Sellafield Limited Capenhurst Works - LLC report Q4 2010

NII site inspector's quarterly report to the local stakeholder group for 1st October 2010 to 31st December 2010

Inspections
Routine matters
Non routine matters
Regulatory activity
Proposed changes to the status of HSE's Nuclear Directorate

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 Capenhurst Local Stakeholder Group (LSG) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at the Capenhurst Works. These reports are distributed quarterly. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate normally attend LSG meetings and will be happy to respond to questions raised there or subsequently by members of the LSG.

Inspections

Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) inspectors conducted inspections on the following dates during this quarter:

11 October
19, 26 November
1, 16, 22 December

The site inspector also participated in the Safety Representative's Safety Conference at Bromborough on 15th December, to provide regulatory advice.

Routine matters

Inspections 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 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 of the site covered a number of areas.

Each NII site inspector has an inspection programme, informed by planned regulatory interventions. There are two key regulatory interventions for this site. The first is to ensure that the structure and resources available to the licensee remain adequate to ensure nuclear site licence compliance, as the hazard on the site reduces. The second relates to the acceleration of the disposition and ‘deconversion’ of the legacy uranium hexafluoride “Hex Tails”, to the less hazardous oxide form of uranium.

Licence Condition 35 - Decommissioning

It is understood that the ‘down blended’ uranic residues are to remain on the Capenhurst site until around 2014, pending processing and recycling at another licensed site.

The licensee continues to prudently actively commission a new facility, being used to empty and wash out some legacy uranium hexafluoride cylinders, with acceptable overall progress being maintained. This plant is a key facility for reducing the chemo toxic and criticality hazard on the site.

Licence Condition 36 – Control of Organisational Change

Regulatory advice was provided to the licensee regarding the adequacy of the licensee’s safety justification, regarding some recent organisational changes implemented by the licensee, involving a small reduction in the number of licensee’s staff. The licensee subsequently developed a robust safety justification.

Licence Condition 7 – Incidents on the site

On 24th July 2009, the licensee notified NII of a seepage of a few litres of radioactive liquor from a corroded stored uranium hexafluoride legacy “Hex Tails” cylinder, held inside a storage building. The Site Emergency Control Centre was appropriately manned for several hours, whilst the leak was promptly brought under control and sealed by the ‘on site’ Fire & Rescue team. There was no escape of radioactivity from the building and no personnel were contaminated. The volume (about three litres) and specific radioactivity of the acidic liquor, which had leaked from the ageing “Hex Tails” cylinder in a small localised area, breached the spillage level defined within the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999. This resulted in the event being notifiable to the relevant Minister. The event was categorised as category ‘One’ on the International Nuclear Event (INES) scale.

The site inspector inspected the scene of the event on 31st July 2009, where appropriate arrangements were seen to have been implemented and proportionate containment measures applied. The site inspector later discussed the licensee’s response with the site management on a number of occasions and subsequently received timely updates from the licensee. The licensee continues to conduct appropriate tests, to establish the integrity of this cylinder, including conducting an autopsy of the cylinder in this quarter, and to identify other “Hex Tails” cylinders, which were initially thought may be at risk of similar corrosion and hence potential leakage. The licensee’s preliminary investigation report has appropriately initiated a review of the safety case for medium term “Hex Tails” storage, informed by the emerging findings of the ongoing investigation into this event. This revised safety case is due to be implemented in the next quarter.

This event, together with a subsequent further minor release of radioactive liquor, during subsequent processing of this container, in March 2010, has clearly significantly enhanced the importance of the need for timely “Hex Tails” deconversion and NII continues to press for the development and timely implementation of detailed plans for elimination of the “Hex Tails” hazard from the Sellafield Limited site at Capenhurst, by conversion to the more stable oxide form. The licensee has incorporated the learning from this event into the revision of the uranic storage safety case. The site inspector had written to the licensee, requesting a formal review of the “Hex Tails” policy, to be completed by the end of March 2010, to take account of both this event and the emerging NDA uranics strategy. NDA conducted this review, developing a revised strategy. NII welcomed NDA’s declared “Storage strategy for NDA owned uranium hexafluoride tails”, which was published on the NDA web site, in March 2010, underpinning NDA support for the timely deconversion of the legacy “Hex Tails” to start by 2020. The provision of the necessary funding from NDA and its allocation by the Sellafield Limited licensee continues to be inspected by NII, to ensure that this important regulatory commitment is fulfilled.

NII has maintained discussions with both the licensee and NDA in this quarter, regarding the arrangements for the provision (by NDA) and allocation (by Sellafield Limited) of timely funding for the Cylinder Handling Facility, an essential precursor to “Hex Tails” deconversion. Overall, NII continues to monitor the licensee’s planning and funding commitments in this area, to fulfil the strategy commitment and will continue to closely monitor key aspects of the ”Hex Tails” topic.

Capenhurst ‘Lifetime Plan’

The site inspector continues to participate in the quarterly regulatory review meetings, involving NII, the Environment Agency, the Department For Transport, the Office for Civil Nuclear Security, the licensee and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, (NDA), reviewing the licensee’s decommissioning and waste disposals progress against the Lifetime Plan.

NII continues to actively press the licensee (and where appropriate, seeks to influence NDA) to develop the options to bring forward the date for the commencement of processing or disposition of the legacy “Hex Tails”, uranic and other materials currently stored on site, taking account of wider developments. The licensee and NDA have continued to provide the site inspector with clear visibility of the substantial ongoing work to review the acceleration options. NII was initially encouraged that the licensee was actively engaged in reviewing the options to address the “Hex Tails” legacy, with a view to reducing the potential hazard, significantly earlier than currently programmed within the 2010 Lifetime Plan. However, recent funding challenges have reduced the regulatory confidence in the licensee’s ability to meet this key commitment to NII. NII has emphasised that timely “Hex Tails” deconversion at Capenhurst is a key regulatory issue for the Sellafield Limited licensee, (i.e. across the Sellafield, Windscale and Capenhurst site licensee’s estate). Consequently, NII will continue to press for tangible progress to be made by the licensee in the timely reduction of this medium term site hazard. NDA decommissioning project funding, allocated between projects by the Sellafield Limited nuclear licensee, (across Sellafield, Windscale and Capenhurst sites) has recently been constrained, which could adversely affect the timeliness of the design of a Cylinder Handling Facility, which, when constructed, will sample and decant the legacy “Hex Tails” into modern transportable cylinders, enhancing the interim safety of the “Hex Tails”, pending deconversion to the intrinsically less hazardous oxide form of uranium. NII continues to robustly remind both NDA and the licensee the regulatory importance of maintaining timely progress on the plan to start deconversion of the legacy “Hex Tails” by 2020.

The site inspector continues to monitor progress with the timely disposal of solid low level and very low level radioactive wastes from the site by the licensee and for the timely despatch of uranic residues, to another licensed site for processing and recycling. NII remains content with the licensee’s progress with ongoing solid low and very low level authorised radioactive waste disposals from the site.

The site inspector continues to discuss with the Head of Site emerging proposals on the future of the site, the site inspector rehearsing the need for timely “Hex Tails” deconversion, at each of these meetings.

There continue to be very effective working relationships between the regulators, the licensee and the NDA at the Sellafield Limited Capenhurst site, which the NII regards as a key element of effective regulation.

Meetings with safety representatives

The site inspector continues to consult with the enthusiastic and active team of safety representatives, including during site inspections, most recently on 15th December. The positive initiatives, encompassed within the refreshed Safety 1st programme, being effectively led by the active team of safety representatives, continue to make a significant contribution to the generally very strong site safety culture.

In general, the arrangements made and implemented by 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 or are being sought from 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.

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. There were no items of particular note during the current reporting period.

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. An executive summary of the internal ND report, supporting the issue of any Licence Instruments or site licences by ND, is published on the intranet at web address http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/pars/index.htm. No Licence Instruments were issued during this quarter.

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 aims 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: