THE UK鈥檚 nuclear bomb factory has been struggling to remedy as many as 1000 safety defects uncovered by the government鈥檚 official watchdog. It is only allowed to stay open because the Ministry of Defence (MoD) says the work it does is vital for national defence.
The remarkable and, until now, secret story of the serious problems faced by the nuclear weapons complex at Burghfield, Berkshire, is revealed in 12 internal reports released by the UK鈥檚 Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to New 女生小视频 under freedom of information laws. For the past five years the NII has been trying to force Burghfield鈥檚 operator, the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), to tackle 1000 鈥渟hortfalls鈥� inspectors identified in its safety procedures. Yet an inspection in April 2007 found that more than 300 of them were still outstanding, and they will not now be completed by 27 September as promised.
The NII has criticised AWE鈥檚 progress as 鈥減oor鈥� and 鈥渦nacceptably slow鈥�. The only solution, it says, is to start again from scratch. 鈥淭he current facilities fail to meet modern standards,鈥� an NII assessment found in 2006, adding that 鈥渙nly the design, construction and operation of new facilities鈥� will ensure that standards are met.
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The facilities at Burghfield are used to keep the nuclear warheads on the UK鈥檚 Trident missiles in working order. Inside circular cells encased in concrete and buried under nearly 7 metres of gravel, technicians dismantle nuclear warheads, check them and then put them back together.
One of the potential hazards is that the high explosives packed around the weapons鈥� plutonium core could detonate. Should an explosion occur, the roofs of these cells 鈥� known as Gravel Gerties, after a character in 1940s Dick Tracy comics 鈥� are designed to collapse, allowing the gravel to pour in and so prevent particles of plutonium from being blasted into the air (see Diagram). In the US, which has similar Gravel Gerties, there have been concerns about the risk of plutonium leaking (see 鈥淎merican Gerties鈥�).
鈥淥ne of the potential hazards is that the high explosives packed round the weapons鈥� plutonium core could detonate鈥�
In the UK, the NII asked AWE to improve the safety of its Gravel Gerties in 2002, five years after it gained legal powers to regulate them. A detailed review later uncovered a long list of 鈥渟hortfalls鈥� that the NII said needed to be rectified.
Few details of the problems appear in the documents released to New 女生小视频, but it seems that a substantial proportion of them were classed as category 1, the most serious category. They included potential deficiencies in concrete, bricks, filters, glove boxes and door seals, as well as in the ability of roofs and masonry to withstand earthquakes.
The AWE鈥檚 programme to address the shortfalls was initially due to be completed by April 2006, but it was postponed to April 2007, and then again to the end of September. 鈥淰ery limited remedial work has been undertaken to date,鈥� the NII reported in August 2006.
An inspection by the NII in April this year discovered evidence that some of the 鈥渆ngineering fixes鈥� which AWE claimed to have delivered had not worked. This, the NII said, 鈥渄oes not instil confidence that AWE鈥檚 own procedures are being followed鈥�.
In May the NII wrote to AWE listing 46 problems with hoists, fire dampers, gas cylinders, cables, valves and other equipment that were not due to be resolved before the September deadline. Without 鈥渞obust鈥� arguments justifying the delays, the NII said it would consider imposing 鈥渙perational restriction鈥� at Burghfield, which it has now done. Despite this, it is still allowing bombs to be dismantled in the Gravel Gerties because the MoD insists that the work is 鈥渘ecessary in support of the UK strategic deterrent鈥�.
According to the NII鈥檚 2006 safety assessment, the number and nature of the shortfalls would normally have caused operations to be suspended. But it added: 鈥淭he true benefits from such ongoing operations can only be fully assessed by the MoD and can only therefore be fully evaluated by it.鈥�
Campaigners opposed to nuclear weapons claim public safety has been compromised. Di McDonald from the Nuclear Information Service in Southampton, UK, says: 鈥淭he NII has been effective in warning of the unsuitable state of the buildings and the poor working practices at Burghfield, but it is powerless to override the MoD.鈥�
The work at Burghfield is bound to conflict with normal safety guidelines, McDonald argues. 鈥淎WE are tasked with fitting a high explosive into a nuclear device that will work,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he NII鈥檚 job would normally require them to ensure that such components are kept a safe distance apart.鈥�
The NII now says that 鈥渁ppropriate progress鈥� is being made at Burghfield, despite the 鈥渓imited鈥� resources available to AWE. 鈥淚f NII believed a particular operation were unsafe, it would not allow it to take place,鈥� a spokesman told New 女生小视频 this week.
AWE denies that safety has been compromised. 鈥淭he documents released by the NII demonstrate the comprehensive and robust nature of the regulatory process for AWE Burghfield,鈥� it says.
American Gerties
Safety fears forced the US to temporarily stop dismantling nuclear bombs in Gravel Gerties in September 2003. Government regulators were concerned about faulty welds which could have allowed plutonium to escape in an accident in the installations, which are similar to those in the UK.
Inspections at the BWXT Pantex plant near Amarillo, Texas, revealed that welds around doors had not been repaired six years after a series of 7-centimetre-long gaps had been found. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, created by Congress to oversee the nuclear weapons industry, intervened and operations were suspended while the welds were sealed.
According to a report by the board in July 2004 the potential accident 鈥渙f greatest concern鈥� was the detonation of less than 32 kilograms of high explosive -too little to collapse the roof. No gravel would fall to smother the blast, so aerosols of plutonium could be forced out through any gaps in the Gerties.
Improvements to close potential gaps should be 鈥減rioritised鈥�, the board recommended. Nuclear scientists have also been assessing models designed to predict the effect of accidental explosions in Gravel Gerties, which are sited on the Nevada test site near Las Vegas, as well as at the Pantex plant.
