Information security chief at Sellafield nuclear site to quit

A former Royal Air Force officer who has led Sellafield's information security for more than a decade is to leave the vast nuclear waste site in northwest England, it can be revealed.

- Alex Lawson, Anna Isaac

Richard Meal, who is chief information security officer at the Cumbrian site, is to leave later this year.

Meal will be the second senior leader to depart the organisation this year, after the top director responsible for safety and security, Mark Neate, announced in January that he planned to leave.

Safety and cyber-security failings at Sellafield, as well as claims of a "toxic" working culture, were revealed in Nuclear Leaks, a year-long Guardian investigation, late last year.

Sellafield said no staff departures were linked to the revelations.

The nuclear waste site, which has more than 11,000 staff, was placed into a form of "special measures" in 2022 for consistent failings on cyber-security, according to sources at the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the security services.