British Nuclear Fuels Ltd said yesterday that safety at its Sellafield plant would not be compromised if shift workers at the site in northwest England return a vote in favour of industrial action today.
A spokesman for BNFL declined to comment on whether the plant would be shut down or what work might be affected in the event of a strike by the shift workers, who represent about a fifth of Sellafield's workforce.
But he stressed the firm had an agreement with unions that safety would not be compromised.
"It is very difficult to say categorically what the effect [of any strike action] would be," the spokesman said.
"Obviously, there would be an effect ... but there wouldn't be a situation where we would compromise on safety." Sellafield reprocesses spent nuclear fuel for customers in Japan and Europe, as well the nuclear firm British Energy.
The dispute between unions representing shift workers at the plant in north-west England and the state-owned nuclear power firm BNFL, which runs Sellafield, centres on differences in pay.
The result of a ballot on industrial action is due today.
A source close to the unions said on Saturday that a "yes" vote was expected.
A spokeswoman for the GMB union said BNFL had agreed in 1999 to address the pay discrepancies by 2004, but now wanted to extend the original deadline to 2009, which the workers did not accept.
The BNFL spokesman said the company had agreed a deal in recent months with national union officials to resolve the pay discrepancies through phased payments by 2009 but this had been rejected by local union representatives at Sellafield.
The GMB spokeswoman said in the event of a "yes" vote, the union would give BNFL seven days' notice of strike action, which could then take place within two weeks.
She said another union, Amicus, had also balloted its members over action.
Amicus officials were not immediately available for comment yesterday. - (Reuters)