A NUCLEAR military site caught in the middle of a pensions dispute continues to come under criticism from regulators.

The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston has been placed in special measures by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) for the fifth year running.

Workers at the Aldermaston and Burghfield sites have taken part in a number of strikes over the last year following a row over 'promises' made by former governments.

When the ONR first announced enhanced regulation measures in 2013, it was estimated the AWE would recover in two years.

In their annual report, ONR highlights non-compliance issues at the AWE sites as an area of concern.

Paul Rees, head of Environment, Safety and Health for AWE, said: “We acknowledge that there is still work to do and aim to continuously improve on all aspects of our leadership and management, operations and processes.

“The report recognises that good progress made towards a long-term strategy for managing our Higher Activity Waste (HAW).

“We welcome the independent scrutiny and monitoring our regulators provide and will continue to work closely with the ONR in maintaining our safety standards.”

“AWE remains under a high level of regulatory scrutiny while we continue to use current facilities.

“We will also continue to collaborate with the ONR and other regulators to strengthen dialogue and understanding and to ensure we deliver on our regulatory responsibilities.”

Of the 36 nuclear licensed sites in the UK, only six are subject to enhanced regulatory attention, including the two AWE sites.

Eight enforcement measures were issued through the UK in 2016/7 and five were directed at AWE.

Measures at AWE related to their failure to produce a plan for dealing with holdings of HAW and failures to properly manage changes to safety documentation.

David Cullen, research manager for the Nuclear Information Service, added: “AWE was supposed to be in special measures for two years. It is now going to be in them for half a decade.

“Something has gone seriously wrong when over half the enforcement measures used by ONR in the last year were targeted at AWE.”