Sellafield pleads guilty to IT failings that put national security at risk

Sellafield has pleaded guilty to overseeing a litany of failures to tackle IT security issues at the nuclear waste site, admitting that the gaps put national security at risk.

Charges were brought against the state-owned company by the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR), after an investigation by The Guardian exposed serious failures in the site’s cybersecurity – including revelations “that 75% its computer servers were vulnerable to cyber-attacks.” Westminster magistrates court also heard that Sellafield failed to carry out critical IT health checks and that information critical to national security was left vulnerable to hacking over a four year period. The Guardian’s exposé also revealed a toxic workplace culture, including drug use and bullying, as well as radioactive contamination at some of the most toxic parts of the site.

Operated by the taxpayer-funded and owned Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Sellafield has around 11,000 employees and stores radioactive material dating back to the early years of Britain’s nuclear weapons programme, as well as toxic waste from British and foreign nuclear power plants.

While present at Thursday’s hearing, Sellafield’s chief executive Euan Hutton didn’t speak. However, in a written witness statement provided to the court said: “I again apologise on behalf of the company for matters which led to these proceedings … I genuinely believe that the issues which led to this prosecution are in the past.”

Sellafield had pleaded guilty to the charges back in June, and the ONR expected sentencing to take place in September.

CND General Secretary Kate Hudson said:

“This is a damning admission from Sellafield but their apology is of zero comfort given the severity of their negligence. They have exposed the population to extreme dangers and we need to see evidence that these errors are indeed a thing of the past. Sellafield is Europe’s most toxic site, storing waste from Britain’s civilian and military nuclear programmes as well as waste from other countries. We can’t turn back the clock on Britain’s existing nuclear legacy, but we can ensure that no more is added to the vast amounts of toxic waste that already exist. That means the government abandoning its nuclear weapons programme and dropping its plan to roll out more nuclear plants. Too much money has already been squandered on this industry and from now on all spending should be on decommissioning and making the toxic legacy as safe as possible.”

Image credit: GrimsbyT / Wikimedia Commons

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