UKAEA informed the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) at 1815 on 12 November 2002 that an incident had occurred in the D2001 waste handling plant at the Dounreay Nuclear Establishment. The incident had been detected at 0915 that morning

The incident involved the radioactive contamination of a number of workers. Twenty-one workers had detectable levels of radioactive contamination on protective clothing and two of these had skin contamination, one on their hands and face and the other on their hands.

SEPA requires to be satisfied that no release of radioactivity to the environment occurred as a result of the incident.

UKAEA has carried out preliminary measurements on ventilation equipment which indicates that no release of radioactivity to the atmosphere occurred. SEPA will require that UKAEA make further measurements to demonstrate that there was no release to the environment by any route.

SEPA has sent a member of staff from its Radioactive Substances Unit to the Dounreay site today to monitor the situation and to provide reassurance that the environment is protected.

ENDS

Notes:

• SEPA is responsible for regulating disposal of radioactive waste from nuclear sites and other premises such as industrial, hospital and research premises under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993. SEPA also regulates the keeping and use of radioactive material.