SELLAFIELD has been handed an improvement notice by industry watchdogs over its control of the bacteria legionella.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation inspected Sellafield's Highly Active Liquid Effluent and Storage facility.

It issued the notice requiring improvements in the management and control of legionella in the cooling tower system.

Sellafield Ltd has already taken short-term remedial action and ONR has determined that an improvement notice is necessary to ensure appropriate sustained and permanent improvements.

Dr Richard Savage, chief nuclear inspector, said: "We are here to ensure the nuclear industry meets the high standards of safety and security required by the law and will always take appropriate enforcement action where necessary.

"This includes management of risks to health and safety arising from legionella.

"We are satisfied that this issue does not impact nuclear safety and there has been no outbreak of Legionnaires' disease.

This is about requiring improvements to ensure that the risks arising from legionella are being appropriately controlled and managed."

ONR said Sellafield Ltd needed to improve the condition of the cooling tower to minimise the likelihood of legionella bacteria proliferation and release.

Sellafield Ltd is obliged to complete the requirements of the Improvement Notice by January 27, 2017.

A statement added: "ONR will undertake a further investigation to determine the underlying causes surrounding the failure to meet the required legal standards in this instance.

"Due to our ongoing investigation, we will not publicly discuss any further details at this time."

A Sellafield Ltd spokesman said: "The ONR improvement notice in relation to the condition and cleanliness of cooling towers supporting one of our facilities formalises an improvement programme we had already identified.

"In this instance, our cleaning regime wasn’t as robust as it should have been and we have already started work on an improvement plan.

"The age and nature of the Sellafield site means that some of our facilities are more difficult to maintain than they might be elsewhere, but that is not an excuse.

"We will learn from this and implement our improvement plan promptly.

"The legionella bacteria found in the towers during routine tests does not cause Legionnaires’ disease."