Flood threat to nuclear arms site
Updated on 13 October 2008
Julian Rush reports exclusively on the crisis caused by last year's floods at one of Britain's key nuclear sites that threatened to "overwhelm" the facility.
Last year's flooding put the atomic weapons' establishment at Burghfield near Reading out of action for nearly nine months and "came close to overwhelming" buildings where nuclear warheads are assembled.
Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act to the Nuclear Information Service and seen by Channel 4 News, show that managers at AWE knew about flood risks but neglected to protect key facilities.
"Two to three hours from being overwhelmed"
There is a particular bunker complex in the Berkshire countryside, that as well as being one of the most secret nuclear sites in Britain, is also the key to the safety of Britain's nuclear weapons.
Beneath the bunkers, are chambers where Trident nuclear warheads are carefully stripped down for maintenance and reassembled.
And in July last year, they were flooded out. The Ministry of Defence told MPs there had been "minor disruption".
But we can reveal the flood damage was so extensive, all live nuclear work was stopped for nine months. Eighty-four buildings were flooded, some to a depth of two feet.
And essential radiation safety alarms, criticality alarms that warn of a potential nuclear accident, were put out of action for 10 days when in just a few hours last summer, torrential rain caused chaos across southern England.
Download the (redacted) report
The Nuclear Information Service obtained the report from the Atomic Weapons Establishment, AWE through an FOI request. You can see the, redacted, report here:
Download: AWE report (pdf file)
Unseen from public view, staff at Burghfield were struggling to cope with the flooding, unable to contact senior managers.
We now know this as we've obtained a copy of the Atomic Weapons Establishment's own review of what happened.
Though heavily censored, it reveals:
"Several key facilities experienced Near Miss events..." and though another was kept operational, "...the facility did come close to being overwhelmed."
Parts of the factory came "within two to three hours" of being overwhelmed by the floods - which could have led to the release of potentially radioactive contaminated water.
Di McDonald of NIS said "They were lucky because it was a Friday afternoon. It should never have arisen. It should never have got to a stage where a flood could have such a devastating effect on a nuclear weapons factory."
Flood water can increase the risks of a nuclear accident. AWE's own Safety Case to the nuclear regulator admits "full or partial flooding" is a credible means of initiating a nuclear criticality event, which could lead to the release of radiation across nearby towns like Reading.
But in spite of the severity of the flood, no Site Emergency was declared and the Environment Agency's Nuclear Regulation Group was not told of the extent of the flood damage for 48 hours.
The Atomic Weapons Establishment, AWE, is a private company that runs the sites for the MOD. They declined to be interviewed, but told us:
"At no time during, or as a consequence of the extreme weather conditions experienced... was there any threat to the operational safety of either AWE sites and no threat to the public or the environment was posed."
Even today, Britain's nuclear weapons factories can only operate with job-by-job permission from the nuclear regulator, while flood remedial work continues.
