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 Hinkley Point Local Community Liaison Council (LCLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Hinkley Point B Power Station. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate normally attend LCLC meetings and will be happy to respond to any questions raised there or subsequently by members of the LCLC. 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 www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/index.htm
under ‘Local Liaison Committee Reports’.
Nuclear Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
St. Peter's House
Bootle
Merseyside L20 3LZRoutine inspections continued in accordance with our annual plan. The HMNII Site Inspector made the following planned visits during the period:
10 - 15 January
7 – 11 February
7 – 11 and 16 – 18 March
During this quarter the Hinkley Point B reactors had a steady period of continuous operation with no shutdowns.Compliance with Site Licence Conditions
Routine and reactive inspections have continued throughout the period to confirm that the site is operating in compliance with the conditions attached to the Nuclear Site Licence. In areas where opportunities for improvement were identified, remedial work has been agreed with station management, with the intention of achieving improvements to current station arrangements in those areas.
Specialist NII inspectors also visited the Station to undertake inspections in relation to the cast iron pipework replacement project, electrical systems and compliance with the Ionising Radiation Regulations.
Incidents on Site
The management and recording of some events that occurred on the station during the period were inspected. Most of these were relatively minor and those of concern to the HMNII Site Inspector were discussed with the appropriate company staff. HMNII was generally satisfied with the actions taken.
During February there were two events of uncontrolled release of clean carbon dioxide gas from the storage and processing plant. These events were similar to an event that occurred in May 2004 and for which the follow-up actions would appear not to have been fully effective. The carbon dioxide plant has a nuclear safety role and although this was not significantly affected such leaks should not occur. The releases of carbon dioxide also present an asphyxiation risk to staff on-site. The site inspector investigated these events and NII has written to Station asking for a safety review and a programme of improvement aimed at preventing similar carbon dioxide releases in future.
Meetings attended
On 10/3/2005 the Station Review Meeting was held. This is an annual meeting that reviews key aspects of safety performance in the preceding year, as well as issues such Station initiatives to improve plant condition or reduce numbers of non-essential defects. NII’s Superintending Inspector also attended this and the opportunity was taken by him and the Site Inspector to carry out an inspection of the site. No significant issues arose other than those that are already included in NII and British Energy work programmes.
Response to Improvement Notice
In my report for Quarter 2 of 2004, I described that I had issued a formal Improvement Notice that requires Hinkley Point B to review and revise its arrangements for the management of defects and the monitoring of compliance with the safety case. The required completion date for the Notice is 30 April 2005. During this latest Quarter, I inspected the actions that the Station has put in place in response to this Notice. A number of improvements have already been implemented and others are being developed. Overall, the progress is satisfactory.
Joint Inspection with the Environment Agency
I work in liaison with the Environment Agency Inspector on matters where we have joint interest. A joint inspection was undertaken in January of compliance with Licence Condition requirements for the storage of radioactive waste. We asked Station to clarify some of their arrangements, such as demonstrating the extent of monitoring for potential leakage from stored waste.
Safety case for cast iron cooling system pipework
Further inspection was undertaken on the project currently underway to replace the cast iron cooling water pipework at the Station. Assessment of the safety case for this work is ongoing within NII and we agreed to final installation of one of the significant temporary additional cooling systems. The replacement programme has however suffered delay and NII questioned the adequacy of the project management. Improvements to the management overview have now been made and work is continuing towards the main replacement activity later this year.
“A” Station Decommissioning – removal of fire team support to “B” Station
“A” Station historically has provided support to the “B” Station Fire Team and Health Physics monitors in the event of Site emergencies. As “A” Station decommissioning has progressed, and manning reduced, this support was to be removed. “B” Station therefore applied for an amendment to their Emergency Plan to reflect this change and their preparations included demonstration of the revised manning to NII at the Emergency Exercise in December 2004. Aspects of the management of this change were discussed during this last quarter and NII issued an Approval in March.
Visit by a French Nuclear Inspector
For one week during February, an Inspector from the French Nuclear Inspectorate, who is working on secondment in NII for 3 years on inspection of UKAEA sites, accompanied the site inspector for familiarisation with UK reactor inspection practices. This is part of a regular programme aimed at exchanging ideas and best practices between the UK and France. Also under this scheme, the current NII inspector worked in France for 20 months before taking responsibility for inspection at Hinkley Point B.
Site Licence:
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.
During this quarter, the following Approvals were issued:
Approval No. 500 was issued under Licence Condition 23 on 4 March 2005 to amendments to the Nuclear Safety Requirements of the Technical Specifications, which govern the operation of the reactors. These amendments allow introduction of a more flexible fuel utilisation programme and give economic benefits to British Energy while still respecting necessary safety requirements.
Approval No. 501 was issued under Licence Condition 11 for the new Emergency Plan for the site (see above). It came into effect on 31 March 2005.
25/4/2005