UK's Sellafield says detects elevated levels of radioactivity

British nuclear reprocessing plant Sellafield said it had detected high levels of radioactivity at one of its on-site monitors and was operating at reduced staffing levels on Friday.

"As a result of a conservative and prudent decision, the Sellafield site is operating normally but with reduced manning levels today," it said in a statement.

The site said only essential workers were being asked to report to work. It said the levels of radioactivity detected were above naturally occurring radiation, but well below that which would call for any actions to be taken by the workforce on or off the site. 

Sellafield plant said there was no risk to the general public or workforce from the elevated levels of radioactivity it had detected.

"We have taken this decision to focus on investigation," it said in a statement. "If this had happened during the working day we would just allow people to go home as normal. There is no risk to the general public or workforce."

This as Britain's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) said it was too early to know if a leak was the cause of elevated levels of radioactivity detected at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant.

"It is far too early to say there is a leak," Bill Hamilton, a spokesman said. "Everything being done is precautionary. There is no danger to the workforce, communities or wildlife. At the moment we don't know where the radiation is coming from."

The NDA is a public body that reports to Britain's energy ministry.

For its part, the British energy ministry said it had no reason to believe that the elevated levels of radioactivity at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site were any more serious than the plant had said.

"We are in constant contact with Sellafield, but we have no reason to believe that it is any more serious than they've said," a spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said.



REUTERS