The safety of the Dounreay nuclear facility located on the north coast of Scotland has been questioned by nine out of ten trade unionists working on decommissioning the site.
Now their concerns are to be raised with Scotland’s Energy Minister Fergus Ewing who has agreed to meet representatives of the GMB trade union.
The union recently surveyed its members among the 800 permanent staff at the 185 acre site near Thurso and 90% of respondents mentioned safety issues which they say raise concerns such as their state of mind and “possibly explains higher levels of sickness, increased instances of stress and continuing breaches of procedures.”
Almost 90% of respondents do not agree that safety standards have improved under the current management partnership.
More than 78% of respondents did not think they had adequate opportunities to improve their skills – “this could be another explanation for continuing issues,” said the GMB.
Post Dounreay, more than 75% of those responding do not see the current managing partnership taking any responsibility for maintaining or improving the communities’ standing or future.
Other concerns are the value the partners give to the taxpayer; failure to learn from experience; and need for stability and continuity of the decommissioning programme.
Dounreay was established in the mid-1950s as a research reactor site with fuel production and processing facilities. There were three reactors, the last of which ceased operation in 1994. It is currently being decommissioned and demolished by Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL) under a contract from UK Nuclear Decommissioning Agency (NDA) which owns the site.
DSRL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Babcock Dounreay Partnership Ltd, a consortium of Babcock International Group, CH2MHILL and URS and it employs up to 800 people on the site with several hundred workers employed by contractors also on-site.
GMB is part of a campaign to lobby elected politicians and agencies for action to deal with the closure of Dounreay so as to stop parts of the Caithness economy becoming a sinking ship.
Liz Gordon, GMB organiser, said: “There are concerns within the community for what happens after the Dounreay Closure – the Nuclear Archives are finally being built, investment has been put into Scrabster and Wick Harbours but how many jobs have been created? We have seen several companies closing within the community adding to the anxiety and unemployed totals.
“If much of the future belongs to renewable energy and the hope of resurgence in the oil industry then significant investment in the local skill market is required. The workforce do not feel respected by the company.
“The economic legacy of the Dounreay Programme has not been fully grasped and unfortunately the latest contract management team have performed lamentably in this sphere.”
Phil Craig, DSRL Managing Director, said: “The Cavendish Dounreay Partnership has a contract to clean up and shut down the site safely, securely, and in a manner that delivers value for money.
“Safety is our first priority at Dounreay. We take safety issues very seriously and will continue to focus on the safe decommissioning of the site.
“We are working with all our stakeholders to continuously improve our safety performance.
“As we decommission the site it is understandable that there will be concerns from the work force and the wider community about what will happen to the economy of the area once Dounreay closes.
“However, we have more than a decade of work ahead of us before site closure and it’s important that we continue to focus on that.
“During this period Dounreay will be creating jobs and we are currently seeking to fill more than 50 vacancies.
“Dounreay has been, and remains fully committed to supporting the delivery of socio-economic job benefits through our support to the Caithness & North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership (CNSRP).
“We are also providing direct support to community infrastructure activities such as the Caithness community sports hub project.”
Confirming that Fergus Ewing is happy to meet the GMB, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government was concerned after a series of incidents at the Dounreay site, and we are pleased that Dounreay has taken significant measures in the last year to improve its safety record. They have responded to an Improvement Notice from the Office for Nuclear Regulation, and have set up a long-term improvement programme.
“Mr Ewing has also this week pressed the UK Government for more investment in renewables such as further funding for the MORL offshore wind farm, which together with the Beatrice offshore wind farm would provide considerable investment opportunities in the local area.”
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