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HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate

BRITISH NUCLEAR FUELS PLC CAPENHURST WORKS

Quarterly report for 1 January 2003 - 31 March 2003

CONTENTS

Inspections
Routine Matters
Non Routine Matters
Regulatory Activity

FOREWORD

The 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 Capenhurst District Liaison Committee and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Capenhurst. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate normally attend DLC meetings and will be happy to respond to questions raised there or subsequently by members of the DLC. Any other person wishing to inquire about matters covered by this report should contact the HSE, Nuclear Directorate Information Centre on 0151 951 4103.

INSPECTIONS

Five site inspection visits were made to BNFL Capenhurst during this period on 20 January, 3 February, 20 February, 27 February and 28 March. NII's regulatory activities during this period were dominated by two aspects:

  1. the need to gain regulatory confidence in BNFL's arrangements for commissioning of the Integrated Decommissioning Project (IDP); and
  2. the completion of an NII team inspection looking at safety cases.

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2. ROUTINE MATTERS

2.1 Compliance with Conditions Attached to the Nuclear Site Licence

A co-ordinated inspection of BNFL's arrangements under licence conditions 14 and 15 (safety cases and periodic review of safety cases) was undertaken by a team of three NII inspectors over a two day period in February. NII examined a range of safety cases for various activities at BNFL Capenhurst, interviewed a wide cross-section of staff and identified a large number of documents for examination. NII concluded that BNFL's arrangements were generally adequate and no issues were identified that required immediate regulatory action. Key recommendations for further improvement included:

Other Licence Compliance activities have included, LC11 (Emergency Arrangements), LC22 (Commissioning) and LC24 (Control and Supervision).

2.2 Decommissioning Programme

NII is continuing to monitor BNFL's arrangements for the active commissioning of the B300 IDP decommissioning project. A plant inspection was undertaken in February and safety documentation was reviewed. NII is satisfied with the adequacy of BNFL's arrangements. A Licence Instrument from NII will need to be issued before BNFL can proceed from the inactive to active commissioning phase.

2.3 Radiation Emergency Preparedness and Public Information
Regulations
2001

Nothing to report for this period.

2.4 Waste Disposal to Drigg

Nothing to report for this period.

2.5 Emergency Preparedness

A routine meeting of the Capenhurst Emergency Planning Consultative Committee was attended on 20 January 2003. BNFL's arrangements in the event of fire brigade union strike action have been noted and welcomed.

An inspection of emergency arrangements on the hex storage rafts revealed a number of deficiencies which fell short of good practice. BNFL agreed to implement NII's advice to improve local arrangements and this issue has now been closed.

2.6 Other Regulatory Compliance Issues

Nothing to report.

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3. NON-ROUTINE MATTERS

NII has initiated a separate project to examine and review BNFL's proposed 'End State Principles' project which is concerned with the run-down in staff numbers up to March 2006. This will be assessed under LC36 arrangements in consultation with other regulatory agencies.

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4. REGULATORY ACTIVITY

Licence Instrument No. 1 under LC22 (1) of Site Licence 28H was issued on 20 February 2003 agreeing increases in the storage arrangements for uranium hexafluoride cylinders in J and K Bays Building 200 at Capenhurst.

Consent No. 1 under LC3 (1) of Site Licence 28H was issued on 14 March 2003 agreeing to revised terms of the lease for Cheshire Archive Services, Building A2.


Published on the HSE web site 24 November 2003