Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Nuclear
LLC reports
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.
Six inspection visits were made to the UCL site during this period on 1 July, 9-11 July, 12 July, 18 July, 27 August and 5 September 2003.
The main themes of NII's inspection activities included:
An inspection against Licence Condition 6 (Documents, Records, Authorities and Certificates) was undertaken in the Technical Services Department of Urenco. Arrangements appeared to be satisfactory and in line with the company's procedures and quality manual. Particular attention was given to the retrieval of records in electronic form and this was found to be satisfactory.
An out of hours inspection was undertaken in the E23 plant of Licence Condition 26 (Control and Supervision). Manning levels in the plant exceeded the minimum required for safety reasons. The team leader, control room staff and plant operators appeared to be working to the company's procedures and appeared knowledgeable in the duties. Levels of supervision appeared to be adequate.
Discussions have taken place under LC36 (Management of Change) regarding the restructuring of the company and NII has accepted the adequacy of Urenco's proposals.
NII's assessment of Urenco's Quinquennial Review Report is progressing well. A number of discussions have taken place between NII and Urenco to clarify issues. HSE expects to publish a report on its assessment in due course.
Regulations 2001
Nothing to report this period
Nothing to report this period.
Following the earlier Level 1 Emergency Exercise Buzzard on 27 April 2003, NII asked Urenco to further demonstrate the adequacy of its roll call and muster procedure because of weaknesses observed on the day. We note and welcome the extent of additional work undertaken by Urenco which was successfully demonstrated during a partial re-test which was observed by a team of NII inspectors in July.
An inspection of the Vacuum Pump Workshop in E23 where plant components are stripped and refurbished identified some areas for improvement. NII has asked Urenco to review the adequacy of its Risk Assessment required by Regulation 7 of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 and will monitor progress during future inspection visits.
NII wishes to acknowledge the assistance given by Urenco during a two day international regulatory visit by DGSNR, the French nuclear regulator. HSE/NII has a number of bi-lateral agreements with overseas regulators which facilitate the sharing of information and comparison of standards. Explanations were given to the French authority on UK standards for the assessment of Urenco's plant safety cases. Current inspection programmes were described in order to gain confidence in the licensee's arrangements. Urenco provided a number of presentations on aspects of centrifuge operation and design, and also arranged for a plant visit.
There have been no consents, approvals or licence instruments issued during this period.
NII is responding to Urenco's request to relicense the site to facilitate further commercial expansion. During this period we have given advice to Urenco on what actions will need to be undertaken before a new licence can be issued.
Published on the HSE web site 4 December 2003