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 Dounreay Stakeholders Group (DSG) and covers activities associated with the regulation of nuclear safety at the Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment (NRTE). These reports are distributed quarterly and are also available on HSE’s web site at http//www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/llc/index.htm . Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate usually attend DSG meetings and will respond to questions raised there or subsequently by members of the DSG. Any other person wishing to inquire about matters covered by this report should contact the HSE’s Nuclear Directorate Information Centre on 0151-951-3484/3290.
Nuclear Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 7HS
The majority of sites inspected by HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) a part of the Health and Safety Executive are licensed by HSE/NII under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended). Vulcan NRTE is not a licensed site although it operates under Authorisation from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR). The site is adjacent to the Dounreay Licenced Site and is regulated by HSE/NII through other legislation as noted below. This report summarises the inspection and regulatory activities associated with Vulcan NRTE which are coordinated with inspections by DNSR. The focus for Vulcan NRTE is safe and timely testing of submarine reactor performance to enable continued safe operation of the UK’s nuclear submarine fleet.
The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate Site Inspector made inspection visits to the sites on the following dates during the quarter: -
With limited resources, HSE-NII necessarily employs a sampling regime in its regulation of sites that is proportionate to the risks, and which is targeted primarily on those activities with the highest risks or where the hazards are least well controlled.
Inspections on site are undertaken are taken as part of monitoring compliance with:
This entails monitoring operator’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 operators are required to make and implement adequate arrangements in order to ensure legal compliance. Inspections seek to judge both the adequacy of these arrangements and their implementation. In this period all inspections of Vulcan NRTE were undertaken jointly with DNSR and covered:
The Site Inspector also met with the Site Safety Representatives and attended the Dounreay Stakeholder’s Group.
The inspection under REPPIR concentrated on preparations for the forthcoming demonstration exercise.
In general the arrangements made and implemented by Vulcan NRTE in response to IRR99 were deemed to be adequate for the regulation inspected. Where improvements were considered necessary, these were brought to the attention of Vulcan NRTE during the inspection and the Site Inspector will monitor progress during future visits.
Where necessary, formal regulatory enforcement action will be taken to ensure that appropriate remedial measures are implemented to reasonably practicable timescales.
During his visit, the Site Inspector was informed about forthcoming changes in the personnel and management structure of the Rolls Royce site management organisation.
Operators are required to have arrangements to respond to non-routine matters and events. HSE/NII Inspectors judge the adequacy of the operator’s response including actions taken to implement any necessary improvements.
There are no items of particular note during the current reporting period.
Under Health and Safety legislation HSE/NII Site Inspectors, and other HSE Inspectors, may issue enforcement (Crown) notices to secure improvements to safety.
No enforcement (Crown) notices were issued during the quarter.