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 Heysham Power Stations’ Local Community Liaison Council (LCLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Heysham 1 & 2 Nuclear Power Stations. These reports are distributed quarterly and are also available on the HSE’s web site at http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/llc/index.htm. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) attend LCLC meetings and will respond to questions raised there by members of the LCLC. Any other person wishing to enquire about matters covered by this report may 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
The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) Site Inspectors and other inspectors made inspections at Heysham on the following dates during the quarter:-
Heysham 1
| Jul 2008 | 1, 2, 8, 9, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31 |
|---|---|
| Aug 2008 | 19, 20 |
| Sep 2008 | 4, 8, 10, 12, 16, 17 |
Heysham 2
| Jul 2008 | 8, 9, 16, 17 |
|---|---|
| Aug 2008 | None |
| Sep 2008 | 10, 11, 12, 18, 24, 25, 29, 30 |
Inspections at Site: Inspections are undertaken at site as part of the process for 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 licensee is 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 on site covered:
In general the arrangements made and implemented by the stations in response to safety requirements 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 the licensee, and the site inspectors will monitor progress during future visits. Where necessary, formal regulatory intervention action may be taken to ensure that appropriate remedial measures are implemented to reasonably practicable timescales.
HM Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations visited site in July. He undertook plant tours of both stations and met with managers and TU safety representatives. His overall impression was favourable in many areas, however he advised the relevant Station Directors: that any return to service is achieved in a safe and reliable manner, with no unnecessary challenges to the safety systems; to maintain good levels of communication with all stakeholders, including NII; to ensure plant that may affect safety is adequately maintained; to make and sustain improvements to plant through adequate future investment and to reduce plant defects and other backlogs.
As previously reported, the Heysham 1 reactors remain shutdown. A Boiler Closure Unit recovery project is still on-going, the issue continues to receive close scrutiny by NII and regulatory holds are still in place for the restart of both reactors.
Heysham 1 Reactor 2 completed its 3-yearly periodic shutdown during this reporting period in order to conduct major maintenance activities in accordance with the plant’s Maintenance Schedule. Inspections to support the station safety case and to comply with statutory requirements and implemented modifications and other remedial work requiring a reactor outage were also undertaken by Station. Inspections by specialist NII inspectors did not reveal any significant shortcomings in the arrangements and conduct of outage activities.
NII and Station held the annual safety review meeting on 17 July 2008 to review the station’s last period of operation, discuss plans for the period ahead and to progress any outstanding safety issues. Prior to the meeting the NII team inspected various parts of the plant. The Station gave commitments to making enhancements in certain areas with a view to improving its safety performance, these were subsequently confirmed in a letter from NII to the Station Director, which included items such as reducing work backlogs in respect of safety related plant.
On 12 September 2008 Reactor 7 embarked on its triennial periodic shutdown. During this shutdown, the Licensee conducts maintenance activities in accordance with the plant’s Maintenance Schedule, together with inspections to support the station safety case and to comply with statutory requirements and implemented modifications and other remedial work requiring a reactor outage. This shutdown included a large replacement programme of auxiliary cooling pipes using high density poly-ethylene pipe-work. Inspections by specialist NII inspectors have not revealed any significant shortcomings in the arrangements and conduct of outage activities thus far.
Licensees are required to have arrangements to respond to non-routine matters and events. NII inspectors judge the adequacy of the licensee’s response including actions taken to implement any necessary improvements. Matters of particular note considered during the period include the following:
An event was reported to NII at the end of the previous reporting period which involved an interlock at Heysham 1 being defeated without proper process. This event has been rated as 1 (an anomaly) on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) and an investigation was undertaken by the Station. NII has inspected this investigation and consider the Station to have effectively and adequately dealt with the incident.
In August Station reported that it had failed to comply with an action condition set out in the plant’s operating rules. Operators had failed to re-set some neutron flux monitoring equipment settings within the specified period of 24 hours; it was re-set after 25 hours. Station has instigated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this event. When the investigation is completed the report will be furnished to the NII. This event has been rated as 1 (an anomaly) on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES).
Under Health and Safety legislation NII Site Inspectors, and other HSE Inspectors, may issue formal documents to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Under nuclear site licence conditions NII issues regulatory documents, which either permission an activity or requires some form of action to be taken; these are collectively termed Licence Instruments (LI). In addition inspectors may issue enforcement notices to secure improvements to safety.
Two LI were issued to Heysham during the quarter: -
LI 544 on 23 July - Agreement to inject higher concentrations of oxygen into the reactors at Heysham 2.
LI 545 on 21 August - Agreement to the design safety principles and functional specification for the Pre-Stress Lock-In and the functional specifications for the associated External Thermal Shield and Environmental Control System at Heysham 1 in support of the BCU Safety Case Paper of Principle.
No enforcement notices were issued during the reporting period.