Oldbury Nuclear Power Station report - Q1 2009

Oldbury Site Stakeholder Group Quarterly Report for 1 January to 31 March 2009

Inspections
Routine matters
Non-routine matters
Regulatory activities

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 Oldbury Site Stakeholder Group and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Oldbury Nuclear Power Station. 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 usually attend Site Stakeholder Group meetings and will respond to any questions raised there by the members of the group.

Inspections

The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate Site Inspector made inspections on the following dates during the quarter:

20th to 22nd January 2009
28th to 29th January 2009
18th to 20th February 2009
11th to 12th March 2009
25th to 26th March 2009

Specialist inspectors carried out inspections on the following dates during the quarter:

20th January 2009
22nd January 2009
28th to 29th January 2009
3rd February 2009
25th February 2009
4th March 2009
10th March 2009
11th to 12th March 2009
16th to 17th March 2009
19th March 2009

Routine Matters

Inspections at Site

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

the conditions attached by HSE/NII to the nuclear site licence;
the Health and Safety at Work etc Act (HSWA) 1974 and
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 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 (site/station) covered:

Examination, Inspection, Maintenance and Testing
Management of operations including control and supervision
Modifications to plant, equipment and safety cases
Safety mechanisms, devices and circuits
Control and supervision of operations
Periodic shutdown
Commissioning
Incidents on the site
Emergency arrangements
Meeting safety representatives

In general the arrangements made and implemented by the site 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 the licensee, 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.

Graphite Core Safety Case

All nuclear power stations should have valid safety cases. Oldbury's generation will be in accordance with the core irradiation limits identified in its graphite safety case. Over the past few years, the graphite safety case has been extensively assessed by NII's specialist inspectors. Assessment of graphite safety case has now been completed, and NII's specialist inspectors are content with generation in accordance with the core irradiation limits justified in the graphite safety case.

Reactor 1

Reactor 1 returned to service with turbine number 1, on 7 March 2009. Prior to its return to service, Oldbury had inspected 100% of graphite bricks of fuel channels located (1304 channels) in the flattened region of the core, no findings affecting the graphite safety case were noted. Oldbury has agreed to a programme of further inspections in the event of any future full power trips. Oldbury has also installed a Fuel Integrity Monitoring System (FIMS) on Reactor 1. In addition, during the next statutory outage Oldbury has proposed to carry out further TV inspections, take further graphite samples, and carry out further measurements of fuel channel geometries.

Reactor 2

Reactor 2 shutdown on 12 February 2009, in accordance with its maintenance schedule. Prior to its return to service in 2007, 100% of graphite bricks of fuel channels located (1304 channels) in the flattened region of the core had been inspected and no findings affecting the graphite safety case were noted. Oldbury has agreed to a programme of further inspections, in the event of any future full power trips. NII specialist inspectors are content with the operation of this reactor until its core irradiation limit, justified in the graphite safety case is reached. The findings from the Reactor 2 outage programme are currently being assessed by NII's specialist inspectors, who have visited the site on a number of occasions and have inspected maintenance, tests and inspections being undertaken.

Fuel Integrity Monitoring System (FIMS)

To support the graphite safety case, the licensee submitted a safety case for installation of a fuel integrity monitoring system. NII assessed the submission and a Licence Instrument was subsequently issued ‘Agreeing' to the proposal. FIMS was installed on Reactor 1 prior to its return to service. Oldbury is currently installing FIMS on Reactor 2.

Reactor 2 Start Up Meeting

In late March 2009, NII's Superintending Inspector and Oldbury's Site Inspector, visited the site to discuss Reactor 2 statutory outage, and to inspect the plant operations and conditions. Assessment of Reactor 2 outage is currently in progress.

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. Matters of particular note considered during the current period include the following;

Emptying of Sludge Tank 2

The licensee has made a proposal for emptying of sludge tank 2. The proposal is currently being considered by the NII.

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, HSE/NII issues regulatory documents, which either permit an activity or require 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.