The highest director at England’s largest nuclear waste dump is to go away, it has emerged.
In keeping with the Guardian, Mark Neate, the security and safety director at Sellafield is to go away later this 12 months. He’s mentioned to report on to the location’s interim chief govt Euan Hutton.
The Cumbria-based nuclear waste and decommissioning website is the world’s largest retailer of plutonium. However a year-long investigation from the newspaper discovered a “poisonous” working tradition in addition to a number of security and cybersecurity failings.
Power secretary Claire Coutinho mentioned the reviews have been “deeply regarding”. She has now demanded a “full rationalization” from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
The NDA is a state-owned physique that in the end has management over the Sellafield website.
NDA chief govt David Peattie final month mentioned there had been “obligatory adjustments to the management, governance, and danger administration of cyber”. He mentioned the accountability for its cyber operate had now been moved.
A brand new cybersecurity head is about to take cost later this month, says the Guardian. Peattie says this could guarantee “sustained focus and management on this matter”.
Sellafield mentioned Neate had accountability for cybersecurity operation till January final 12 months. That is when management was shifted to its chief info officer.
The Guardian says the location didn’t say if Neate’s departure was associated to cybersecurity and security failings, or if he opted to go away. The paper says it was nonetheless linked to the failings.
Sellafield says the director can be in publish for “a number of extra months,” reviews the publication. It mentioned he was leaving after a “profession devoted to making sure the security and safety of the Sellafield website and its workforce”.
Neate instructed the Guardian: “I took inventory on the finish of the summer season break and in the end determined that 2024 was the correct time for me to maneuver on.”
Neate joined Sellafield in 2012 and has held quite a few roles since, includig director of safety and resillience. Beforehand he labored within the army, together with spending time as a strategist through the Iraq struggle and dealing with the US military.
In a 2022 interview, he mentioned he was happy with Sellafield’s safety file. He mentioned: “If we sneeze right here the entire business will get a chilly. I do see it as enjoyable.”
In keeping with annual accounts for the 12 months ending March 2023, Sellafield as “extra work to do” to scale back security incidents. Accounts, the Guardian reviews, confirmed an annual working price of £2.5bn, a £170m improve to the general public purse.
Over the past monetary 12 months, the corporate reportedly pleaded responsible to a prosecution introduced by the Workplace for Nuclear Regulation below well being and security rules after an worker was injured falling from a scaffold ladder whereas finishing up restore work. It was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay £29,210 in prices in addition to a surcharge of £190.
The GMB union has urged the federal government and nuclear authorities to take motion over security issues. The agency, which employs 11,000 individuals, was additionally positioned in particular measures.
A Sellafield spokesman mentioned: “Mark Neate has made the choice to go away Sellafield following a decade of devoted service working as surroundings, security and safety director.
“Mark has introduced important worth to Sellafield over the previous decade, together with the position that he performed in operating our response to the Covid disaster, and we’re unhappy to see him go.
“He made the choice in autumn final 12 months to go away the corporate, and can proceed in his position to make sure a easy transition to his successor.”