Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Nuclear
LLC reports
Inspections
Routine Matters
Non Routine Matters
Regulatory Activities
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 |
|---|---|
| 8, 15 April 2003 | 8, 9, 10, 24. 25 April 2003 |
| 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 29 May 2003 | 6, 7, 19, 20, 21 May 2003 |
| 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 27 June 2003 | 11, 12, 19, 20, 30 June 2003 |
Other members of the NII, including specialist inspectors visited the Heysham site during the period, as follows.
NII's Chief Inspector and HSE's Deputy Director General made a routine visit to Heysham 1 with the site inspector. One of NII's Superintending Inspectors visited the station for the purpose of the annual review meeting and specialist inspectors completed inspections of events and plant modifications.
NII's Chief Inspector made a routine visit to Heysham 2 with the site inspectors for the Heysham 1&2 stations. NII specialist inspectors accompanied by a Superintending Inspector attended the station to discuss the proposal to conclude commissioning control of low power refuelling. A team of NII inspectors attended station to observe the station annual level 1 demonstration emergency exercise. Specialist inspectors attended station to discuss the proposed introduction of Technical Specifications and the development of the risk monitoring facilities at Heysham 2. A specialist inspector and the site inspector carried out an inspection of reportable events occurring in 2001 and 2002; this was part of an inspection carried out at all British Energy licensed sites. A specialist inspector and the site inspector carried out an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the unavailability of an uninterruptible power supply in the essential electrical system.
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.
The NII Heysham 1 site inspector attended the Local Community Liaison Council meeting which took place on 9 May 2003 on behalf on HM NII. NII's inspection activities for both Heysham 1 & 2 were reviewed and further details provided as necessary in response to members' questions.
In response to an observed overall increase between 2001 and 2002 in the number of safety-related events reported from British Energy sites, inspectors visited each site to see whether there were any common themes and to look into the licensee's management of such events. In general, they found that the number of events in 2002 was similar to the average for earlier years, whereas 2001 had witnessed an improvement that has not been sustained at all sites. Nevertheless, the Inspectorate would prefer to see a downward trend (while not wishing to disturb the open reporting culture that was found at all the sites) and expects to be able to make recommendations to the licensee to help them achieve that, largely through better use of Operational Experience Feedback.
At Heysham 1 there was actually a decrease in the number of events from 2001 to 2002, but the inspectors' findings on the way these were handled are expected to make a useful contribution to our overall recommendations.
At Heysham 2 the inspectors found that there had been an increase in the number of safety related events in 2002 over 2001, although overall the total number of events had decreased. The findings from the inspection have been discussed with station and they are working to introduce revised arrangements to improve performance in this area.
British Energy Generation (UK) Ltd announced on 2 July 2003 its intention to close its Peel Park office in East Kilbride and transfer a number of operational posts to company offices at Barnwood, Gloucester. The location of offices is a matter for the Licensee, but NII will need to be fully satisfied that the safety implications of the proposed move are properly addressed. British Energy has confirmed that its proposal falls within the scope of Condition 36 attached to Nuclear Site Licenses, 'Control of Organisational Change', and that that therefore this proposal will be controlled using the arrangements made to comply with this Licence Condition. NII has informed British Energy that it will not be allowed to implement this proposal until it has submitted a safety case, which NII will assess to confirm that nuclear safety will be maintained, prior to our agreement to the proposal being implemented.
A meeting was held on 15 May 2003 to review the station's last period of operation, discuss plans for the period ahead and to progress any outstanding safety issues. Such meetings are held every 12 months. Prior to the meeting the NII team inspected various parts of the plant.
The NII Chief Inspector, accompanied by HSE's Deputy Director General made a routine visit to Heysham 1 with the Site Inspector on 13 June 2003. A number of current issues were explored and discussions took place on the station's current work to bring about improvements in human performance which has been the root cause of a number of significant events. The Chief Inspector recommended the station to increase its use of information available within IAEA safety standards and guides that would help bring about improvements in the human performance area. The significant improvements in plant material condition were noted during the visit and we encouraged the station to continue with it's plan to complete further work in this area. The Chief Inspector and Deputy Director General met a wide range of staff during the visit, including safety representatives from the station and contractors.
A planned extended refuelling outage (19 days) was completed on reactor 2. The outage involved taking the reactor to an air atmosphere in order to install thermocouples on two of the boilers. NII's assessment of the interim boiler spine safety case required the licensee to improve confidence in component temperature measurements that are important towards confirming the adequacy of the structural integrity analysis. Following the return to service of the reactor the measured temperature were shown to be within expected limits and will be used in a revised boiler spine structural safety case to be presented in July 2003.
A significant amount of corroded cast iron pipework was replaced during the outage. The work is required to re-establish the infrequent seismic safety case for essential cooling water systems. We are carefully monitoring and inspecting this work to ensure the modification process is properly controlled, replacement pipework systems are engineered to appropriate standards and the project resourced to ensure completion by the agreed date of December 2003.
The NII Chief Inspector visited Heysham 2 with the Site Inspectors for both Heysham stations on 12 June 2003. A number of current issues were considered and discussions took place concerning the station work in hand to bring about improvements in such areas as human performance, maintenance of safety related plant, operator training, compliance with site licence arrangements and ways to improve safety culture on the site. The Chief Inspector commended the use of IAEA published documents as potentially helpful to station improvement programmes. The generally good standard of plant material condition was noted during the visit and station was encouraged to maintain this. The Chief Inspector met a wide range of staff during the visit, including station safety representatives, and it was concluded that the visit had been very informative.
During the period a team of NII inspectors led by one of the superintending inspectors for AGR reactors observed a demonstration of the emergency arrangements at Heysham 2. Station demonstration exercises are carried out annually and are in addition to the training exercises routinely carried out by each shift. The emergency exercise scenarios are developed to allow key aspects of the station's emergency arrangements to be exercised and inspected on a regular basis. Following the exercise it was concluded that station had provided an adequate demonstration of the emergency arrangements in the areas considered, and this was confirmed to them later by letter.
We also respond to non-routine matters arising on site that may affect safety, and in this report include details of the following matters.
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 further inspection was completed of the station's progress towards addressing the recommendations arising from the fuelling machine grab (INES 2) incident in April 2002. We found significant improvements have been made to fuel route operating procedures, fault finding guides, operator training and work to confirm the plant meets the design safety case. We are satisfied with the stations response to date and will continue to monitor this important area of work through the site inspection plan.
An investigation into the unavailability of an essential uninterruptible power supply for reactor 8 has been carried out. Station has been notified of the findings from the investigation and has agreed to implement improved arrangements, as necessary, to prevent a recurrence. They are in the process of replacing the affected plant and in the interim have implemented temporary measures to ensure adequate levels of safety are maintained.
The following regulatory documentation was issued during the quarter:
Licence Instrument Number 56 was issued to Heysham 2 specifying that proposed changes to introduce 12 hour shift working for all shift operations staff should not be implemented without the agreement of the Health & Safety Executive.Licence Instrument Number 60 was issued to Heysham 2 providing the Health & Safety Executive's agreement to the proposed changes to introduce 12 hour shift working for all shift operations staff on a trial basis.
Published on the HSE web site 22 September 2003