Nuclear safety secrets

News in Brief

The ministry of defence (MoD) is allowed to keep its nuclear safety problems out of the public eye.

That was the decision of a government information tribunal in September 2020.... a decision that was not released until 2 July ‘because of COVID’.

The defence nuclear safety regulator (DNSR), which monitors military nuclear safety issues, stopped publishing reports in 2017.

Researcher Peter Burt asked for the 2015 – 2016 DNSR report. The information commissioner ruled that part of it could be released.

Peter appealed, asking for the whole report. The first tier tribunal has decided – no, it’s right to keep the public in the dark – so that enemies can’t possibly gain any information about the Trident replacement programme.