SIX employees at the Sellafield nuclear plant were "slightly" contaminated yesterday after radioactive material leaked into a building.
A British Nuclear Fuels spokesman described the contamination as very minor indeed" and said the six employees, who were wearing routine respirators but not full protective clothing, were immediately decontaminated and checked at the medical department on the site before being given the "all clear" to return home.
The employees were working in part of the Magnox plant, dismantling a redundant reprocessor, which separates waste products from spent nuclear fuels, when the leak was detected at 5 a.m. yesterday.
"The activity was detected routinely through installed in air monitors and this led automatically to a withdrawal of the relatively small number of people who were in the building at that time," he added.
Although the employees suffered only "minor personal contamination", the BNFL spokesman said their health would be monitored closely over the next few weeks and they would not work with radioactive parts during this period.
He added that no radioactivity had escaped outside the building and an immediate investigation into the incident had been instigated. "The incident was confined to the operational area of the plant, which has been isolated pending a full health physics survey. The rest of the building is in normal use.
"There has been no environmental discharge or spread of contamination outside the plant. The incident is being investigated and the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate have been informed," he said.