AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield - Q4 2010 report

Quarterly Report for 1 October to 31 December 2010

Foreword
Inspections
Routine matters
Non routine matters
Regulatory activity

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 sites available to the public. It is for distribution to members of the AWE Local Liaison Committee (LLC) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Aldermaston and Burghfield. 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 attend LLC meetings and will respond to questions raised there by members of the LLC.

Inspections

HSE/NII inspectors visited the Aldermaston and Burghfield sites on several occasions during the quarter being reported. There were visits from other HSE inspectors in relation to explosives and conventional safety. HSE/NII inspections were carried out on the following dates:

5-6 October
13-16 October
18-22 October
2-5 November
10 November
15-19 November
1 December
3 December
13-17 December

Some of the inspections were carried out with inspectors from the Ministry of Defence Regulator (the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator - DNSR) and the Environment Agency.

Routine matters

Inspections are undertaken for the purpose of monitoring compliance with

the conditions attached by HSE/NII to the nuclear site licences,
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 AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield covered:

Incidents on Site
Training and Authorisation of Persons
Emergency Arrangements
Safety Documentation
Construction or Installation of New Plant
Modifications and Commissioning
Operating Rules & Instructions
Control and Supervision of Operations
Safety Devices
Maintenance
Accumulation of Radioactive Waste
Control of Organisational Change
Records

In general, the arrangements made and implemented by AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield in response to safety requirements were deemed to be adequate¹ in the areas inspected. However, where improvements were considered necessary, satisfactory commitments to address the issues were made by or are being sought from AWE plc, and the site inspectors 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.

Burghfield Site Level 1 Emergency Exercise

During October, AWE plc carried out a planned test of its on-site response plan for the management of potential emergencies at the Burghfield site. This test forms part of a cycle expected of all licensees to demonstrate to the regulators that their emergency arrangements are robust.

The exercise was observed by a team of NII and DNSR inspectors that judged that the demonstration was adequate. The licensee’s own observers and the regulatory inspectors identified points where enhancements might be made and a programme for addressing these is being implemented by AWE.

ALDEX – Level 2 Off-site Emergency Exercise

During November, a three yearly test of the off-site aspects of the Aldermaston emergency plan was undertaken as required by the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations. This exercise involved a range of agencies including the licensee, the local authority and the emergency services and was considered a general success. However, as normal with these events, several issues were identified that require addressing in an updated off-site plan and in the working arrangements of the individual agencies.

¹ The conditions attached to the Nuclear Site Licence require the licensee to make and implement “adequate” arrangements. Since this is the word used in the legislation it is therefore the word normally used by HSE/NII inspectors to indicate that the requirements of the law have been met. It should not therefore be construed as meaning a poor or barely acceptable performance has been achieved

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. The following items were of note during the current reporting period.

Aldermaston B Area Facility Fire

HSE’s investigation into this event continues, but is nearing completion. The decision on whether or not to take further enforcement action will depend on consideration of any supplementary information arising from further interactions with the company that are planned for early 2011.

Recent events

During this period there were a small number of minor events that have been the subject of regulatory attention. Whilst the outcome did not significantly affect safety, the licensee has taken the opportunity to consider the implications and to identify learning points that are being taken forward.

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 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.

NII issued no licence instruments to the licensee during the quarter, however, we were content that the licensee’s internal controls were appropriate for the commencement of further site preparation work on the current projects and the relevant hold points were released.

Transforming HSE Nuclear Directorate

HSE’s Nuclear Directorate (ND) continues work on a programme of change entitled 'Transformation' which is intended to help ND realise its aim to become recognised as a world-class regulator. Over the coming months, ND’s focus will include improving the way it engages with all of its stakeholders, including communities around nuclear licensed sites, to explain the work that it does and the regulatory decisions it makes.
ND will keep stakeholders fully informed of changes and any decisions that are made through channels including:

The HSE Nuclear eBulletin;
Site stakeholder group and local liaison committee reports;
ND's newly re-launched website

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions regarding ND’s Transformation programme, please get in touch by emailing ONRenquiries@hse.gsi.gov.uk.