HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate

Magnox Electric Ltd
Hinkley Point A Decommissioning Site

Quarterly report for 1 January to 31 March 2007

Routine Matters
Non Routine Matters
Regulatory Activity

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 Hinkley Point A Power Station, Site Stakeholder Group and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Hinkley Point APower Station. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate attend SSG meetings and will be happy to respond to questions raised there by members of the SSG. Any other person wishing to inquire about matters covered by this report should contact the HSE, Nuclear Directorate on 0151-951-3484/3290 .

This report will be put onto the HSE website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/index.htm under the heading: Local Liaison Committee Reports.

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Routine matters

Two site visits have been made during this quarter:

February 2007
26 February – 2 March 2007

Nuclear Safety

Licence Condition planned inspections

Over the quarter, the licensee’s arrangements under the following Licence Conditions were inspected:

LC14 – Safety Documentation
LC22 – Modifications of Experiment on Existing Plant

Much of the safety case documentation prepared by the licensee concerns modifications made to existing plant. An inspection was made under both LC14 & 22 of this area of the licensee’s work. Generally the licensee’s arrangements under these Licence Conditions were judged to be adequate with examples of good practice. No significant shortfalls were identified and some recommendations for improvement were made.

Sizewell A Mandatory Assessment

Following a leak of pond water incident at Sizewell A, Magnox Electric Ltd required all of its other sites, including HPA to assess the potential for a similar incident to their pond equipment. The plant at Hinkley was generally found to be robust in this respect, but the detailed review of plant revealed a number of other areas where improvements could be made. A programme to implement these improvements has been prepared.

Level 2 Emergency Exercise – Brittany

The site demonstrated that its arrangements for managing an off-site release of radioactivity were adequate.

Annual Review of Safety

The licensee was able to demonstrate a good safety track record over the last 12 months, and had demonstrated the use of behavioural safety in promoting a good safety culture on site. NII noted however, that there had been a number of incidents through the year, which had prompted important learning to improve safety on site.

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Non-routine matters

One incident of particular interest to NII occurred over the period. It concerned a worker undertaking modifications to an electrical panel. The worker suffered minor injuries when he made accidental contact with live equipment inside the panel. Nevertheless, NII have decided to undertake an investigation into this incident in May.

The NDA funding allocated across the Magnox fleet of sites has been reduced for this period and for FY2007/8. Funding for future years is uncertain at present. Discussions are ongoing between NII and the Licensee in regard to any safety issues that may arise from these funding changes. The funding levels for Hinkley Pt A have been reduced during this period and through FY 2007/8. This has resulted in deferral and/or cessation of work on a number of decommissioning projects, most notably construction of the new ILW Store and Demolition of the Turbine Hall.

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Regulatory activity

The Inspectorate has power under the 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 Licence.

No such regulatory activity has taken place during this period.