The University has sent 18 undergraduates on placements at Sellafield Ltd since concerns regarding the degradation of safety began to circulate in November 2022.
The company, which was previously involved in creating the nuclear deterrent, now works with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to create sustainable nuclear energy. However, The Guardian has reported that a ‘toxic culture’ at Sellafield risks ‘compromising the safety of Europe’s most hazardous nuclear site’. Concerns regard both the safety and culture at the company’s site.
The University of Manchester has close ties with industry partner Sellafield. In 2013, Manchester Evening News reported that a £1.2m research centre was to be established at the University in partnership with the nuclear company. In 2023, it was announced that the University would lead Sellafield’s Centre of Expertise in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.
The Mancunion spoke with a third-year Chemical Engineering student who was in the process of applying for a placement year with Sellafield when he came across The Guardian’s reports on safety and culture at the company’s site.
“It caught me by surprise. The University should warn students about any issues with placements, especially if these issues are so public”.
The student interviewed told The Mancunion that he had been encouraged by university staff to apply for placements with the nuclear company. He recalled that the company promoted their placement and graduate roles both at University careers fairs and in presentations they held at the University. The University also advertises industrial experience with Sellafield on its website.
Sellafield is the largest site in Europe which stores and treats nuclear waste from weapons programmes and nuclear power generation. The company’s site “contains significantly more radioactive material than Chernobyl”.
The Guardian reported that concerns regarding safety risks at the company’s premises were first circulated in November 2022, when a document was sent to board members raising “widespread concerns about the degradation of safety across the site”.
“Sources have warned that the site’s basic safety requirements are increasingly wearing thin, and long-term dangers are being ignored or uncontained”.
The document had been put together by then Chief Nuclear Officer, Dr Paul Robson, who was tasked with overseeing the safety of the site. The Guardian suggested that these problems had worsened over the past decade at Sellafield.
In December 2023, the GMB Union called for “urgent action” from the government and nuclear authorities to tackle safety concerns at Sellafield.
The Guardian investigation also exposes an alleged string of failings regarding the workplace culture at Sellafield. These include suicides, incidences of bullying, sexual assault, and drug use. The Guardian states that these claims come from both current and former employees.
A BBC investigation also reported concerns over a “toxic mix of bullying and harassment”. This included concerns raised over racism at the site. In 2020, the site’s group for ethnic minority staff sent a letter to senior management recounting 27 racist incidents at the site. These included multiple incidents in which racial slurs were openly used.
This letter was seen by the BBC. It called on the organisation’s board to accept that it had a problem with racism and to commit to better education and training.
Whistleblower Alison McDermott worked as a consultant at Sellafield in 2018. The company says that her contract was terminated due to “performance issues”. However, she claims that she was sacked after raising her concerns about the culture at the company’s site. Her contract was terminated just days after she submitted an internal report critical of HR. She later took this to an employment tribunal, which ruled in Sellafield’s favour.
Sellafield denies the claims made by McDermott and others, stating, “we are not aware of any link having been made between working at Sellafield and an increased risk of suicide. No public authorities have ever raised a link between working at Sellafield and an increased risk of suicide. There is no evidence of unusually high prevalence of suicide among our workforce.
“There are also references made to sexual assaults and harassment in The Guardian’s reporting. We have asked The Guardian for evidence to investigate as we are not aware of the specifics of these claims. The Guardian has not provided this. We urge anyone with knowledge of these claims to provide details so we can take action”.
The student interviewed by The Mancunion said that the University had put him in contact with former placement students at Sellafield to assist with the application process. These former placement students did not share in the claims made by The Guardian’s sources.
Sellafield is a key employer in West Cumbria, and pays salaries higher than the regional average. The Guardian’s sources claim that this makes work “difficult to find for those who leave after attempting to raise concerns”.
Karl Connor, who was a senior manager at Sellafield for more than 13 years, told the BBC that he resigned having suffered a breakdown caused in part by bullying at the site. He shared that he feels it is difficult for staff to raise concerns.
“If you want to earn a good wage and live in that part of the world, then you have to work at Sellafield or in one of the supply chain companies.”
“The best thing for most people is not to rock the boat, to keep their heads down and just put up with it.”
In response to the concerns raised, a spokesperson for Sellafield told the BBC: “There is no place for bullying and harassment at Sellafield. We do not tolerate it and where we find it, we take action”.
The Guardian’s investigation raises the concerns that the workplace culture at Sellafield could worsen the safety conditions at the site. McDermott said: “Those risks are far more likely to materialise if you’re working in a highly toxic and dysfunctional culture”.
The Mancunion asked the student interviewed if he knew what safeguards the University has in place to protect students on placements.
“You get a buddy, a student who’s just finished their placement and is going into their fourth year. You also get an academic supervisor, from the University, and an industrial supervisor, which is someone from the company.
“You have to keep in contact with an academic supervisor throughout the year and they do at least two site visits, but those could be online”.
A spokesperson from The University of Manchester said: “The safety and well-being of our students is vital to allow these beneficial placements to function as part of degree programmes. We have robust processes in place to assess all placements, including those with Sellafield Ltd, to ensure compliance with health and safety standards. Any students on secondment are regularly visited by the University to make sure they are being well looked after. We review all of these partnerships regularly.
“To date, we have not received any concerns from students who have undertaken placements at Sellafield. We will continue to monitor and prioritise the safety and well-being of our students in all placement and partnership decisions.
“Our long-standing partnership with Sellafield Ltd, particularly through the Dalton Nuclear Institute, plays a vital role in advancing nuclear safety. For example, through the Robotics and AI Collaboration and the Effluents & Decommissioning Centre of Excellence”.
Sellafield “strongly refute some of the allegations made”.
A spokesperson from Sellafield Ltd said: “We have robust safeguarding measures in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students on placement with us.
“This includes a designated safeguarding lead who is responsible for safeguarding procedures and acts as a first point of contact for any concerns.
“No concerns have been raised with us in relation to these issues. We would urge any students on placements with us who have concerns to contact their safeguarding lead or our independently operated whistleblowing hotline, Safecall.”
