Inspection reports for Springfield Fuels | Office for Nuclear Regulation

Date Released: 6 February 2025
Request Number: 202412063
Release of information under: Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)

Information requested

Please can I obtain copies of all inspection reports from the Office for Nuclear Regulation for Springfield Fuel Ltd from the past three years.

Information released

We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold the information specified in your request.

Please find enclosed the following 19 reports.

We have also identified a further 13 reports which relate to security inspections at Springfield Fuels Limited.

S.40 FOIA – Personal information

We have removed some information from the attached document as it is personal data. This consists of names, job titles contact details, and signatures. Release of each of this type of information could identify the individual either directly or indirectly. The personal data has been withheld using the exemption s.40(2) of the FOIA.

Release of the information would breach principle (a) of GDPR (lawfulness, fairness and transparency) on the grounds that there is no lawful basis to process this data. In addition, releasing this personal data would also breach principle (b) of GDPR (purpose limitation) as the data was provided for the purposes of report authorship, review and circulation.

Qualified exemptions

Some information within each of the attached 19 documents has been withheld under the following exemptions of the FOIA:

S.24 of the FOIA provides for exemption where information should be withheld in the interests of National Security; and,
S.43 exempts information whose disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (an individual, a company, the public authority itself or any other legal entity).

We are withholding the release of 13 reports relating to security inspections under s.24 FOIA.

As these are qualified exemptions, we are required to balance the public interest between disclosure and non-disclosure. We have therefore applied the Public Interest Test, as set out below:

Exemptions applied: s.24, s.40, s.43

Public Interest Test (PIT):

Factors for disclosure

As set out in our Strategy 2020-25, we aim to be an exemplar of transparency and openness to retain, and enhance, the trust and confidence of the workers and public we serve;
We will use openness and transparency to achieve our objective of developing and maintaining stakeholder trust in ONR as an effective independent regulator; and,
Issues related to the nuclear industry are subject to close scrutiny and debate, there is a public interest in information related to Springfield Fuels Limited’s activities and the release of such information.

Factors against disclosure

S.24 – Safeguarding national security

There is a strong public interest in safeguarding national security. The ICO guidance for s.24(1) makes it clear that safeguarding national security includes protecting potential targets even if there is no evidence that an attack is imminent;
The disclosure of information relating to specific building locations, key safety controls and features, the location and movement of hazardous material along with procedures and safety case references, could adversely affect the safety and security of the Springfield Fuels Limited site;
The disclosure of information relating to emergency response plans not already available in the public domain could adversely affect the safety and security of the site by revealing business continuity measures and indicating where key personnel are likely to gather should such an event were to occur;
It is likely that the requested information, pieced together with seemingly harmless information readily available in the public domain, could provide malign actors a much larger picture of the site and any potential vulnerabilities it may have.

S.43 – Commercial interests

ICO - Section 43 - Commercial interests

Section 43(2) says that information is exempt if its disclosure under FOIA would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any legal person (including the public authority) holding it;
The disclosure of this information would adversely affect the confidentiality of commercial information where such confidentiality is provided by law to protect legitimate economic interest; and,
Disclosing the information provided by Springfield Fuels Limited. could prejudice their commercial interests by divulging information that may benefit their competitors causing them harm.

Conclusion

ONR is committed to being an open and transparent regulator and operates on the basis of openness with a presumption to disclose information. After careful consideration of the factors set out above, we have concluded that the public interest in maintaining the above exemptions outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

On balance, safeguarding national security and commercial interests of Springfield Fuels Limited, outweigh the need for openness in terms of the specific information being requested. Disclosure of this information would likely prejudice their interests by assisting its competitors, and breaching existing safety and security protocols. We have therefore released 19 partially redacted reports based on s.24 and s.43 FOIA, but are withholding the 13 security inspection focussed reports based on s.24 FOIA.