Rolls Royce fined for loss of radioactive source 29 September 2014

Rolls Royce Marine Power Operations has been fined £200,000 plus £176,500 costs following loss of a radioactive source at its Derby plant.

The company, which manufactures components for nuclear submarines, uses radioactive sources (Ytterbium 169) for weld testing.

Leicester Crown Court heard that "significant failings" led to a radioactive capsule being lost for five hours on 3 March 2011, resulting in workers being exposed to gamma radiation – in some cases many times higher than the legal limit.

The event prompted a joint investigation by the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) and Environment Agency, which jointly prosecuted the company, after serious concerns were identified.

The court was told that at around 5am on the day of the incident the source was being used in a purpose-built radiography enclosure. During the work the capsule became detached from its holder, was lost from the end of the guide tube and lodged inside the component under tested.

The loss of the source was not detected by safety equipment on the radiography enclosure or by the radiographer. It was only discovered when welders working on the component in a clean room spotted the capsule and removed it for examination, passing it among themselves.

When radiographers returned for their next shift, they identified the object – but only after some confusion, which involved some of them also handling the capsule.

The HSE investigation found that, in some cases, workers were exposed to 32 times the annual permitted radiation level. It also found that Rolls Royce failed to ensure that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment was in place for the gamma radiography.

Inadequate procedures, together with deficiencies in training, led to Rolls Royce Marine Power Operations failing to ensure that robust and effective controls were in place.

Additionally, the radiation monitoring equipment was not well understood and failed to detect the radioactive source location, which is mandatory when carrying out radiography work.

"Industrial radiography carries a greater risk of radiation exposure compared to other industrial uses of radioactive sources by nature of the very high activity sources used," comments David Orr, HSE's specialist inspector of radiation.

"HSE expects companies carrying out such work to have robust safety systems and procedures in place to protect employees during normal work and following a radiation accident such as the detachment of the radioactive source," he continues.

"There was no effective surveillance of it for five hours and the exposure of workers to radiation, including some who were not involved in the radiography work, was considerably in excess of the annual permitted dose."

"Our overriding aim in regulating the use of radioactive materials is to ensure their safe management and control to protect the public and the wider environment from the harmful effects of radiation," adds Mark Haslam, area environment manager for the Environment Agency.

"For us, the most important thing is that the company has learnt the lessons from this and put improvements in place to ensure this does not happen again."

Brian Tinham

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Health & Safety Executive

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