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 Hunterston A Power Station Local Liaison Committee and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Hunterston A Power Station. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate 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
1 The Site Inspector made a single visit to Hunterston A during the period October to December this visit was on:
5 - 7 November2 Routine inspection has continued. The reduction in the number of visits has arisen because of urgent business at other sites; the number of visits will be restored in the next quarter.
3 Inspections completed this quarter, under the site inspection plan included ones against Licence Conditions, 12 (Duly Authorised, and Suitably Qualified and Experience Personnel), 23 (Operating Rules), 24 (Operating Instructions), 32 (Accumulation of radioactive waste), 33 (Disposal of radioactive waste), and 34 (Leak and escape of radioactive material and waste). The outcome of these inspections was satisfactory, although concern continues over the weakness of post and training profiles for the duly authorised and suitably qualified and experienced persons.
4 Follow up inspection of compliance with Licence Condition 19 and 22 in respect of decommissioning projects revealed an improving situation.
5 The Inspectorate meets with the Licensee on an annual basis to review the site's emergency arrangements. The Inspectorate again expressed concern about the slow response in respect of casualty recovery under the current arrangements. The Licensee advised that they were intending to move away from reliance on the B station and introduce their own rapid response team in 2003 and also move to have their own capability to respond to a nuclear emergency.
6 The progress of this project remains satisfactory and the issues raised and the discrepancies that were identified with the documentation previously reported have been resolved in a satisfactory manner.
7 The Licensee has provided the paper of principle and preliminary safety report for the recovery of solid intermediate level waste with an application for permission to proceed with the project. The documentation will be assessed and a permissioning strategy identified; these will be reported to the LLC.
8 The Licensee failed to provide the revised decommissioning programme as promised in March 2002, this is considered a significant set back. However, despite there being some slippage in respect of the milestone set for the miscellaneous sludge retrieval project, progress against the remaining milestones currently being used to monitor progress is satisfactory.
9 The inspection of the ponds area revealed that electrical system to be in a dangerous condition brought about by rainwater penetrating the building weather envelope. The Licensee was able to make the area safe and it was not considered necessary to take formal regulatory action; the Licensee was required to provide regular reports of progress towards a permanent remedy.
10 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. No legal documents have been issued under the Licence during this period.
HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate
St Peter's House
Stanley Precinct
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 3LZ
Published on the HSE web site 26 August 2003