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Environment Minister Phil Hogan today welcomed the confirmation from the UK that the nuclear safety stress testing regime developed in response to the nuclear accident at the Fukushima plant in Japan would be applied to Sellafield. 

Responding to the development, the Minister said:

Since the development of the stress tests was first agreed back in March by EU leaders, it has been our understanding and expectation that they would be applied to Sellafield.

When I met Chris Huhne not long after the serious nuclear accident in Japan, we had a useful discussion on nuclear safety issues. I underlined the continuing concerns we have about safety at Sellafield. It was in the context of this discussion that he confirmed the UK’s intention to apply the stress tests to Sellafield. I welcomed this commitment at the time and am pleased to have had it re-confirmed now.

It is consistent with what was agreed by EU Leaders in March when they decided that a stress testing system would be developed for nuclear plants across Europe. The tests have been designed in light of lessons learned from the terrible events in Japan. They will test the ability of nuclear facilities in Europe to withstand shocks such as that which overwhelmed the safety systems at Fukushima, resulting in widespread radioactive contamination. There was no suggestion in what was agreed by EU Leaders that some nuclear facilities would be excluded.

As well as nuclear reprocessing, Sellafield has the largest inventory of radioactive waste anywhere in Europe, some of which is stored in ageing facilities acknowledged by the UK authorities to require active hazard reduction programmes. It simply makes sense that such a facility would undergo these safety tests.

Read the full press release here.