Nuclear body opens cyber security hub

A nuclear body has launched a cyber security hub to help protect itself from IT threats.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) opened the centre at Herdus House in Moor Row, near the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria.

It said the Group Cyberspace Collaboration Centre (GCCC) provided a space for experts to share knowledge on how to defend nuclear sites against "evolving" threats.

Last month Sellafield, which is part of the NDA, was fined £332,500 after admitting breaches to security regulations, meaning its IT systems were vulnerable to unauthorised access and loss of data.

A Sellafield spokesman said it took cyber security "extremely seriously", as indicated by its guilty pleas.

They added the company had not been subject to a successful cyber attack and had made "significant" improvements.

The NDA is the body tasked by the government to clean up the UK’s earliest nuclear sites, and in August it opened another cyber security operations facility in Warrington.

David Peattie, NDA Group CEO, said: "When it comes to security, we are never complacent, and we continually invest in our expertise and our technology to further strengthen our capability."

A Sellafield spokesman said cyber threats were "continually evolving" and it would continue to work with the nuclear regulator "to ensure we meet the high standards rightly required of us".

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