A JUDGE has fined a nuclear weapons firm £200,000 after a fireball erupted in the face of a Basingstoke employee.
Ashley Emery, 29, suffered burns to his left arm and face in the fire at AWE Aldermaston on the evening of August 3, 2010.
At Reading Crown Court today, Judge Richard Parkes fined AWE plc £200,000, and ordered it to pay £80,258.05 in court costs to the Health and Safety Executive, which brought the prosecution.
He also ordered the company to pay £2,500 to Mr Emery, who still suffers some psychological problems following the fire, the court heard.
Judge Parkes said the fire had revealed a number of shortcomings “at a level of middle management responsible for training and supervision of the employees immediately concerned” at AWE Aldermaston.
AWE plc pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at a previous hearing.
For more on this story, see The Gazette on Thursday.
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