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 Berkeley Power Station and Centre Local Community Liaison Committee, LCLC, and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Berkeley Power Station and Centre. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate attend LCLC meetings and will be happy to respond to questions raised there by members of the LCLC. 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 five inspection visits to Berkeley Nuclear Licensed site during the period April to June 2003. The visits were on:
9 - 11 April2 The new Site Inspector assumed inspection responsibility for the Berkeley Power Station and Berkeley Centre Site on 1st April 2003.
3 Routine inspection has continued, matters arising from the general inspections have been identified directly to the appropriate members of staff and to the site manager for action to be taken.
4 Inspections this quarter have been conducted against a site licence inspection schedule designed to cover all aspects of site licence compliance over a three year period. Inspections are targeted on a whole site basis or against areas of site or specific projects or themes. Specific inspections in the quarter have included Licence Conditions 7 (incidents), 8 (warning notices), 9 (instructions to persons), 22 (modifications), 23 (operating rules), 32 (accumulation of radioactive waste), and 33 (disposal of radioactive waste).
5 The inspections have found that there is compliance with site licence conditions although the systems in place are do not allow compliance to be demonstrated with ease. While responsibilities within the management chain are not easily determined, working level responses to the requirements of site licence compliance are generally acceptable.
6 As reported previously reported the site management structure was changed at the start of the period. Following implementation of the change, the site inspector reviewed the evidence file compiled as part of the change process. While the structure of the evidence file was satisfactory, the evidence demonstrating that staff were suitably qualified and experienced in their new roles was found to be incomplete in that gaps in qualification or experience were identified but arrangements to cover the gaps were not identified. This was brought to the attention of the Agent of the Licencee who agreed to remedy the situation.
7 Berkeley Centre and Berkeley Power Station management structures have been integrated. Prior to integration two separate sets of management arrangements/procedures were issued to comply with the site licence and other legal requirements. While the key documents were combined and issued to coincide with the relicencing of the site in December 2002, progress on the integration of the other documents has been slower than anticipated. The Licencee has been asked to accelerate the process of issuing a full set of integrated documents. The progress of the issue and implementation of an integrated set of site documents will be tested by a team inspection later in 2003.
8 There have been a number of incidents on site; these are regarded as minor in respect of nuclear safety.
9 HSE has continued the process of preparing and issuing a new fire certificate. The HSE Fire Surveyor is due to visit the site during July 2003 to confirm completion of identified fire improvement work.
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.
Published on the HSE web site 8 September 2003