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 Hinkley Point A Power Station, Site Stakeholder Group and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Hinkley Point A Decommissioning Site. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate usually attend SSG meetings and will be happy to 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, Nuclear Safety Directorate Information Centre on 0151 - 951 - 4103.
This report will be put onto the HSE website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/llc/index.htm under the heading: Local Liaison Committee Reports.
Nuclear Safety Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 7HS
Two site inspection visits were undertaken this quarter.
1-2 October 2007
5-8 November 2007
3-6 December 2007
Licence Condition planned inspections – In October I made a Licence Condition 33 inspection of a decontamination facility for removing radioactive contamination from empty fuel skips. These skips are decontaminated from intermediate level waste levels down to low level waste, and then consigned off site as LLW.
A Level 1 Emergency Exercise demonstration was observed by a team from NII in November. Overall, the licensee provided an adequate demonstration of their emergency arrangements under Licence Condition 11.
In December I inspected maintenance arrangements under Licence conditions 27 & 28. The arrangements appeared adequate but some concerns were raised with regard to the extent and scope of maintenance inspections for certain plant items. I have requested evidence from the site that the inspection regime addresses all the safety functions required from these plant items. I also inspected, with the assistance of a radiation specialist, the health physics arrangements under Licence Condition 18 for controlling radiation dose uptake and the application of the ALARP principle to dose control of workers. The arrangements were found to be good.
LC11 – Emergency Arrangements
LC18 – Radiological Protection
LC27 – Safety Mechanisms, Devices and Circuits
LC28 – Examination, Inspection Maintenance and Testing
LC33 – Disposal of Radioactive Waste
Visit by NII Chief Inspector to site – In October the NII’s Chief Inspector visited the site and toured some of the site facilities. He was pleased to see the decommissioning progress that had been made and he noted the concerns over funding uncertainties that were raised by site staff.
Electrical incident, HSE investigation – This incident prompted an investigation by an HSE electrical safety inspector and was reported in the last report to the SSG. The inspector has monitored progress against the issues raised by the investigation and there have been extensive discussions with the licensee’s lead team and contractor company involved. A follow-up inspection was undertaken in November. HSE has been satisfied with the improvements made by the licensee and has closed its investigation. As noted in my last report, HSE decided to take no further formal regulatory action in addition to the letter already sent; this followed the application of HSE’s Enforcement Management Model to determine the most appropriate regulatory action to take.
The Inspectorate has power under the Licence to issue Consents, Approvals and Directions. In addition the Inspectorate uses Licence Instruments to issue Specifications and Agreements under the conditions attached to the Licence.
Shadow Working – The NDA’s intent is that Magnox Electric Ltd will be split into two companies, Magnox North and Magnox South – Hinkley Pt 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-licenced.
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.
| Number | Date | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 505 | 20/11/07 | Agreement to Commence Shadow Working – Magnox Electric Ltd NP/SC 7011 |
Hinkley Point A Site Inspector
HM Inspector (Health and Safety)
Health and Safety Executive
HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate
Redgrave Court
Merton Rd
Bootle
Merseyside