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Foreword

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 GE Healthcare Ltd Maynard Centre Local Liaison Committee (LLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at the site. These reports are distributed quarterly and are available also from the Internet at www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/llc/index.htm. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate attend some LLC meetings and will be happy to respond to any questions raised there by members.

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Proposed changes to the Status of HSE’s Nuclear Directorate

Government has decided to restructure HSE's Nuclear Directorate (ND) to improve further its organisational framework for the sustained delivery of robust, effective and efficient nuclear regulation in the UK. This will place the ND in a better position to meet the anticipated future challenges.

Several factors have come together to make now the right time to restructure ND and create a new independent Nuclear Statutory Corporation (NSC) under the auspices of HSE. These include changing requirements of ageing nuclear power reactors; on-going decommissioning and active management of legacy nuclear plants; assessment of potential new nuclear power stations; growing competitiveness in the global nuclear skills market and the need for improved regulation driven by increased expectation from society for better accountability, transparency and efficiency from public sector bodies.

In addition to this was the government-initiated exercise conducted by Dr Tim Stone which examined the UK's nuclear safety regulatory regime and identified a number of recommendations for improvement, including the need for structural changes to ND. The Summary Recommendations and the Government's response were published at the end of January 2009 (available on HSE's website).

HSE is working on the legislative measure that needs to be in place to create the NSC. These changes will be made through a Legislative Reform Order (LRO) under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006.

Informing this, a joint consultation exercise was carried out by DECC and DWP that sought views on the proposed changes. The 12-week consultation period ended on 22 September 2009 and submissions are currently being assessed.

These new arrangements will not change the substance or standards of regulation or compromise the independence of the nuclear regulatory body, and will not affect the decisions it takes or the international obligations the Government requires it to meet.

These reforms are designed to lead to improvements in the transparency, accountability and consistency of regulatory activities, thereby seeking to enhance the confidence of all stakeholders, both duty holders and those with wider interests. The reforms would be expected to offer clear and direct benefits to industry and workers as well as society as a whole, which would benefit from efficient and continued robust and effective regulation of nuclear hazards.

Subject to the outcome of the consultation and Parliamentary approval, and if the Parliamentary timetable permits, the aim is to bring the new body into being during 2010.

An internal change programme is currently operating within ND to ensure that the ND is ready to operate when permitted by Parliamentary approval as a statutory corporation from spring 2010. This programme has identified key areas of action and deliverables, which will sit alongside the current business improvement programme and will ensure that operational business improvements are delivered alongside the set up of the new corporation.

It is important to recognise that this programme does not in anyway compromise the current business activity that is delivered through ND and strives to improve operational effectiveness and stakeholder engagement.

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Inspections

Inspections are made at all GE Healthcare Ltd's nuclear licensed sites including Amersham (the Grove Centre) and Harwell. Where these are relevant to the Maynard Centre they are included below. For instance, the sites have many arrangements in common for compliance with the conditions attached to their site licences. Details are noted below.

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Routine matters

Inspections at Site. Inspections are undertaken at site as part of the process for monitoring compliance with:

1. the conditions attached by HSE/NII to the Nuclear Site Licence;
2. the Health and Safety at Work etc Act (HSWA) 1974 and regulations made under the HSWA for example the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999, and
3. the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

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 licensees/operators are 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 of the Maynard Centre and discussions covered:

On 14 July a site meeting was held with an ND specialist assessor to discuss decommissioning progress at the Maynard Centre. The phased decommissioning and clearing is progressing as per GE Healthcare's schedule. The sampling results obtained to date indicate there is no impact on the 'No Danger' criteria. GE Healthcare's intention remains to make a submission for a variation to the Nuclear Site Licence in 2011. 4. Issues arising from these and previous inspections are being pursued.

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Non-routine matters

Licensees are required to have arrangements to respond to non-routine matters and events. NII inspectors judge the adequacy of the licensee's/operators response including actions taken to implement any necessary improvements. There are no items of particular note during the current reporting period.

Corporate

No corporate issues were identified during this period

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Regulatory activities

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 HSE/NII issues regulatory documents, which either permission an activity or requires some form of action to be taken; these are collectively termed Licence Instruments (LIs). In addition inspectors may issue enforcement notices to secure improvements to safety.

No issues have arisen that have required formal regulatory action.

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