Emergency arrangements - NII response to a class 3 event

Issue Date:

28/04/09

Review Date:

28/04/12

Open Government Status:

Fully open

Approved By:

R Gray

1. Purpose and scope

1.1 This document gives NII policy for responding to a nuclear event for which the site does not invoke the approved emergency plan - a Class 3 Event in NII's emergency arrangements. It sets the procedure NII will follow in responding to such an event.

1.2 Class 3 Events are not emergencies ; they are events that, in office hours, would be dealt with as incidents according to NII procedures. They have been included here given that out of hours calls may be directed to a Nominated Inspector.

2. Policy

2.1 The function of NII in a Class 3 Event is to monitor events on site and the actions taken to restore plant safety.

2.2 NII inspectors are not deployed automatically to Class 3 events. Senior management are alerted to such events by the "Fast Stream" procedure, see INS/011 .

3. Responsibilities

3.1 The Nominated Inspector is responsible for completing and issuing a Fast Stream report.

4. Definitions

4.1 Class 3 Event : Minor nuclear incident on nuclear site, is defined as:

A nuclear event for which the site does not invoke its approved emergency plan.

4.2 Nuclear site : Either a licensed site, or a MoD site which NII regulates under the Ionising Radiation Regulations.

4.3 Office Hours : are identified as 8.30am to 5.00pm.

4.4 Out of Office Hours : are identified as 5.00pm to 8.30am and weekends. During this period any alerting call for NII must be made directly to the HSE Duty Officer.

5. Procedure

The Nominated Inspector will have been informed of a nuclear event by a telephone call from the HSE Duty Officer, outside normal working hours. The Nominated Inspector will have followed the procedure on notification and classification, and hence made a return call to the operator and obtained sufficient information to classify the event as Class 3.

5.1 The Nominated Inspector completes a FAST 1 according to the appropriate procedure (see INS/011 ).

5.2 The Nominated Inspector considers the seriousness of the incident and whether any further out-of-hours notification is necessary. This further notification may include the Superintending Inspector (SI) for the site (or the Deputy Chief Inspector (DCI) if the SI is unavailable), and possibly the Chief Inspector (CI) / deputy. If there is likely to be significant early national Press interest (for instance, following the release of a press statement by the operator) the Nominated Inspector should inform HSE Press Office.

5.3 Consideration should be given by the Nominated Inspector on whether implementation of HSE's Major Incident Response and Investigation Policy and procedures may be necessary.

5.4 At the start of normal working hours the Nominated Inspector delivers the FAST 1 to the divisional administration support team for circulation.

6. Associated documents

6.1 Overview of NII response to nuclear events, NII Emergency Procedures Handbook.

6.2 INS/015 - Initial Notification and Event Classification.

6.3 Emergency Arrangements Communications Directory, NII Emergency Procedures Handbook.

6.4 INS/011 - ND's Fast Stream Reporting Process