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 sites available to the public. It is for distribution to members of the AWE Local Liaison Committee (LLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Aldermaston and Burghfield. These reports are distributed quarterly and are available also from the Internet at http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/index.htm. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate attend LLC meetings and will be happy to respond to any questions raised there by members. Any other person wishing to enquire about matters covered by this report may contact HSE’s Nuclear Directorate Information Centre on 0151 951 3484.
Nuclear Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 7HS
NII inspectors visited the Aldermaston and Burghfield sites on several occasions during the quarter being reported. There were visits from other HSE inspectors in relation to conventional safety and explosives; and, also the Deputy Chief Inspector NII made a routine visit to AWE in May.
NII inspections were carried out on the following dates:
| July | 3, 7-10, 14-18 |
|---|---|
| August | 6-8, 11-14 |
| September | 1-4, 9-11, 16-18, 23-24 |
Inspections are undertaken for the purpose of monitoring compliance with
This entails monitoring licensee’s actions on the site in relation to incidents, operations, maintenance, projects, modifications, safety case changes and any other matters which may affect safety. The licensees/operators are required to make and implement adequate arrangements under the conditions attached to the licence in order to ensure legal compliance. Inspections seek to judge both the adequacy of these arrangements and their implementation. In this period routine inspections of AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield included:
In general the arrangements made and implemented by AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield were deemed to be adequate in the areas inspected. However, where improvements were considered necessary, satisfactory commitments to address the issues were made by or are being sought from AWE plc, and the site inspector(s) will monitor progress during future visits. Should we feel that progress is unsatisfactory in addressing any issue; the option to take formal regulatory enforcement action could be considered to ensure that appropriate remedial measures are implemented within reasonably practicable timescales.
AWE submitted an application together with supporting safety documentation for HSE/NII’s agreement to place a materials test facility into routine operation following a period of active commissioning.
HSE/NII concluded that the safety justification was adequate and issued a Licence Instrument allowing AWE to move from an active commissioning phase to routine operations.
Level 1 Meeting
The Deputy Chief Inspector attended a routine Level 1 Meeting on 22 September 2008. This meeting covers high level regulatory matters and strategies for the sites and is attended by senior representatives from the Environment Agency, the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator and Directors of AWE.
An overview of the programme and the delivery of AWE’s Nuclear and Explosive Safety Programme formed key elements of these discussions.
The proposed change of share ownership within the licensee’s Parent Body Organisation, AWE Management Ltd., was also reviewed. It was agreed that AWE plc had addressed the possible nuclear safety related implications of the change.
Land-Use Planning and Nuclear Safeguarding Zones
As a non-statutory consultee, HSE/NII provides advice to Local Authorities with regard to planning applications in the vicinity of the Aldermaston and Burghfield sites.
In August HSE/NII wrote to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council advising against the proposed development of the Boundary Hall site, this was in recognition of the size of the proposed residential development and its close proximity to the AWE site boundary.
All planning proposals submitted to HSE/NII for advice by the local planning authorities are assessed against established criteria on an individual basis.
The current population characteristics around the AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield sites are approaching the defined limits and HSE/NII may need to advise against further planning applications.
This interim position is based on HSE/NII’s current understanding and assessment of the off-site risks presented within AWE’s safety analysis.
In the period being reported on, HSE/NII has received and responded to two FoI requests for information related to regulation of AWE. HSE/NII supports making appropriate information available to the public and other interested parties in relation to operations at the Aldermaston and Burghfield sites.
However, it has been noted that dealing with the complexity and detail of some FoI requests has placed a significant additional workload on HSE/NII’s Inspectors with the result that the planned front line inspection activity at the AWE sites has had to be reduced.
A one day regulatory workshop was held involving AWE senior management, representatives from HSE's Nuclear Directorate, Environment Agency and personnel from the Ministry of Defence. One of the main aims of the workshop was to identify a number of improvements in the way we interface and regulate AWE, including the communications between the various stakeholders and ensuring that there is ‘joined up’ regulation.
A number of actions were placed at the workshop to ensure that the agreed improvements were sufficiently developed and subsequently implemented.
In the last quarter HSE/NII provided an update on the Improvement Notice which had been served to secure improvements in AWE’s licence condition 23 and 24 arrangements dealing with criticality control arrangements. The notice requires a number of key processes to be improved by January 19th 2009.
During the period HSE/NII Inspectors have held further meetings with the licensee to establish the progress that is being made towards addressing the necessary improvement in criticality Operating Rules and Operating Instructions and the progress to date. Overall, HSE/NII is content that AWE is making satisfactory progress in meeting the requirements of the Improvement Notice.
HSE/NII continues to be satisfied that there is no immediate risk from criticality at AWE. Our routine inspection aims to confirm that AWE ensures that the risks from all of its activities are maintained As Low As Reasonably Practicable.
Under Health and Safety legislation, HSE/NII Site Inspectors and other HSE Inspectors, may issue formal documents to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
As part of its regulation under the nuclear site licences NII issues formal regulatory documents called Licence Instruments. These utilise the primary licence condition powers of `Consent', 'Approval', 'Direction', 'Specification', 'Notification' and 'Agreement' as well as those powers derived from the licensee's arrangements. The following Licence Instruments were issued during the period of this report:
NII issued two Licence Instruments for the agreement of specified operations at Burghfield, based upon observations that AWE had done all that was reasonably practicable at the time to demonstrate adequate progress with remediation work and that the proposed operations were adequately safe.
NII issued a Licence Instrument allowing a facility at AWE Aldermaston to move from an active commissioning phase to routine operations, following our assessment of the supporting safety documentation.
No enforcement notices were issued during the reporting period that were not covered in our previous report.