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 Dungeness Power Stations’ Site Stakeholder Group (SSG) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Dungeness A Nuclear Power Station. These reports are distributed quarterly and are also available on the HSE’s web site. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate attend SSG meetings and will respond to questions raised there by members of the SSG. Any other person wishing to inquire about matters covered by this report may contact the HSE’s Nuclear Directorate Information Centre on 0151 951 4103.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/llc/index.htm
The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) Site Inspector and 4 other inspectors visited Dungeness A during the quarter. Inspections were made on the following days: -
4 – 7 July 2005
26 – 29 September 2005
Compliance Inspections: Routine i nspections are undertaken for the purpose of monitoring compliance with (i) the conditions attached by HSE to the nuclear site licences, and (ii) other relevant provisions of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, including the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999. In this period routine inspections covered:
Unplanned Reactor Shutdowns: On 3 August 2005 a fuel element became stuck in the chute of the machine used to fuel and defuel reactor 2. The reactor was shut down for a short time to enable staff to retrieve the element safely.
On 15 September 2005 the operators on reactor 2 received indications of failed fuel rod cladding. They followed their arrangements taking a prudent decision to shut the reactor down. The suspect fuel was removed from the reactor and investigated further in the fuel ponds, no gross failure was detected and the fuel will be shipped to Sellafield after the usual cooling period. During both shutdowns safe operating limits and conditions were met. The licensee’s investigation and recovery from these events has been monitored and judged to be satisfactory.
Maintenance Schedule Non-compliance. On 12 September 2005 staff discovered that they had not inspected a grab used in reactor fuelling operations in accordance with the maintenance schedule arrangements. A mix-up had occurred on transferring grabs between 2 charge machines and a period had elapsed whereby an inspection became overdue for 2 months without the knowledge of station staff. The licensee has performed its own investigation into the cause of this event and has recommended corrective actions to prevent a recurrence. NII is satisfied with the Station’s response and will monitor the implementation of the corrective actions.
As part of its regulation under nuclear site licences NII issues regulatory documents, collectively termed Licence Instruments (LI). None were issued for Dungeness A during the quarter.
Under Health and Safety legislation the Site Inspector, or other HSE Inspectors, may issue formal notices to secure improvements to safety. No such notices were issued during the reporting period.
Licence Instruments are formal documents issued under the licence conditions and arrangements, including Consents, Approvals, Directions, Specifications, Notifications, Agreements and Acknowledgements.
HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate
Health and Safety Executive
St Peter’s House
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 3LZ
Licence Instruments are formal documents issued under the licence conditions and arrangements, including Consents, Approvals, Directions, Specifications, Notifications, Agreements and Acknowledgements.