§ Dr. John Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will make a statement about the cause, nature and extent of the fire which occurred in the Magnox nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Windscale on Monday 16 July, including details of the quantity of nuclear fuel involved and the nature of the resulting radiation to workers.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe fire on 16 July 1979 at the Windscale works of BNFL occurred in the de-canning plant, which is housed in a heavily-shielded concrete cell and is remotely controlled.
The fire involved a piece of irradiated Magnox fuel element which became jammed in the machine which removes cladding from the uranium metal. During efforts to release the material, particles 812W of uranium caught fire and fell into accumulated Magnox swarf which also caught fire. The fire was extinguished within about 45 minutes by plant staff and the works fire brigade. The cause is not yet known and an investigation is being carried out. The quantity of nuclear fuel involved is estimated to be no more than a few grammes.
Though the fire was confined to a small area of the concrete cell, during the firefighting operations some radioactive material escaped to working areas and the environment within the site boundary. As a result of personal monitoring checks eight people were referred for further medical examination, which showed that the worker most heavily contaminated had inhaled particulate matter, mainly caesium, equal to a dose commitment of about 6 per cent. of the permissible annual level.