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 Harwell Local Liaison Committee (LLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Harwell. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate normally attend LLC meetings and will be happy to respond to questions raised there by members of the LLC. Any other person wishing to inquire about matters covered by this report should contact the HSE, Nuclear Directorate Information Centre on 0151-951-4103.
During this quarter it was possible to focus much more on planned inspection which included an examination of UKAEA's arrangements for control of radioactive material on site. This included a planned review of arrangements for control of radioactive sources. This inspection forms part of a wider inspection that will include Windscale.
The Site Inspector visited Harwell on the following days:
8 January - 11 January (Site Inspection)Use continues to be made of video conferencing facilities.
Licence compliance inspection has continued to examine commissioning of plant and modifications. At the site annual review meeting and the UKAEA operational review NII has emphases the need for the licensee to be in control of tenant operations and this remains a theme for inspection. There has also been inspection associated with the generic topic groups that provide information to the operational review meeting. These have included delicensing and emergency arrangements.
A licence instrument has been issued to allow Dragon fuel to be received at Harwell. This is the culmination of a significant amount of work by both UKAEA and NII. The licence instrument covers the active commissioning phase and trial operations, totaling 20 moves. Issues concerning generic seismic assessment are still to be fully progressed. UKAEA have identified a programme of engineering substantiation as part of the periodic safety review project. This work will form an important input into the safety case for full operations.
Transfers of Dragon fuel from Winfrith to Harwell took place before the end of the quarter. It is intended that the arrangements for receipt at Harwell will be examined as part of planned inspection for the next quarter.
The annual review of emergency arrangements has been undertaken. The main objective being to look back over last year's performance and to look at how improvements have been progressed. The last demonstration exercise was very good and UKAEA has continued to identify practical areas for improvement plus continuation of the training programme. NII has stressed the importance of UKAEA being in charge of the site and the need to ensure that all tenants follow the emergency plan. Agreements are being developed concerning how UKAEA demonstrate mustering of staff on site as part of tits emergency plan. The changing nature of the site is a driver for carrying out such a review.
Since the licence instrument active commissioning of waste retrieval was granted UKAEA have commenced retrieval of waste cans. This process has been examined as part of licence compliance inspection. Good commissioning systems have been developed and commissioning experience being captured. There is also good evidence of learning from the operations and proactive thinking about improvements to the systems. A number of difficult retrieval operations have been successfully completed. Whilst this has meant that the programme is slightly slower than expected, good information is being obtained to help design of the second machine. NII is pleased with the way in which operations have been progressed in a safe and effective manner.
Following an event at Windscale a review of the arrangements for control of radioactive sources has been undertaken. This also links to control of radioactive material. The first inspection at Harwell has not identified any significant issues about the systems in place. UKAEA demonstrated that their arrangements have been reviewed and improvements implemented along with good audit functions.
The annual review of safety at Harwell was held during the quarter. NII was pleased by the attendance of tenants for part of the meeting and the contribution made by TU representatives.
The project associated with the AEAT divestment of Nuclear Science is continuing and NII have provided initial views on the change management arrangements. The main impact of this project is at Windscale with a modest number of staff at Harwell affected.
During the period of the report, no Directions under conditions attached to the Site Licence were issued.
The following consents were issued;
1. Lease of North of Building 551 (ref. no. 85) and Lease of East and South Wings Building 551 (ref. no. 86); 30 January 2002 Consent Nos 742. Licence to Assign UKAEA ref. no 87 relating to Lease of East and South Wings Building 551 and Assignment to Harwell Scientifics - ref 234357 of Leasehold Property known as Building 551: 30 Janaury 2002 Consent Nos 75
3. Lease ref no 786. Lease of Building 353T2 and part 404.14 Unit 5 at Harwell. 25 March 2002 Consent Nos 76 (ICE Facilities Management Ltd)
4. Lease of Building 418.19 at Harwell: 22 March 2002 to EBIS Iotron Consent Nos 77
5. Licence to Assign - Lease 418 at Harwell. Assignment - PP.Assign01 of Leasehold property known as Building 418 at Harwell to EBIS Iotron 22 March 2002 Consent Nos 78
The following Licence instruments were issued; Licence instrument No 61 request for agreemnt to proceed with a category B modification to receive dragon Fuel into B 462 at Harwell: 1 March 2002Regulatory action;
As part of the quarterly reports to the LLC members have been kept informed about the prosecution of UKAEA and AEA Technology over the events of 9 September 1999. The final hearing in that case was held at Oxford Crown Court on 18 January 2002. HSE offered no evidence to the HSW Act charges and consequently UKAEA and AEAT were found not guilty. Both UKAEA and AEA Technology pleaded guilty to the MFSW Act Regulation 3 charges. HSE is satisfied with the outcome of the case.HSE did not pursue the HSW Act sections 2 and 3, as it was recognised that there was significant technical disagreement between internationally distinguished experts on the formation of explosive silver compounds. It was therefore decided that it would not be in the public interest to have a lengthy trial involving detailed contradictory testimony from scientific experts and expecting a jury to reach a conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt. Following their Guilty pleas, both companies were fined £4,000 each. Each had already made an offer to pay £57,800 in costs.
In his summing up Judge Crawford QC made it clear that he recognised this as more than a technical breach and that there had been a significant total financial penalty for both organizations.
HSE is pleased to see that both UKAEA and AEAT have improved their internal procedures as a result of these events. This case is an example of the responsibilities of nuclear licensees and their tenants as regards safety. It also highlights the importance of nuclear licence holders exercising proper control over the operations of their tenants, and the requirements of tenants to comply with the licensee's safety arrangements.
Published on the HSE web site 24 June 2002