Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Nuclear
LLC reports
This report is issued as part of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) 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's Local Community Liaison Council (LCLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at the Hinkley Point A Power Station. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate normally attend LCLC meetings and will be happy to respond to questions raised there or subsequently by members of the LCLC. Alternatively, any other person wishing to enquire about matters covered by this report should contact HSE Nuclear Directorate Information Centre on 0151 951 4103.
The Site Inspector made the following visits to Hinkley Point A in
the period covered by this report:
16th - 18th October,
22nd - 24th October,
12th - 13th November,
25th - 28th November,
2nd - 4th December,
10th - 12th December.
The site inspector had other meetings with Magnox Electric that
were relevant to Hinkley Point on:
15th October,
5th November,
8th November,
9th December,
16th December.
During these visits NII's site inspector carried out planned sample inspections of the licensee's compliance with the conditions attached to the Site Licence and other relevant health and safety legislation. Where these inspections revealed that improvements to the site's arrangements were required the site inspector raised them with the Station Manager and is regularly monitoring the Station's response.
As part of NII's planned inspections its site inspector examined the licensee's arrangements for the recording and investigation of events on the station, and undertook independent investigations to the extent that was warranted by the significance of the event. In general he was content with how these matters had been progressed by the Company.
There was a routine Level 2 emergency exercise, held on 3rd December, to demonstrate off-site aspects of the emergency plan for compliance with the nuclear site licence requirements.
Hinkley Point A has stopped generating electricity, is now defuelling its reactors, and preparing to start decommissioning. A key requirement arising from the above Regulations, for which NII on behalf of HSE is the competent authority, is that final decommissioning cannot start until HSE gives its consent to the licensee to carry out a decommissioning project. NII has reported previously on the receipt of an application for that consent, and on the issue of documents for public consultation. The consultation period ended on 30 June 2002. A wide range of responses were received. HSE has completed an initial assessment of the issues raised both by these responses and its own assessment and has concluded that some further information is required to support the application. Once this information has been received from Magnox Electric it will be sent out for a further public consultation.
The Inspectorate has powers under the Nuclear Site Licence to issue Consents, Approvals and Directions. In addition, the Inspectorate uses Licence Instruments (LI) to issue Specifications and Agreements under the conditions attached to the Site Licence. One Licence Instrument has been issued during this period.
| Date | Licence Instrument Number | Topic |
| 3rd Oct. | 42 | Agreement to Changes to the Defuelling Safety Case |
The Inspectorate has monitored operational compliance with the defuelling safety case since its introduction last year. The experience gained has allowed Hinkley Point to further refine cooling and possible heating of the reactors. Although the changes were not classed as being of high safety significance, and would not normally have required Agreement from the Inspectorate, the Inspectorate chose to sample this proposed change as part of its ongoing compliance programme.
Published on the HSE web site 24 February 2003