The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has today (31 March 2022) announced that AWE has delivered ‘significant and sustained’ safety improvements at its Burghfield licensed site, resulting in its move to ‘routine’ regulatory attention.
The improvements demonstrated by AWE at the Burghfield site were driven by its Structured Improvement Programme (SIP) and its holistic approach to safety performance. This enabled the delivery of a large range of improvement initiatives targeting aspects of organisational culture, practice, and capability. The site had been in enhanced regulatory attention for approximately eight years.
Andy Scargill, AWE’s Executive Director for Environment, Safety, Health (ESH) and Quality, said: “We are delighted that the ONR has announced that AWE’s Burghfield site has moved from enhanced to routine regulatory attention. This acknowledges the commitment shown by AWE’s leadership team, all of our staff, Trade Unions and contractors to sustained and significant safety improvement and further demonstrates our proactive approach to safety management and culture.”
AWE’s Aldermaston site has also made some progress, but improvement is still needed in some areas, with consideration for a move to routine attention not anticipated by the ONR before the end of 2022 at the earliest. This is in line with regulatory expectations due to the type of operations, age of facilities and comparative size and complexity of the two sites.
AWE’s Andy Scargill added: “While progress has been made at the Aldermaston site, we recognise that there’s still more to be done here and we will continue to work collaboratively and tirelessly to achieve similar standards.”