Oldbury Nuclear Power Station report - Q3 2009

Oldbury Site Stakeholder Group Quarterly Report for 1 July to 30 September 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:

15th to 16th July 2009
21st to 23rd July 2009
30th July 2009
12th to 14th August 2009
18th to 19th August 2009
3rd to 4th September 2009
29th to 30th September 2009

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

21st July 2009
23rd July 2009
12th to 14th August 2009
18th to 19th August 2009
3rd to 4th September 2009
14th to 15th September 2009
29th to 30th September 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
Modifications to Plant, Equipment and Safety Cases
Emergency Arrangements
Training, Duly Authorised and other Suitably Qualified and Experienced Persons
Control of Organisational Change
Accumulation of Radwaste
Operating Rules, Operating Instructions
Periodic Shutdown
Conventional/Fire Safety

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

Assessment of graphite safety case has been completed. NII is content with operation of Reactors 1 and 2 in accordance with the core irradiation limits justified in the graphite safety case.

Reactor 1

Reactor 1 returned to service on 7 March 2009, and subsequently shutdown on 18 September 2009, for its Statutory Outage. The reactor had therefore operated for approximately six months prior to its shutdown for full statutory outage maintenance. During the outage the opportunity has been taken to re-balance turbine number 1. The licensee has also carried out further TV inspections of fuel channels, taken further graphite samples, and carried out further measurements of fuel channel geometries. The work being carried out during the outage will be assessed by NII’s Specialist Inspectors. The reactor is expected to return to service by the second half of November 2009.

Reactor 2

Reactor 2 returned to service on 15 May 2009. It is currently generating at full load. Reactor 2 is expected to reach its core irradiation limits justified in the graphite safety case in March 2010. NII has been informed that Oldbury will be submitting a safety case to justify revision of the core irradiation limit for Reactor 2. The revised limit will allow both reactors at Oldbury to shutdown at approximately the same time. The licensee’s safety case will be assessed by NII’s Specialist Inspectors.

Fuel Integrity Monitoring System (FIMS)

FIMS has been installed on both Reactors and the systems are currently on soak test. Following an adequate period of soak testing, an operating instruction will be issued to allow operators to take appropriate actions on receiving FIMS alarms.

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 completed emptying of sludge tank 2. The sludge was mixed with cement and poured in special containers, prior to being sent to Low Level Waste Repository for storage. This work was safely completed without any reportable safety incidents.

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.