Magnox North Limited - Wylfa power station report - Q4 2010

Site stakeholder group quarterly report for 1 October to 30 December 2010

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 site available to the public. It is for distribution to members of the Wylfa Site Stakeholder Group (SSG) and covers activities associated with the regulation of safety at Wylfa. These reports are distributed quarterly and are also available on the HSE’s website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/llc/index.htm. Site Inspectors of HM Nuclear Installations Inspectorate normally attend SSG meetings and will be happy to respond to any questions raised there or subsequently by members of the SSG.

Inspections

The Site Inspector made the following visits to Wylfa in the period covered by this report:

7-8, 25-27 October 2010
10-11, 16-19 October 2010
6-9, 16-17 December 2010

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 Wylfa covered:

Examination, Maintenance, Inspection and Testing.
Staff training, qualifications and experience.
Modifications to plant, equipment and safety cases.
Emergency preparedness.
Decommissioning.
Organisational Changes.

In general, the arrangements made and implemented by Wylfa 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.

A team from NII witnessed Level 1 Emergency Exercise Ampere 10 on 10 November 2010. This was an out of hours exercise designed to test that ability or the site to manage an emergency with minimum manning levels on site until further staff could be called to site. The NII team found the exercise to be an adequate demonstration of the site’s arrangements.

When Wylfa issued its Periodic Safety Review (PSR) in 2004, it assumed generation would cease at the end of December 2010. Wylfa provided evidence that the PSR would still be valid until September 2014, which was 10 years from the original PSR date. As a result NII confirmed that it had no objection to operation beyond end of December 2010, subject to the caveat that continuing operation depends upon having at all times an adequate safety case for the reactor and its operation; supported by ongoing maintenance, inspection, and testing programmes, generating satisfactory inspection results
The site inspector attended a meeting with the safety representatives on site to discuss matters of mutual interest.

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 reporting period include the following.
On 30 September, an electrical contactor in the turbine hall developed a fault and overheated. The resulting smoke led to the fire alarm activating. The site responded following its emergency arrangements as if it had been a fire. The site inspector investigated the incident and found that the site response had been appropriate.

NII issued new licences for the sites operated by Magnox South Ltd to allow them to be integrated into Magnox North Ltd, which required a change to the corporate organisation of Magnox North Ltd. Under the site licence, the licensee has to produce a safety case to demonstrate that the new organisation does not impact on safety on each of the sites. NII assessed this and provided its agreement that the organisational change could go ahead.

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.

One LI was issued to the licensee during the quarter:

LI 546 dated 24 December 2010 – agreement to change the organisational structure of Magnox North Ltd to allow integration of the sites operated by Magnox South Ltd into the company.

No enforcement notices were issued during the reporting period.

Transforming our business

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:

The HSE Nuclear eBulletin (visit www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/ebulletin to subscribe);
Site stakeholder group and local liaison committee reports;
ND's newly re-launched website (www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear).

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