The Sellafield nuclear plant has been evacuated after 'elevated
levels of radioactivity' were detected.
All non-essential staff have been told to stay at home following
problems at the site in Cumbria, which is the biggest nuclear site in the UK.
Sellafield said an increase in levels of background radiation had
been enough to trigger sensors but all processing plants and storage tanks were
operating normally.
It is understood such incidents are rare.
It said in a statement: "As a result of a conservative and
prudent decision, the Sellafield site is operating normally but with reduced
manning levels today.
This follows the detection of elevated levels of
radioactivity at one of the on-site radiation monitors at the north end of the
site.
"Essential workers only are being asked to report for work.
"Levels of radioactivity detected are above naturally occurring
radiation but well below that which would call for any actions to be taken by
the workforce on or off the site.
"The site is at normal status and employees and operational
plants are continuing to operate as investigations continue. All our facilities
have positively confirmed there are no abnormal conditions and are operating
normally."
One worker said an air sampler on a perimeter fence had detected
a problem, which led to all non-essential staff being told to stay away.
He said employees had not been given any details of what had
happened at Sellafield. He estimated that thousands of workers were affected.
It is understood nothing has been detected inside the plant.
There was speculation that safety staff were checking to see if
there was a malfunction in the air sampler.
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Barclays, HSBC and bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are named alongside other major banks such as Deutsche Bank and Santander that will be forced to test their ability to withstand shocks in the financial markets.
The precise terms of the shocks are yet to be announced but the European Banking Authority said they would involve credit risk, market risk, sovereign risk, securitisation and the cost of funding.
The results will be announced in October and to pass the tests – the third imposed across Europe since the banking crisis – banks will need their main measure of capital to be above 8%, and 5.5% in the most stressed scenarios.
Announcing the details of the tests, which will cover the three years to 2016, the EBA said local regulators "may set higher hurdle rates and formally commit to take specific actions on the basis of those higher requirements".
Barclays, HSBC and bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are named alongside other major banks such as Deutsche Bank and Santander that will be forced to test their ability to withstand shocks in the financial markets.
The precise terms of the shocks are yet to be announced but the European Banking Authority said they would involve credit risk, market risk, sovereign risk, securitisation and the cost of funding.
The results will be announced in October and to pass the tests – the third imposed across Europe since the banking crisis – banks will need their main measure of capital to be above 8%, and 5.5% in the most stressed scenarios.
Announcing the details of the tests, which will cover the three years to 2016, the EBA said local regulators "may set higher hurdle rates and formally commit to take specific actions on the basis of those higher requirements".
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