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 Heysham Power Station available to the public. It is for distribution to members of the Heysham Local Community Liaison Council and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Heysham. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate attend LCLC meetings and will respond to any questions raised there by members of the LCLC. Any other person wishing to enquire about matters covered by this report should contact the HSE, Nuclear Directorate Information Centre on 0151-951-4103.
The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) site inspectors made visits to Heysham on the following dates during this quarter:
| Heysham 1 | Heysham 2 |
|---|---|
| 13, 14 January 2003 | 21, 22, 23, 29, 30 January 2003 |
| 5, 6, 12, 18, 19, 27 February 2003 | 17, 18, 19, 26, 27 February 2003 |
| 7, 20, 21, 26 March2003 | 7, 10, 11, 12 March 2003 |
Other members of the NII, including specialist inspectors, also visited the Heysham site during the period, as follows.
At Heysham 1 NII specialist inspectors completed an inspection of the station's nuclear fire safety arrangements, a review of radioactive waste issues and an inspection of safety related cooling water systems. A visitor from the US Department of Energy accompanied the NII site inspector on an information exchange visit to Heysham 1.
At Heysham 2 NII specialist inspectors attended site to carry out an inspection of safety related electrical equipment as part of a programme of inspections at all BEG sites, an HSE fire surveyor carried out an initial inspection of general fire precautions, a specialist NII inspector reviewed the arrangements for radioactive waste and an inspector reviewed recent site events having radiation protection aspects.
As part of our routine work we inspect for compliance against the requirements of the Stations' Nuclear Site Licence Conditions and the arrangements made under them, the Health and Safety at Work Act and other relevant safety legislation. We sample activities on site that may affect safety, and in this report include details of the following matters.
Both NII site inspectors attended the Heysham site EPCC meeting that took place on 7 March 2003. NII observed the proceedings and responded to members' questions as appropriate.
A follow up to the April 2002 NII inspection of nuclear fire safety arrangements was completed. In general we found the station had made satisfactory progress in carrying out the required work which we expect to be complete by end May 2003. Improvements have been made to plant, procedures, operating instructions and safety documentation which as a combined package brings about a significant improvement to nuclear safety. During the inspection we identified a number of general plant condition/housekeeping issues which the station agreed to address.
An inspection of the stations arrangements covering the use, testing and maintenance of respiratory protective equipment (RPE) was completed. The inspection focused on compliance with the Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999 (IRR99). The stations arrangements were generally found to be satisfactory. A limited number of areas for improvement were identified from the inspection associated with equipment risk assessments and training. We can confirm that the suggested improvements were quickly put in place by the station, to the required standards, and all issues from the inspection have been closed out.
An initial inspection has been carried out by a HSE fire surveyor to review the station compliance with the requirements of the Fire Certificates (Special Premises) Regulations 1976, the survey revealed areas for improvement which have developed since the previous inspection. The fire surveyor intends to return to Heysham 2 to complete the inspection, and in the interim they have been notified of the areas where improvement is required.
An inspection of electrical equipment that may affect safety at Heysham 2, revealed areas where improvements to station arrangements could be made. The station has been requested to provide a programme of work to address the improvement opportunities, NII currently await this submission.
The station has implemented a programme of work to improve the arrangements made to comply with the requirements of the licence conditions on examination, inspection, maintenance and testing, and modification or experiment on existing plant. Station progress to complete this work is being monitored by NII.
We also respond to non-routine matters arising on site that may affect safety, and in this report include details of the following matters.
British Energy (BE) wishes to bring all BE nuclear sites in the UK under the control of a single licensee and has therefore applied for NII to grant re-licensing of Hunterston B and Torness nuclear power stations. BE currently controls two nuclear licensees, these being BEG(UK)L in Scotland and BEGL in England. As part of the relicensing process, which will take some time to complete, BE has implemented with NII agreement, organisational changes to its central support functions that include introducing a single management structure unified from those previously employed in the current licensees' structures. As a consequence of this, licensees' work will be shared until the process of re-licensing is complete. In the interim formal arrangements have been established to help ensure that both licensees continue to operate the sites safely.
The ageing of reactor cooling water system pipework is being managed by the station through a programme of pipework replacement. Corrosion within the seawater side of the cooling circuits currently restricts the projected life of some sections of the pipework to a few years and a full seismic safety case cannot be demonstrated. Following an inspection on site we identified a number of opportunities for the station to improve their walkdown process of the systems to confirm pipework integrity which have been actioned satisfactorily. We are satisfied with the interim safety case and proposals for replacing the safety related cast iron pipework with a glass-lined steel equivalent that is expected to be complete by December 2003.
As part of our inspection activities at the site we investigate safety related events that occur and follow-up those which are perceived initially to have the potential to be more significant, we particularly examine the licensee's response to such events. From our inspections in this quarter we are satisfied that events which occurred were relatively minor, and response by the stations has been in accordance with appropriate arrangements. We summarise our response to the selected events as follows.
A minor fire occurred within the reactor building on 27 January 2003. Hot work near to an expansion joint at the reactor pilecap level resulted in the smoldering of the fibreboard joint material with smoke emerging from cable races due to entrainment within ventilation systems. A subsequent investigation by the NII site inspector found that the station had put in place safeguards during the work planning process to help prevent ignition of the fibreboard from the grinding operation. The station completed a thorough investigation of the event revealing a number of learning points which we are satisfied have now been incorporated into enhanced hot work procedures. We also reviewed the station's emergency response to the event which resulted in the declaration of a site incident and response from the emergency services. We were satisfied that the emergency arrangements had worked satisfactorily and learning points had been captured to bring about further improvements.
An NII specialist inspector reviewed recent events at the station that included aspects relating to radiation protection provisions. The station agreed to implement measures to improve the current arrangements as necessary, and to confirm to the NII when the work was complete.
The following regulatory documentation was issued during the quarter:
(i) Licence Instrument Number 57 was issued to Heysham 1 agreeing to the modification of the reactor gas safety relief valve filter housings to incorporate bursting discs.
(ii) Licence Instrument Number 58 was issued to Heysham 2 agreeing to the establishment of cross licensee working arrangements within BEGL and BEG(UK)L.
(iii) Licence Instrument Number 59 was issued to Heysham 1 agreeing to the establishment of cross licensee working arrangements within BEGL and BEG(UK)L.
Published on the HSE web site 5 August 2003