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 sites available to the public. It is for distribution to members of the AWE Local Liaison Committee (LLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Aldermaston and Burghfield. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate attend LLC meetings and will be happy to respond to any questions raised there by members. Any other person wishing to enquire about matters covered by this report may contact HSE's Nuclear Directorate Information Centre on 0151-951-4103.
1. A total of 11 different NII Inspectors visited the Aldermaston and Burghfield sites during the quarter. Inspections were made on the following days:
| Aldermaston | 1-2 July 8-12 July 31 July - 2 August 7-8 August 12-13 August 9-12 September 24 September 30 September |
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| Burghfield | 2 July 10-11 July 1 August 6 August 3-4 September 10-12 September 24-25 September |
2. 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 included:
a. Provision and assessment of safety cases and compliance with arrangements made under licence conditions.
b. Management of facility operations and maintenance.
c. Proposals for new plants.
d. Emergency arrangements (including duties under The Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001).
e. Decommissioning of redundant facilities.
f. Waste management.
g. Control of organisational change.
h. Control of entry to the site.
i. Maintenance.
j. Operating Rules and Operating Instructions.
k. Arrangements for the Nuclear Safety Committee, which advises the licensee.
l. Arrangements for the control of modifications to existing plants.
3. Issues arising from these and previous inspections are being pursued. Inspections were made also by HSE's Factory Inspectors, Explosives Inspectors, and Fire Surveyor.
4. Organisational Change: After further discussions on the new Baseline document, in particular on the way in which the licensee will monitor and maintain its ability to control work carried out on its behalf by others, NII has lifted its embargo on staff reductions that may affect safety.
5. Quality Assurance: At a reinspection, NII found that some of the improvements suggested after its inspection in August 2001 had still not been implemented. In letters to the licensee, NII required these improvements to be made without further delay. A member of NII's QA Inspection Unit gave a presentation to the licensee on the making and keeping of statutory records.
6. Human Factors: Discussions continue on the areas of concern identified by February's team inspection of criticality. NII has given particular attention to Human Factors in two of these areas, and in an unrelated operation at Burghfield, since safety is particularly dependent on operators in these cases.
7. New MOD Regulator: During the quarter NII had two meetings with MOD's newly established Nuclear Weapons Regulator to understand his proposed regulatory strategy and how it might interact with NII's own responsibilities.
8. Visit by USDOE: NII was present at a visit to AWE by the US Department of Energy Office of Oversight.
9. Annual Emergency Exercise: This year's demonstration emergency exercise simulated an aircraft crash on and around a major production facility. The key feature was large-scale support, for the first time, by local authority fire and rescue services, who assumed command of the fire ground, carried out a search and rescue in the building, and extinguished an external fire. Many lessons were learnt for future co-operation. NII judged the exercise a satisfactory demonstration of part of the licensee's arrangements for dealing with any accident or emergency arising on the site and its effects.
10. ILW Treatment Plant: The licensee has increased the resources on this project, and its studies to select a process are nearing completion. One of the criteria that will be used will be how soon the plant can be operational. NII continues to press for the earliest reasonably practicable operational date.
11. Incident: The release of a small amount of airborne radioactive material into a laboratory, though it resulted in no doses to persons, revealed a number of matters needing improvement, particularly in how safety in old facilities is ensured. NII was broadly satisfied with the AWE's response, and continues to discuss the lessons learned.
12. Site Development Plan: AWE plc has published an outline of its future plan to develop the Aldermaston site. It includes construction of new plants, the possible transfer of Burghfield operations to Aldermaston, and closure of many old buildings. NII has been briefed periodically since the first days of the plan. Discussions have begun on a range of safety issues from the siting of the new facilities and potential interaction between facilities to fundamental design decisions on specific facilities. For instance, the construction materials for the proposed Hydrodynamics Research Facility are being assessed.
13. Though NII did not attend the meeting of the West Berkshire Planning Authority which discussed the plan, NII was able to assure them that its powers were sufficient to control any potential changes to risks to people's health and safety from work activities that the plan might entail.
14. As part of its regulation under the nuclear site licences NII issues formal regulatory documents, which include Consents, Approvals, Directions, and Licence Instruments1. For Aldermaston, during the quarter NII issued: Licence Instrument No 20, which agreed to a further stage in the continuing decommissioning of some laboratories; LI No 22, which agrees to the operation of new ventilation and control systems in the facility containing those laboratories; and LI No 21, which notified the licensee that operation of the new tritium plant, currently undergoing commissioning, can not commence until the latest safety case has been submitted and NII has consented.
15. As part of its regulation under the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001 NII issues formal regulatory documents, which include notifications and approvals. During the quarter, NII issued Approvals No 10 (for Aldermaston) and No 5 (for Burghfield) allowing AWE plc to withhold parts of the assessments it made under Regulation 6 for reasons of public security and national defence. NII also issued notifications to West Berkshire Council of the requirement to prepare, under Regulation 9, off-site emergency plans for the agreed detailed emergency planning zones around each site.
1 Licence Instruments are issued to acknowledge receipt of specified documents, eg proposals for a new or modified plant; to stipulate whether the Inspectorate intends to examine these documents, or to agree to the start of a particular phase of construction, commissioning, modification, or decommissioning.
Published on the HSE web site 20 January 2003