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 Barrow-in-Furness Local Liaison committee (LLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of nuclear safety at BAE SYSTEMS Marine Limited (BAESM). 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 or subsequently 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.
The majority of sites inspected by HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) a part of the Health and Safety Executive, are licensed by NII under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended). This report summarises the inspection and regulatory activities associated with the Barrow-in-Furness licensed site. In accordance with the HSE commitments to open government, this report will also be placed on the Internet.
Visits are made to the sites for the purpose of undertaking routine plant and project inspections or attending formal meetings with site management or safety representatives. Routine inspections by NII are undertaken primarily to check compliance with licence conditions made under the Nuclear Installations Act, but are also made against provisions of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, and regulations made under that Act such as the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999. The site inspector visited site on:
1-2 October 2003
15-17 October 2003
5-6 November 2003
4 December 2003
11 December 2003
In addition, other NII inspectors visited the site on
4 December 2003
Matters covered in this section are those being pursued with the site as part of ongoing site inspection activity and dialogue including project work and any generic or topical work relevant to all licensees.
Routine matters addressed in the quarter were:
As part of the routine inspection programme for the sites NII check compliance with licence conditions made under the Nuclear Installations Act and other Regulations such as the Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999.
BAESM is in the process of amending its arrangements made to comply with the licence conditions to reflect current thinking and industry good practice, and to reflect the recent reorganisation within the Company. No significant issues in relation to compliance and the licensed site facilities were raised during the quarter.
Inspectors from Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and Field
Operations Directorate, were joined by representatives of the Naval
Nuclear Regulatory Panel in observing BAE SYSTEMS Marine Ltd (BAESM)
annual demonstration exercise 'NIEX 2003' on 4 December 2003.
The inspectors considered that the exercise scenario provided an
adequate test of BAESM's emergency arrangements and an
opportunity to further extend its use of modern command and control
practices and procedures by incorporating a 'Forward Tactical
Control Centre'. Although, as expected, there some learning
points, the inspectors judged that, overall, the exercise was a
satisfactory demonstration of the specified objectives, and that
BAESM would have coped with the challenges posed by a real incident
of the type exercised.
In considering BAESM's intention to dispense with the on-site
fire service, the exercise adequately demonstrated that the Company
has effective arrangements for liaison with the Cumbria Fire Service
and its ability to integrate them into its emergency arrangements in
respect of incidents involving a fire.
Matters involving NII's response to incidents/events and to non-routine issues arising from operation of the sites are reported in this section together with the outcome of any special/team inspections, investigations or audits.
NII has noted concerns expressed by BAESM about the demonstrable quality of submarine reactor components, and the quality assurance arrangements in the supplier of these. NII has informed BAESM that it will be carrying out a team inspection in first quarter of 2004 to confirm that the root causes of these deficits have been identified, and that appropriate actions have been, or are being, taken to correct them and to prevent a recurrence.
NII issues formal regulatory documents called Consents and Approvals, together with licence instruments where these are called for under conditions attached to the site licence. Directions may also be issued at the discretion of NII.
Regulatory activity during the quarter was limited to the reported inspection activities and no formal regulatory documents were issued by NII for the Barrow-in-Furness site.
Regulatory activity during the quarter was limited to the reported inspection activities and no formal regulatory documents were issued by NII for the Barrow-in-Furness site.
Published on the HSE web site 28 May 2004