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.
1.1 A total of 17 different NII inspectors visited the Aldermaston and Burghfield sites during the quarter. Inspections were made on the following days:
Aldermaston:13-15 January
20-24 January
28-30 January
10-14 February
3-6 March
24-27 March
31 March
28-30 January
31 March
(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:
2.2 Issues arising from these and previous inspections are being pursued. Inspections were made also by HSE's factory inspectors, explosives inspectors, and fire surveyor.
Employers, including nuclear site licensees, have duties under the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 to properly control doses to persons other than employees arising from their operations. (The Environment Agencies are responsible for regulation of doses from discharges, usually through setting discharge authorisation limits.) NII has the responsibility for regulating the direct radiation pathway, ie doses to persons off the site from radiation emanating from sources on it. As part of its system for discharging this responsibility NII has a programme of independent assessment of licensees' arrangements for estimating doses to the public and ensuring that these are as low as reasonably practicable.
3.2 In March, as part of a continuing national programme, NII measured gamma radiation dose rates at positions around the boundaries of Aldermaston and Burghfield. The results were indistinguishable from background dose rates at positions some distance from the sites.
NII was kept informed of the discovery, investigation, and repair of the leak in the pipeline that discharges liquid waste from Aldermaston to the River Thames. NII was satisfied with the actions taken by the licensee.
AWE plc's managing director and a senior team made a series of presentations on the major projects to inspectors. The intention was to facilitate the earliest possible regulatory input to the design and build of new plants.
In January, a contractor supervising decommissioning work had the end of his thumb amputated by a power-tool. (This accident was reported by AWE plc to the LLC meeting in March.) NII inspected AWE plc's own investigation and reporting of the accident, and was satisfied with the actions taken.
4.1 As part of its regulation under the nuclear site licences NII issues formal regulatory documents, which include Consents, Approvals, Directions, and Licence Instruments 1. For Aldermaston, during the quarter NII issued Consent No 10, which allowed the VIPER reactor, which had been shut down in accordance with its maintenance schedule, to be started up again.
4.2 AWE plc has an extensive programme for the decommissioning of plants. It is regularly discussed with NII, who approve it in order to control alterations to it. AWE has wanted to make some changes in the order in which plants will be decommissioned. After discussions with NII AWE plc submitted an amended programme, and, in Approval No 9 for Aldermaston, NII has approved the amendments.
1Licence 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 17 June 2003