Announces Possible Investigation Trick At The Reactor To Økokrim – NRK Oslo And Viken – Local News, TV And Radio

“We take the information that emerged seriously and immediately initiate an external investigation,” says Nils Morten Huseby, director of the Department of Energy Technology (IFE).

Last summer, the foundation reported that they suspected possible scientific dishonesty in projects at the Halden reactor. It was then possible to change the results of the research at the reactor several years back in time.

It was this that prompted his investigation, and now the report has arrived. It is of such a nature that the IFE itself has sent it to Økokrim.

Going to Økokrim yourself

The Halden Reactor is a nuclear reactor that was in operation from 1955 until its closure in 2018. It has been used for various research projects and the experience of many different countries has been involved.

There are projects in the period 1990 to 2005 that have now been examined.

According to IFE, the breach has had no security consequences for the Halden reactor. On the other hand, it is unclear what the consequences are for clients who have received research results that are in default.

Now IFE is awaiting further customer information to determine that the Halden projects have posed some security risks elsewhere.

– The investigation has revealed serious conditions with security risk and financial consequences. IFE therefore decided to report the relationship with Økokrim, says Huseby.

– Planned and well hidden

– We seriously analyze what happened, says Kristin Elise Frogg, director of the department of the Directorate for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety.

She says that the Directorate was notified last summer. They immediately ordered the IFE to investigate the consequences that this could have.

– At that time, IFE presented it as an investigative fraud. Later it emerged that it has been planned, manipulated, and well hidden. We are concerned if this has anything to do with the safety of the Halden reactor and with customers in other countries who have used this investigation, ”says Frogg.

The Directorate has been continuously informed since September last year and has informed the supervisory authorities of the countries that they know are affected.

“It is currently unclear how many there are, but you can talk about 4-5 countries,” says Frogg.

“Does this have anything to do with the safety of the Halden reactor?”

– IFE says it has not been affected by the research projects, and it is likely. But we have to do a separate evaluation, says Frogg.

– What does this mean for IFE’s reputation?

– Clearly this is a very unfortunate case for a research institute, says Frogg.

Internal notice received

The report, which Kvamme Associaties has written, reveals that it was the internal whistleblowers who first pointed out the possible errors. It happened in early 2019.

Those who reported were treated as complainants and internal investigations were initiated. In August last year, the company announced that they had launched an external investigation.

The first reports were about episodes in which the data on temperature and pressure had changed.

Studies have shown that changes in data or research design appear to have been brought about by challenges that researchers have encountered along the way in projects.

Two situations in particular stand out as typical. The first is that the researchers failed to meet the test requirements. The second was situations where they were having trouble with testing and there was a risk of delays or having to restart.

In total, four international projects have been found in the Halden reactor that have been in default, according to the report. Independent experts have assessed that there are no security risks associated with two of the projects. The last two have not been fully evaluated.

During the work it was also discovered that three other projects may also be affected. These are now under review.