The number of official reports documenting security problems at the UK’s civilian nuclear facilities has reached its highest level in at least 12 years amid a drop in inspections, the Guardian may reveal.
Experts say the news raises concerns about the regulator’s capacity to cope with planned expansion in the sector.
A total of 456 incident reporting forms documenting security issues at the UK’s nuclear facilities have been sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ONR) in 2021, according to information from the Guardian and Point Source investigative journalism.
This is 30% higher than the 320 reports submitted throughout 2020 and more than twice the 213 reports submitted in 2018.
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Incidents reported include physical security issues, such as unauthorized access to protected areas, as well as cybersecurity issues, such as malware attacks.
Dr Paul Dorfman, chairman of the Nuclear Advisory Group and former secretary of the government commission investigating radiation risks from internal emitters (Cerrie), said operators and the regulator must take action to tackle the rise in reported incidents.
“The growing number of security issues we see documented in nuclear facilities is extremely worrying,” he said.
“These figures seem to indicate a weakening of security standards when it comes to the operation and regulation of sites that have the potential to cause great harm to people and the environment.
“When the stakes are so high, it’s important for the ONR to take all these incidents seriously, to look at why they happened, to try to solve the relevant problems, and to reduce the number of incidents that happen.”
Dorfman added: “The broader picture raises significant concerns about the technical and human capacity of the ONR to regulate and monitor what is a potentially high-risk industry.
“This is particularly worrying in the context of the UK’s aging nuclear fleet, as well as in the new construction plans that the government is currently pushing for.
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The recent increase in reported security incidents comes ahead of a planned large-scale expansion of the UK’s civilian nuclear sector.
Last month, Boris Johnson said nuclear energy was “coming home” when he unveiled plans for eight new reactors in the UK.
Johnson has set a goal of 25% of electricity coming from nuclear power. This means increasing capacity from 7GW to 24GW by 2050, a process that will be monitored by a new body, Great British Nuclear.
In 2021, there has been an increase in the number of reported “moderate” security incidents, according to data obtained from the ONR using freedom of information legislation.
During the year, a total of 42 documented security incidents were assessed as “moderate”. This is more than the 24 moderate incidents reported in 2020, and is the largest recorded number in at least 12 years.
Moderate is the second most severe category and is described by the ONR as an incident in which there was a “significant deviation from expected standards”.
The growing number of reported security incidents comes amid a decline in the number of security checks carried out by the regulator.
There are fears that in 2021 the frequency of nuclear security inspections carried out by the ONR may have fallen to its lowest level in at least four years.
Data obtained in a separate Freedom of Information Request show that in 2021, by 17 December, the ONR had carried out only 136 security checks, up from 144 for 2020 and 169 for 2019.
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Information security inspections are among the types with the largest decline, with only 40 carried out in 2021 to 17 December, down from 74 throughout 2020.
Dorfman said this is particularly worrying, given the growing risk of cyber attacks on nuclear infrastructure.
“There is no doubt that nuclear energy is operating in an increasingly dangerous and volatile world, where the threat of sponsored or non-state cyber attacks is growing,” he said.
In a statement, ONR said: “We welcome the increase in reported events, as our analysis shows that this reflects improvements in the awareness and culture of security throughout the industry. The majority of reported events (80-90%) were minor breaches of security measures that were proactively reported to us.
The regulator also said he believes his engagement with nuclear operators has increased in recent years, despite a drop in official inspections.
It adds: “The data we provided under the Freedom of Information Act relate only to on-the-spot compliance checks and do not include other assessment work. This separate regulatory control, which is not presented in the data, is essential to ensure that site security measures are in accordance with the law and include on-site visits to strengthen regulatory assessments. ”
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