the head of the met police says she does not intend to resign and welcomes a review into the police�*s handling of last night's vigil for sarah everard. i don't think anybody who was not in the operation can actually pass a detailed comment on the rightness and wrongness of it. you know, this is fiendishly difficult policing. but criticism of the police has been swift, from across the political spectrum and those who attended the vigil. hundreds of demonstrators are gathered this evening the foreign secretary makes another call for the immediate release of british—iranian nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe — after she faces new allegations of anti—government propaganda in court. and it's the music industry's biggest awards night of the year — the grammys — they're being held at a virtual ceremony in los angeles. now on bbc news. reporterjim reed investigates allegations of a culture of bullying and harassment at the sellafield nuclear site in cumbria. i think there's massive problems with bullying at sellafield, and it's always seen as, let's keep this quiet, let's sweep this under the carpet. young women saying there in tears after work because of the way they have been sexually harassed. there's lots of sexism, there's racism. if there's a major incident, all of us will be exposed. you got toxic materials and you've got a toxic culture. no smoke comes from the 400 foot chimneys of the atomic _ factory in cumberland. it's been here since the dawn of the atomic age. sellafield was home to the world's first commercial nuclear power station. the material for britain's first atomic bombs was produced here. now, this huge site takes spent nuclearfuel, and re—processes it. storing it insecure concrete warehouses. this site behind me employs more than 10,000 people working with some of the most hazardous material in existence. sellafield is the largest nuclear site in europe, and home to the largest stockpile of plutonium in the world. the bbc, though, has spoken to people worried about working conditions here. we have seen and letter highlighting shocking stories of racial abuse, and heard concerns about the impact the working culture at sellafield could have on nuclear safety. if you want to earn a good wage and live in that part of the world, then you kind of have to work at sellafield or in one of the supply chain companies. so the best thing for most people is not to rock the boat. karl connor has worked as a senior manager in the communications team at sellafield for the past 13 years. he resigned injanuary after a breakdown caused in part, he says, by bullying at work. i suffered a mental health breakdown, and what i found was there was no tolerance room for me to get better. we have all the slogans, and as a comms person i wrote some of the slogans about, talking about mental health and how positive can you know, we should be about people with mental health problems, but that's just not what happens. that's not the way that the world is at sellafield. karl quit his job at sellafield at four months after we filmed this interview. he's now bringing a disability discrimination case against the company. do you think sellafield has got a particular problem with bullying? i think there's a massive problem with bullying at sellafield. and i think there's, there always will be for as long as the company isn't prepared to do anything about it. and it's always seen as, let's keep this quiet, let's sweep it under the carpet, but i know of examples... i would not give names because it would not be the right thing to do, but i know of examples of secretaries who have been pestered by older male colleagues who end up deciding that that won't take any further action and the secretary gets moved to a slightly betterjob somewhere. that happens, and has happened three or four times that i'm aware of. sellafield, as a site, host some of the most toxic material in the world. there's a team of really dedicated professional people who make sure it is safe for all of us, and those dedicated professionals deserve to be treated properly, and deserve to be looked after by the management and i don't feel they are, as it stands. i feel that that's a major risk. and that's where i think, now, somebody has to do something. somebody has to stand up. over the last few months, the bbc has spoken to a dozen members of staff both former and current about life at this site. we been passed a letter written to the sellafield board last year by a group representing ethnic minority workers cataloguing dozens of racist incidents. the use of racial slurs on the site was described by one member of staff as business as usual. at a training course, one muslim workers said the instructor told the class the main threat to the site was bearded men in flip—flops. none of my colleagues intervened or supported me. i am seriously concerned. none of my colleagues intervened or supported me. i am seriously concerned. alison mcdermott was hired in 2017 as a consultant in the human resources team at sellafield working on its equality and harassment strategy. many people have contacted me sharing stories of bullying, harassment, racism, mental health issues. so i have heard things that have never heard at another organisation. routine use of the word... of the n—word, use of the word, you know, i can't say these words but, you know, vile racist terms being used. really, really offensive comments, and homophobia as well. and it worries me sick because i think sellafield is a ticking time bomb because of the cultural issues, and no one seems to be holding them to account. allison mcdermott�*s contract was terminated days after she submitted an internal report critical of sellafield's hr department. she is now taking the organisation to court alleging she was dismissed for whistle—blowing. sellafield is contesting the case. the vast site in cumbria deals with some of the most hazardous raw materials in existence. the worry, from people we have spoken to, is that the culture here at sellafield can make it difficult for workers to come forward if they have concerns. and that, they say, could have a knock on effect on safety. at once the largest nuclear waste site in western europe. an internal staff survey commissioned by sellafield in 2018, and seen by the bbc, showed that 54% of employees agreed they can speak out about doing the right thing without fear of reprisal. a fall of 11 percentage points since the last survey in 2016. 30% of staff agreed they had seen evidence the organisation was changing for the better. again, a fall of 13 percentage points in two years. i will never forget an employee saying to me, when i was asking him questions with the culture, he said at sellafield you've got to really dangerous elements, you've got toxic materials and you've got a toxic culture. and you put the two together and you've got a recipe for disaster. this is an organisation that houses the world's most hazardous materials, and if there's a major incident than all of us will_ be exposed. the environment will be decimated, the public will be at risk. sellafield did not address those claims directly, but said in a statement... this programme has heard from a dozen current and former employees at sellafield. a number told us about safety concerns at the site. in one case from 2017, a member of the underwater diving team said he was bullied and sidelined after highlighting staffing levels he felt were unsafe. after he left that role, he said sellafield did change his policy increasing the size of the team. in a different case never before made public, a worker was exposed to an internal dose of plutonium when a bag of nuclear waste was opened. the case raises questions about the way complaints are dealt with at the site and the lessons that are learned when something does go wrong. an internal investigation report seen by the bbc blames a deficiency in leadership standards for the lapse in what's called an active workshop. we spoke to an employee who still works in nuclear safety at the site. he wanted to remain anonymous. according to the report, the ventilation system was not working properly. when a bag of waste was opened, plutonium was released into the air. that triggered an alarm meant to measure radioactive contamination levels. the report said it had become accustomed and practised to consider these alarms a nuisance by staff. this was a near repeat of a similar accident in 2015 in which no one was injured. in this case, test show the worker had breezed in an internal dose of plutonium. the bbc has also seen redacted e—mails, apparently between people involved in the follow—up investigation. a number refer to claims of a cover—up, and allegations of intimidating and threatening behaviour. the safety report later said new measures were put in place to stop another accident in the future. sellafield did not respond directly to the allegations made by the employees we spoke to, but in a statement said... it's true that bullying and harassment can be problems for any large company, but this site out on the cumbrian coast is home to more than 100 tonnes of nuclear waste. staff, both former and current, say the working culture at this giant site must now change. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm gavin ramjaun. lots to come on today's show. ireland edge a thriller at murrayfield — their winning run against scotland goes on in the six nations. india strike back — they level the 20 20 series with england after a masterclass by captain virat kohli. and, goal of the season? quite possibly an incredible piece of skill at the emirates, but was it enough to win the the north london derby. hello and welcome to sportsday. the six nations served up another thriller this afternoon — a late penalty from ireland continues the winning streak over scotland. there was drama right to the end at murrayfield ireland's victory taking them up to 2nd in the table. 0ur sports correspodent katie gornall reports. they say this is scotland's best team in 20 years, so what better time to prove it then against their old foes? ireland have won nine of their past ten matches against scotland, dominating the start of this one asjohnny sexton's kick eventually made its way into the hands of a robbie henshaw.

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