Firm fined over nuclear waste seepage

subscribe

A company that ran a nuclear power plant in Essex has been fined £250,000 after being convicted of allowing radioactive waste to seep into the ground over a 14-year period.

Magnox Electric Limited was convicted of breaking legislation governing the disposal of radioactive waste while operating the Bradwell power station near Maldon.

A judge also ordered the company to pay £150,000 costs following the trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Magnox had denied allowing waste to seep out in breach of legislation but had admitted failing to maintain a sump at the power station.

Jurors were told that "radioactive water" had leaked from a decontamination unit at Bradwell between 1990 and 2004.

Judge Peter Fenn said Magnox had missed an opportunity to check a faulty sump at the unit and missed a warning signal.

But he accepted that the "environmental impact" had been "limited".

The court heard that Magnox had been fined £100,000 plus costs eight years ago after being convicted of failing to maintain equipment, breaching laws governing waste disposal and failing to inform industry watchdogs of an unlawful discharge at Bradwell and at the Hinkley Point power station near Bridgwater, Somerset.

Related News

powerlines

Court reinstates constitutional challenge to Ontario's hefty ‘global adjustment’ electricity charge

TORONTO - Ontario’s court of appeal has decided that a constitutional challenge of a steep provincial electricity charge should get its day in court, overturning a lower-court judgment that had dismissed the legal bid.

Hamilton, Ont.-based National Steel Car Ltd. launched the challenge in 2017, saying Ontario’s so-called global adjustment charge was unconstitutional because it is a tax — not a valid regulatory charge — that was not passed by the legislature.

The global adjustment funds the difference between the province’s hourly electricity price and the price guaranteed under contracts to power generators. It is “the component that covers the cost of…

READ MORE
$1.6 Billion Battery Plant Charges Niagara Region

$1.6 Billion Battery Plant Charges Niagara Region for Electric Vehicle Future

READ MORE

EU Flag

No deal Brexit could trigger electricity shock for Northern Ireland

READ MORE

What can we expect from clean hydrogen in Canada

READ MORE

nb electricity meter

Old meters giving away free electricity to thousands of N.B. households

READ MORE