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 Hartlepool Local Community Liaison Council and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Hartlepool Power Station. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (part of the Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Directorate) attend LCLC meetings and will be happy to respond there to questions raised by members of the LCLC. Any person wishing to inquire about matters covered by this report should contact the HSE, Nuclear Directorate on 0151-951-3484/3290
This report will be placed on the HSE website at
http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/index.htm under “Local Liaison Committee Reports”.
The site inspector visited the site on five occasions during the quarter:
Additional NII inspectors visited the site during the period to assist with the Level 2 emergency exercise and during the Reactor 1 outage to inspect topics associated with their specialist skills and knowledge.
As part of their routine work NII inspectors inspect for compliance against the requirements of the Station’s Nuclear Site Licence, the Health and Safety at Work Act and other relevant safety legislation. They monitor events, plant operations, projects, modifications and safety case changes and any other matters which are important to safety. Planned inspections during the quarter included, marking the site boundary (LC2), training (LC10), emergency arrangements (LC11), periodic review of safety (LC15), site plans (LC16), quality assurance (LC17), modification to existing plant (LC22), operating rules (LC23), maintenance, inspection and test (LC28), and control of organisational change (LC36).
In general the station’s arrangements were found to be satisfactory. In those areas where improvements were identified, satisfactory commitments to address the issues were made by the station. Routine aspects of particular significance are summarised below:
This exercise was held on the 11th July and involved a significant number of external organisations. NII inspectors were involved at site and with two groups at Police headquarters, one inspecting overall performance and the other in the role of Government Technical Adviser and his support team. The exercise served as a test of the Hartlepool off-site plan, as required under REPPIR. Overall, the performance of the licensee during this exercise was judged to be adequate.
During the Reactor 1 outage, which started on the 8th September, the site inspector accompanied by a mechanical engineering specialist inspected the arrangements for lifting of loads within the Charge Hall under Licence Condition 23. Although many aspects of the arrangements were found to be adequate, a number of areas for improvement were identified including load lifting route plans associated with load handling reviews, the control of lifts over potentially sensitive areas, and the equipment used to control crane movements. Actions were placed over an appropriate variety of timescales, some to be completed prior to lifting of specific loads, others before the end of the outage, and some changes to documentation over a longer timescale. The site inspector is content that the changes will restore an appropriate level of control to nuclear lifting.
As part of their planned inspection, site inspectors examine safety related events that have occurred and the Licensee’s response to them. Generally the Licensee’s internal system for following up events is robust and the appropriate actions are implemented.
This event was described in a previous quarterly report. NII have not yet received a copy of the report from the formal internal investigation and will review this to ensure a thorough investigation has been completed and that the plan to rectify any identified shortfalls is suitable and sufficient.
Inspection of the wire winding anchorages for all of the Boiler Closure Units (BCUs) on Reactor 1 is planned to be completed during the outage. The planned inspections use radiography to create an image of the anchorage system at each end of all nine wires which prestress the concrete BCU. A significant anomaly was identified on one of the eight BCUs suggesting that the wire had slipped though the anchorage. Invasive inspection which confirmed movement of the wire was completed at the end of the month. The observation was characterised as an INES 1 rated event. Interim Justifications for Continued Operation were prepared for the operating reactors at Hartlepool and Heysham 1 which share the same BCU design. The site inspector supported by a team of specialist inspectors is closely monitoring developments in the inspection of the Reactor 1 BCU prestressing system.
During the refuelling phase of the Reactor 1 outage, an event was reported where cooling CO2 gas flows were not in accordance with the safety case. When refuelling, boilers which are shutdown and not in service should have the inlet guide vanes on the associated gas circulators closed to prevent gas flow bypass from the operating boilers and gas circulators. In this case other activities appear to have resulted in a loss of indication and operators made assumptions regarding the IGV position. When subsequently checked, it was found the IGVs were in the incorrect position. The station are investigating the event and the site inspector has written to request a copy of the investigation report, its findings and the plan to implement the resulting actions to minimise the potential for a re-occurrence.
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.
The Inspectorate has powers under the Licence to issue Consents, Approvals and Directions. In addition the Inspectorate uses Licence Instruments to issue Specifications and Agreements under the conditions of the Licence. These are all called Licence Instruments. The following Licence Instruments were issued during the period.
Licence Instrument 520 giving agreement to BEGL proposals for replacement of reactor safety circuits temperature rate trip unit equipment.
Licence Instrument 521 giving agreement to BEGL proposals for replacement of safety circuit temperature monitoring unit equipment.
Nuclear Safety Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 7HS