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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 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.

Nuclear Directorate
Health and Safety Executive
Redgrave Court
Merton Road
Bootle
Merseyside
L20 7HS

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Inspections

The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) Site Inspectors and other inspectors made inspections at Heysham on the following dates during the quarter:-

Heysham 1

• April 2009 - No visits
• 6, 7, 11, 12, 19 & 22 May 2009
• 10 & 11 June 2009

Heysham 2

• 22 & 23 April 2009
• 6, 8, 13, 21 & 22 May 2009
• 25 & 26 June 2009

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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
3. regulations made under the HSWA for example the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 and 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 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:

• Accumulation / Disposal of Radioactive Waste
• Consignment of Nuclear Matter
• Examination, Maintenance, Inspection and Testing.
• Modification on Existing Plant
• Incidents on the Site
• Management of Operations including Control and Supervision
• Leakage of Radioactive Material
• Marking of the Site Boundary
• Operational Records
• Operating Rules and Instructions.
• Emergency preparedness.

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.

Heysham 1 - Periodic safety review

A requirement of the Nuclear Site Licence is that Station performs a major review of safety every 10 years.  The PSR requires a review of the existing safety case, a comparison of the plant with modern standards and identification of ageing related phenomena that may affect safety.

NII has now completed its assessment of the second Periodic Safety Review of Heysham 1 Power Station and concluded there is an appropriate basis for station operation whilst the programme of further work identified by the review is progressed.  NII’s view is that the periodic review is not considered complete and adequate until this work programme is satisfactorily completed.  However, should the work be discharged to adequate quality it is unlikely that NII would require BE to submit a further PSR for Heysham 1 until January 2018.

NII will produce a project overview report explaining the decision and summarising the programme of work in greater detail. 

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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 response including actions taken to implement any necessary improvements.  Matters of particular note considered during the period include the following:

Heysham 2 - Event investigations

NII investigated an unplanned reactor trip of 29 March during low power refuelling.
NII and Department of Transport investigated an event involving a Heysham 2 irradiated fuel skip being received at Sellafield with contents at variance with accompanying documentation.

The Station has investigated the circumstances surrounding these events and has identified corrective actions to help prevent recurrence.  NII was content with Station’s responses to these events.

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Regulatory activity

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.
No LI was issued to Heysham during the quarter.

No enforcement notices were issued during the reporting period.

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Proposed changes to the Status of HSE’s Nuclear Directorate

The Government has put forward proposals to change the status of HSE's Nuclear Directorate (ND) to that of a Statutory Corporation under the auspices of the HSE. This is intended to enable ND, as the independent nuclear regulator of safety and security, to better meet the challenges of a changing nuclear industry over the coming years. The changes are to provide the nuclear regulator with greater flexibility and increase the accountability, transparency and openness of nuclear regulation. The Government are proposing that the statutory changes needed to bring this about will be made by a Legislative Reform Order (LRO).

This builds on the outcome of the Government initiated review of the UK's nuclear regulatory regime, led by Dr Tim Stone. The Summary Recommendations and the Government’s response were published at the end of January 2009 (available on HSE’s website).

A public consultation, run by DWP and DECC, on the LRO was launched on June 30th for a 12 week period, which gives the opportunity for stakeholders to comment on the proposals. 

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.

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 as a statutory corporation from spring 2010.

This programme does not in anyway compromise the current regulatory activities of ND.

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