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 Barrow-in-Furness Local Liaison committee (LLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of nuclear safety at BAE SYSTEMS Marine Limited (BAESM). These reports are distributed quarterly.
Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate normally attend LLC meetings and will be happy to respond to questions raised there or subsequently by members of the LLC. Any other person wishing to inquire about matters covered by this report should contact the HSE, Nuclear Directorate Information Centre on 0151-951-4103.
This report will be put onto the HSE Website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/index.htm.The majority of sites inspected by HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) a part of the Health and Safety Executive, are licensed by NII under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended). This report summarises the inspection and regulatory activities associated with the Barrow-in-Furness licensed site. In accordance with the HSE commitments to open government, this report will also be placed on the Internet.
Visits are made to the site for the purpose of undertaking routine plant and project inspections or attending formal meetings with site management or safety representatives. Routine inspections by NII are undertaken primarily to check compliance with licence conditions made under the Nuclear Installations Act, but are also made against provisions of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, and regulations made under that Act such as the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999. The site inspector visited site on:
1 July 2005
2-4 August 2005
5-6 July 2005
6-8 September 2005
14 July 2005
21-22 September 2005
In addition, other NII inspectors visited the site on 14 July 2005.
Matters covered in this section are those being pursued with the site as part of ongoing site inspection activity and dialogue including project work and any generic or topical work relevant to all licensees.
As part of the routine inspection programme for the sites NII check compliance with licence conditions made under the Nuclear Installations Act and other Regulations such as the Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999.
Inspections in this quarter focused on BAESM’s compliance with licence conditions covering the keeping of documents and records, and safety mechanisms. Overall, compliance was considered adequate for the current situation on site, but some improvement will be needed before fuel is brought on site, and some more before the start of active commissioning of the submarine’s reactor plant. Implementation of these improvements will be controlled and monitored through the hold point management process.
BAESM informed NII of an event involving a contract radiographer failing to follow procedures during radiography on Astute during the night of 7-8 July 2005. While no one received any significant additional radiation dose, the event was unacceptable and was investigated by BAESM. NII subsequently reviewed BAESM’s actions following the event, its subsequent investigation and the recommended actions to correct the shortfalls and prevent a recurrence and judged that they were appropriate in all respects. In considering this, and following the guidance in HSE’s Enforcement Management Model [PDF 133kb], it was decided that no formal enforcement action was necessary on this occasion. However, the NII site inspector has closely monitored the implementation and completion of the actions recommended by the BAESM investigation.
NII issues formal regulatory documents called Consents and Approvals, together with licence instruments where these are called for under conditions attached to the site licence. Directions may also be issued at the discretion of NII. Regulatory responsibility for authorising discharges and disposal of radioactive wastes from the sites lies with the Environment Agency.
No formal regulatory documents were issued by NII for the Barrow site during the quarter.
Barrow-in-Furness Site Inspector
HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate