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, has decided to grant planning permission for the controversial 'Boundary Hall' housing development near AWE Aldermaston, ignoring advice from the independent inspector at last year's planning inquiry into the development.

Flawed MoD nuclear response could place emergency personnel at risk

Significant safety problems have been exposed in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) response to an accident involving nuclear weapons after an emergency exercise in East Anglia last year.

Had the exercise been a real emergency, civilian emergency personnel would have been placed at risk from explosions and radioactive contamination as a result of misunderstandings about key safety information because a specialist MoD nuclear emergency response team “did not emphasise the hazards adequately” and gave “insufficient priority” to liaison with emergency services, according to official post-exercise reports.

Atomic Weapons Establishment fire: independent report highlights failure to comply with safety arrangements

The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) has published the report of its internal inquiry into the fire which broke out in a building containing high explosives at the AWE Aldermaston site in August 2010, highlighting a number of safety failings.

The inquiry into the fire, chaired by Peter McIntyre, an independent member of AWE's Nuclear Safety Committee, concluded that the production operation that led to the fire “was not carried out in accordance with appropriate process instructions” and had not been authorised to take place on the day of the fire. Failure to comply with operating instructions, explosives safety orders, and planned work schedules “further weakened the barriers to an event involving explosives”.