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 Hartlepool Local Community Liaison Council and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Hartlepool Power Station. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (part of the Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Directorate) attend LCLC meetings and will be happy to respond there to questions raised by members of the LCLC. Any person wishing to inquire about matters covered by this report should contact the HSE, Nuclear Directorate Information Centre on 0151 951 4103.
The site inspector visited the site on four occasions during the quarter:
18th to 20th August
7th to 10th September
16th and 17th September
22nd to 24th September
In addition specialist NII inspectors visited the site during the
period to assist with inspections related to their expertise -
structural integrity, civil engineering and mechanical
engineering.
As part of their routine work NII inspectors inspect for compliance against the requirements of the Station's Nuclear Site Licence, the Health and Safety at Work Act and other relevant safety legislation. They monitor events, plant operations, projects, modifications and safety case changes and any other matters which are important to safety. Planned inspections during the quarter were dominated by work associated with the reactor 1 outage (LC 30) but other topics included fuel route operations (LCs 23, 24 and 26), emergency planning and QA (LC 17).
In general the station's arrangements were found to be satisfactory, with a commitment to accommodate the improvements identified. The Reactor 1 outage continued throughout the period into a double reactor outage (DRO).
As explained in the report for quarter 2 it was agreed that the Reactor 1 in air outage work would be deferred until Reactor 2 could also be shut down. Reactor 2 was shut down during September, thus commencing the DRO. The second phase of the Reactor 1 outage is being regulated in the normal way and an outage intentions meeting was held in September to define the interface between the NII and BE for the work.
The wetted boiler closure units (BCUs) have now had their wire winding top anchorages successfully inspected and the Inspectorate awaits a safety case from BE as part of the return to service case for Reactor 1 (Reactor 2 at Hartlepool has no wetted BCUs at present).
The Inspectorate has continued to monitor the station's replacement of degraded cast iron cooling water pipework and significant sections have been replaced and returned to service during the period of this report.
As part of their planned inspection site inspectors examine safety related events that have occurred and the Licensee's response to them. Generally the Licensee's internal system for following up events is robust and the appropriate actions are implemented. The site inspector investigated several events in detail, the most significant being summarised below.
One of the phases in the Reactor 1 Generator Transformer failed on 26th August. This has safety connotations since it forms one of two connections with grid supplies. The Inspectorate is assessing the case for the replacement transformer, which is of a different design to the original.
The Inspectorate has now completed a formal investigation of this event, in collaboration with EA. We have provisionally concluded that the station's response is appropriate and no further formal action is necessary, other than progressing the station's closure of actions identified.
The Inspectorate has powers under the Nuclear Site 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 Site Licence. There was no regulatory documentation issued during the reporting period.
Published on the HSE web site 18 January 2005
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