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 Harwell Chilton Campus Local Stakeholder Group (LSG) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at UKAEA Harwell 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 attend LSG meetings and will respond to questions raised there by members of the LSG. Any other person wishing to inquire about matters covered by this report should contact the HSE’s Nuclear Directorate on 0151-951-3484/3290.
Nuclear Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 7HS
1.Work on both the proposed Harwell/Winfrith reorganisation into Research Sites Restoration Ltd, RSRL, and LC 35 compliance (see below) continued to be the focus of the Site Inspector’s attention this quarter. He made three visits to site, which were largely undertaken in connection with the reorganisation but which also included discussions on LC 35 (see below). The first, which was made in the company of two Specialist Inspectors, was to follow up points of detail and issues that were equally relevant to both sites and which had arisen from NII’s assessment of UKAEA’s proposals. The second and third were to undertake a final readiness inspection ahead of NII agreeing to UKAEA’s request that the sites were ready to commence shadow working as RSRL.
2.Further information on matters of interest is provided in the following sections of this report. .
3. No planned inspections or discussions on specific operating plant were undertaken this quarter.
4. Following a gap caused by work associated with reorganisation and LC 35, NII resumed attendance at the routine videoconference with the EA and UKAEA. The meetings help maintain close contact with the site whilst reducing travel time and costs. They are not seen as a substitute for site inspection visits but they allow routine regulatory business to proceed while the Site Inspector is away from the site.
5. It was reported in Quarter 1 that NII, under Licence Condition 35(3), had formally approved the part of Harwell’s (and Winfrith’s) 2006/07 decommissioning programme (Lifetime Plan, LTP) which addressed the then overall decommissioning timescales which had been declared for the major hazard areas on the site. The action means that UKAEA can only depart from the approved timescales declared in LTP 06/07 with NII’s agreement, which will require UKAEA to justify any deferral.
6. In April, UKAEA proposed a change control process for its decommissioning milestones which went some way towards addressing the issues surrounding the approval. NII is seeking further improvements to these proposals.
9. NII has placed on the HSE web site an explanatory statement on its actions, which may be found at www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/winharlc35enf.htm. A copy of the statement is attached in an annex to this report.
7. UKAEA has completed its preparations for shadow working as RSRL. Shadow working is a six month ‘dry run’ or trial period during which time the company, acting as RSRL, will have the opportunity to demonstrate that the new structure can work successfully in practice ahead of the granting of new licences to the new SLC, RSRL, in February next year. At the end of UKAEA’s preparations, NII completed a series of inspections which confirmed that the company at both Harwell and Winfrith had demonstrably closed out most of the significant issues that remained outstanding at the time of NII’s formal agreement to the reorganisation (see Q1 report). In the small number of instances where this was not the case, the position was judged to be adequate for the purposes of the commencement of shadow working, during which time UKAEA will close out the remaining issues. NII has agreed to the commencement of the shadow working period on 1 July and will be undertaking further inspections in the company of inspectors from The Environment Agency to confirm the position remains acceptable.
8. NII has powers under Nuclear Site Licence Number 44 to issue Consents, Approvals and Directions. In addition, NII can issue Notifications, Specifications, Acknowledgements and Agreements under the conditions attached to the Licence, or under arrangements made by UKAEA for complying with those conditions.
A new numbering system was introduced on 1 October 2004 for site licence actions, and all such actions are now called Licence Instruments.
One Licence Instrument was issued during quarter two:
LI 522: Acknowledgement of B220 Operational Safety Case (Former Category 1 Operation) and Category A Modification