The European Commission has issued a formal warning against British Nuclear Group - formerly British Nuclear Fuels - over shortcomings in the way it accounts and reports on nuclear material held at Sellafield in Cumbria.
A spokesman said the matter was viewed as 'very serious' in Brussels, and the company now had four months to rectify the problems identified by EU inspectors.
Under what is known as the Euratom Treaty, the European Commission is entrusted with ensuring that 'safeguards' at nuclear plants making certain nuclear materials are not diverted to any other purpose.
While inspectors found no evidence there had been any such diversion, a formal warning has been issued against the company over shortcomings in accounting and reporting procedures on nuclear material.
A statement from the operators of Sellafield, one of the largest nuclear engineering centres in the world, expressed disappointment it had yet to receive any formal notification of the warning.
British Nuclear Group said it was unable to comment further as a consequence, but added it would work closely with the commission's inspectors.
