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 URENCO (Capenhurst) Ltd Local Liaison Committee (LLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at the URENCO (Capenhurst) Ltd Nuclear Licensed Site. 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 usually attend LLC meetings and will respond to questions raised there by members of the LLC. Any other person wishing to enquire about matters covered by this report may contact the HSE’s Nuclear Directorate on 0151-951-3484/3290.
The site was visited by NII inspectors on:-
Each NII site inspector has an inspection programme, to inspect the licensee’s compliance with the 36 nuclear site licence conditions, over a period of time.
No issues arose from the compliance inspections undertaken during this period that required formal regulatory action.
The NII site inspector participated in the licensee’s Emergency Planning Co-ordination Committee meeting in March, the licensee demonstrating ongoing effective liaison with the emergency services and local authorities.
The Head of the NII Site Inspection Unit accompanied the site inspector (and an Environment Agency inspector) at the Annual Review of Safety Meeting in February, reviewing site safety and environmental matters in 2007, with an acceptable outcome. Following the meeting, satisfactory inspections were made of some enrichment plant facilities, (both operational and under construction), together with a uranium hexafluoride cylinder raft storage facility.
The licensee has recently provided NII with a Pre-Commencement Safety Report and the Safety Commissioning Schedules safety documentation, for an extension to an enrichment facility. The potential radiological impact of the plant extension is planned to be assessed by an NII specialist inspector, prior to any NII permissioning of the active commissioning of this enrichment plant extension.
Discussions continue with the licensee regarding the commissioning of additional raft storage areas for uranium hexafluoride cylinders on the site. NII accepted the licensee’s proposal to commission the storage raft with a limited number of uranium hexafluoride cylinders, in stages, after each of which the radiological impact would be reassessed by the licensee and reported to NII, before further uranium hexafluoride cylinders were placed on to the new storage raft.
Two inspections were conducted, in January and February, by the site inspector, an NII specialist inspector and the Environment Agency site inspector. The inspections involved the reorganisation of the Health, Safety & Environment Department and the Management Systems and Business Improvement Department into a Compliance Department, under a new departmental head. The licensee had provided the associated “Management of Change” safety documentation, in accordance with the site licence condition 36 arrangements, for assessment by NII, prior to implementation of this organisational change. Following subsequent regulatory discussions, the Managing Director implemented additional organisational change to improve the new organisation’s ability to demonstrate an appropriate level of safety management. It was agreed that the effects of the organisational change will be formally reviewed by both the licensee and NII over the next twelve months.
There remain proposals to lease several small areas of Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) owned land and facilities, yet to be presented to NII by Sellafield Limited – Capenhurst Works, (expected to be in April 2008). The land is currently licensed to Sellafield Limited – Capenhurst Works and is proposed to be leased to Urenco (Capenhurst) Limited. The plan is to eventually reconfigure the boundary between the two licensed sites. The proposals cover areas of the site associated mainly with electrical distribution and fire fighting water supply facilities.
The site inspector continues to consult with the active safety representatives during site inspections. A safety representative also presented information on activities at the Annual Review of Safety meeting.
In February, the site inspector, together with an NII specialist health physics assessment inspector and the Environment Agency site inspector, accompanied three nuclear inspectors from ASN, the French equivalent to NII, in a successful familiarisation visit. The visit encompassed meetings with NII at Bootle, followed the next day by meetings with the licensee on site, then a visit to the operational enrichment plant facilities. The purpose of the visit was to enable the French nuclear inspectors to learn about how NII and the Environment Agency regulate centrifuge enrichment plant facilities, as well as to discuss operational, maintenance, environmental and radiological regulatory issues. (A centrifuge enrichment facility is currently under construction in France, to be regulated by ASN).
No regulatory enforcement action was necessary in this quarter.
The Inspectorate has powers under the licence to issue Consents, Approvals and Directions. In addition, the Inspectorate uses Licence Instruments to issue Specifications, Acknowledgements and Agreements under either the conditions attached to the Licence, or arrangements made by Urenco (Capenhurst) Limited for complying with those conditions.
No Licence Instruments were issued in this period.