Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Nuclear
LLC reports
This report is issued as part of the Health and Safety Executive's commitment to make information about inspection and regulatory activities relating to the above site available to the public. It is for distribution to members of the Dungeness Power Stations’ Site Stakeholder Group (SSG) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Dungeness A Nuclear Power Station. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate attend SSG meetings and will respond to questions raised there by members of the SSG. Any other person wishing to inquire about matters covered by this report should contact the HSE’s Nuclear Directorate on 0151-951-4382.
These reports are distributed quarterly and are available also from the Internet at http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/index.htm.
Nuclear Safety Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 7HS
The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) Site Inspector visited Dungeness A during the quarter. Inspections were made on the following days:
Routine inspections are undertaken for the purpose of monitoring compliance with (i) the conditions attached by HSE to the nuclear site licences, and (ii) other relevant provisions of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, including the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999.
In this period routine inspections covered:
The Deputy Chief Inspector visited Dungeness A on the 11 and 12 December. The DCI inspected the reactor buildings and fuel route before discussing decommissioning programmes and compliance issues with Magnox staff.
As a prerequisite to relicensing, HSE inspected a selection of the Dungeness A (and Sizewell A) technical staff. The result of the inspection was favourable and we were able to reassure ourselves that sufficient qualified and experienced staff remained on site to support the Safety Cases.
HSE’s consideration of the nuclear safety implications of the proposed Lydd Airport expansion is complete. HSE have notified Shepway District Council that we are satisfied that the risk to the Nuclear Installations at Dungeness is sufficiently remote that we have no grounds for objection to the proposed development on the grounds of Nuclear Safety.
The additional work requested by the HSE has now been assessed. Our concerns regarding the defuelling and decommissioning safety cases are satisfied.
The site adequately demonstrated their emergency arrangements at the annual Level 1 emergency exercise. The site’s emergency teams responded well to a complex and demanding radiological scenario.
Phase 3 of operation begins when the residual energy in the reactors has decayed sufficiently to allow external cooling to be isolated. This is a significant point in the sites lifecycle. HSE are inspecting preliminary trials aimed at demonstrating phase 3 conditions have been achieved.
As part of its regulation under nuclear site licences, NII issues regulatory documents, collectively termed Licence Instruments. The following Licence Instrument was issued:
The NDA’s intent is that Magnox Electric Ltd will be split into two companies, Magnox North and Magnox South – Dungeness A will be part of Magnox South. Prior to this very significant move, NII has insisted on a period of Shadow Working where the existing organisation remains intact but works as if split, to test the adequacy of the proposed split. If NII is content that the two organisations can operate effectively as licensees in their own right, consideration will be given to the licensing the two organisations as legally separate companies. At this point, Magnox North sites will retain their existing nuclear licences; Magnox South sites will have to be re-licensed.
To enable entry to Shadow Working, NII issued Licence Instruments to all Magnox sites under Licence Condition 36 "Control of Organisational Change" to Agree the management change to enable this.
Licence Instruments (Site Licence No 55)
| Number | Date | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 512 | 20/11/07 | Agreement to Commence Shadow Working – Magnox Electric Ltd NP/SC 7011 |
Under Health and Safety legislation the Site Inspector, or other HSE Inspectors, may issue formal notices to secure improvements to safety. No such notices were issued during the reporting period.