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HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate

BRITISH ENERGY GENERATION LTD - DUNGENESS B POWER STATION

Quarterly report for 1 January to 31 March 2005

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

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 Local Community Liaison Council and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Dungeness B Nuclear Power Station. These reports are distributed quarterly and are available on the HSE web site (www.hse.gov.uk/nsd/llc/2005/index.htm). 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 to questions raised there by members of the LCLC. Any other person wishing to inquire about matters covered by this report should contact the HSE’s Nuclear Directorate Information Centre on 0151 951 4103.

Nuclear Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
St Peter’s House
Balliol Road
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 3LZ

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INSPECTIONS

1. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) Site Inspector visited Dungeness B on the following dates during the quarter covered by this report:

11 – 13 January

1 – 3 February

22 – 24 February

9 – 10 March

2. NII’s specialist conventional safety inspector visited the site on 11 – 12 January to consider the station’s response to the Improvement Notice relating to risk assessment.

3. On 2 and 3 February, Dungeness B was visited by NII’s Superintending Inspector with responsibility for overseeing the regulation of nuclear safety at Dungeness B and a number of other nuclear power stations.

4. A team of NII inspectors supported the Site Inspector in performing an inspection, from 22 to 24 February, to assess the Licensee’s arrangements for the control of plant configuration.

5. Other NII inspectors with specialist technical expertise also visited
Dungeness B and other British Energy establishments during the period to support the Site Inspector by performing inspections on specific aspects of the Licensee’s arrangements and nuclear safety case.

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ROUTINE MATTERS

6. Compliance Inspections: Routine planned inspections are carried out throughout the year and enable NII to judge whether a Licensee is complying with the conditions attached to the Nuclear Site Licence, the Ionising Radiations Regulations, and other relevant statutory provisions on a sampling basis. NII was generally content that Dungeness B had shown satisfactory compliance.

7. Annual Review: Each year, NII meets formally with the Licensee's Station and Headquarters staff to review the previous period of operation, discuss future plans and ensure satisfactory progress on outstanding issues. The NII Site Inspector and the relevant NII Superintending Inspector attended such a meeting at Dungeness B on 3 February 2005.

8. Risk Assessment : As previously reported, HSE issued an Improvement Notice, on 8 July 2004, with respect to the Licensee’s arrangements for risk assessment and the implementation of appropriate control measures. The terms of this Notice had to be complied with by 13 January 2005. A specialist inspection on 11 –12 January 2005 concluded that the terms of the Improvement Notice had been sufficiently complied with.

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NON-ROUTINE MATTERS

9. Incidents on Site: As part of routine, planned inspections the Site Inspector examined the licensee’s arrangements for the recording and investigation of incidents at the power station and, where appropriate, undertook independent investigations to the extent that was warranted by the significance of the incident.

10. Plant Configuration: Following a number of recent events involving errors in the configuration of plant at Dungeness B, a team of NII inspectors carried out an assessment of the Licensee’s arrangements in this respect. The NII team welcomed the Licensee’s ongoing initiatives to improve the condition of plant and human performance at Dungeness B. However, the team concluded that poor quality procedures had contributed significantly to some of the recent events. The Licensee has since undertaken to review relevant procedures to ensure that they are well written. NII expects this process to lead to an improvement in the Licensee’s arrangements for the control and supervision of operations which may affect safety at Dungeness B.

11. Technical Specifications : The reactors at Dungeness B are operated in accordance with a number of operating rules, approved by NII, which set out the conditions and limits necessary to ensure compliance with the safety case. A specialist NII inspection, on 9 – 10 March, concluded that the Licensee was ready for the introduction of revised operating rules, known as “Technical Specifications”, as from 23 March 2005.

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REGULATORY ACTIVITY

12. NII has powers within the standard Nuclear Site Licence Conditions to issue Consents, Approvals and Directions. In addition NII uses Licence Instruments to issue Specifications and Agreements under the conditions attached to the Licence. No such documents were issued during the reporting period.

In accordance with formal regulatory procedure, NII issued the following document under Site Licence No. 61 during the reporting period:

13. Under Health and Safety legislation the Site Inspector, or other HSE Inspectors, may issue formal notices in the interest of safety. No such notices were issued during the reporting period.