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AWE due to be sentenced following fire at Aldermaston base





The charge relates to a major fire at the base on August 3, 2010, in which an employee was left with burns to his face and arms in a building where explosives were being manufactured.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s subsequent investigation found issues with the control systems put in place.
The case, which has been adjourned several times, is being brought by the HSE at Reading Crown Court
The AWE had initially been charged with three breaches of safety law - failure to ensure the health and safety and welfare of employees; failure to take appropriate measures to limit the extent of the fire, and failure to ensure that suitable personal protective equipment was provided to risk-exposed employees.
The AWE has now notified the HSE that it will plead guilty to one charge relating to a single breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, in connection to the incident.
Sentencing was due to take place this morning (Thurdsay) at Reading Crown Court.
Health and Safety records, published by AWE, show that a number of incidents have occurred at the facility, raising health and safety questions.
In July 2006 two fires broke out leading to “significants delays” in AWE's decommissioning programme and in July 2007, flooding at the Burghfield branch “came close to overwhelming buildings” that housed nuclear warheads.
More recently, in October 2009, a krytron, a trigger device which contains minor radioactive sources, was left outside its protected area.
Other safety breaches include radioactive material, which was taken to London in February 2008, to help the Metropolitan police's “radiological awareness training” which was left there overnight.
And in January 2008 an AWE vehicle carrying high explosives was involved in a collision with another vehicle outside of the establishment and from April to June 2008 staff were at risk of being exposed to the toxic metal beryllium, which can cause acute respiratory conditions and tumours.



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