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 Springfields Site Stakeholder Group (SSG) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Springfields. 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 SSG meetings and will respond to questions raised there by members of the SSG. 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 :-
The site inspector, accompanied by an NII emergency arrangements specialist inspector, also attended the Emergency Planning Co-ordination Committee at the Red Rose Hub, near Preston, on 19th February 2008.
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 or concerns arose from the compliance inspections undertaken during this period that required formal regulatory action to be taken.
A meeting was held to discuss the forthcoming planned revision of the Magnox chemical processing plant safety cases, intended to justify the safe processing of the legacy of site uranium bearing residue materials through these chemical plants. The licensee’s approach was agreed to be reasonable, the site inspector strongly supporting the principle of continuing the timely processing of residue materials. The licensee also proposed a minor amendment to the programme for the production of site safety cases to accommodate the above, which was agreed by the site inspector.
In January, an NII control & instrumentation specialist inspector accompanied the site inspector and a safety representative in an inspection of the developing Oxide Fuels Complex safety case, reviewing the management of safety mechanisms and related plant maintenance issues, at a meeting followed by a plant inspection, with an acceptable outcome.
In March, the site inspector participated in a training session with plant staff, in order to inspect the licensee’s implementation of training arrangements for the new safety case for the Oxide Fuels Complex plants, (due to be implemented in April 2008). Later in March, an NII specialist project inspector inspected the breadth of the licensee’s arrangements for the impending implementation of this new safety case, with an acceptable outcome.
The site inspector conducted a limited inspection in March of the licensee’s proposal to change the maintenance management control system to a revised proprietary software system. The licensee’s control of the changeover to the new maintenance prompt system was considered acceptable at the time of the inspection, the licensee agreeing to provide further timely safety justification documentation, for assessment by NII.
The site inspector continues to consult with the active site safety representatives during site inspections.
The NII site inspector participated in the Site Stakeholder Group Sub-Group meeting in January, providing regulatory advice on the licensee’s “Integrated Waste Strategy” and the Site Stakeholder Group’s response to the consultation on the draft NDA Business Plan for the site. A subsequent inspection of the licensee’s “Integrated Waste Strategy” was conducted later in January, at which an NII specialist radioactive waste management inspector accompanied the site inspector (together with the Environment Agency site inspector) to explain to the licensee the regulatory expectations of the licensee’s developing “Integrated Waste Strategy”, the licensee agreeing to reflect these requirements in the next annual revision of the “Integrated Waste Strategy”.
The site inspector continued to participate in meetings involving the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the Environment Agency, NII and the licensee. In February and March, the site inspector inspected the development of the 2008/9 “Lifetime Plan”, the site inspector emphasising the need for the licensee to maintain the ongoing programme of processing the licensee’s legacy stock of uranic residue materials, as well as encouraging the licensee and NDA to develop timely plans to potentially process uranic residues from related sites, holding stocks of similar uranic materials, which could also be potentially processed through the unique uranic processing facilities on site, providing that this did not lead to a detriment to site safety or to significant waste discharges. Advice was also given to the licensee by both the site inspector and the Environment Agency inspector, which should enable the licensee to develop a significantly improved “regulatory schedule”, in accordance with NDA contractual requirements.
There continue to be effective working relationships between the regulators, the licensee and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority at Springfields, which serve the interests of each party.
Springfields remains a top tier COMAH site, reflecting the potential chemo toxic hazards of a range of chemical plant operations on the site. The site is due to present the revised COMAH Safety Report to HSE- HID in April 2008. In March, the site inspector accompanied a HSE-HID inspector on a site inspection, relating to this revised COMAH Safety Report, on which HSE-HID will lead the assessment, later in 2008. A constructive meeting reviewed the minor amendments proposed to the extant COMAH Safety Report, followed by a familiarisation visit to key site facilities for the HSE-HID inspector.
None
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 Springfields Fuels Limited for complying with those conditions.
No Consents/Approvals/Directions or Licence Instruments were issued during this quarter.
Springfields Fuels Limited NII Site Inspector
April 2008