HSE press release E185:03 - 25 September 2003
The Health and Safety Executive's (HSE's) Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) has today confirmed that it has completed the assessment of Rolls Royce Marine Power Operations Limited's (RRMPOL) periodic safety review (PSR) of its Manufacturing Site at Raynesway, Derby. The site produces nuclear reactor cores and other associated nuclear propulsion components for Royal Navy Submarines.
Nuclear licensees are required periodically to carry out major safety reviews as a condition of their site licence and to satisfy NII that the safety of their sites remains adequate for continued operation. This is the first major safety review of the Manufacturing Site and the approach adopted is consistent with similar reviews carried out at other nuclear licensed sites.
NII's assessment of the PSR has concluded that the licensee has:
In addition, the PSR has identified no safety factors which will limit the life of the Manufacturing Site before the end of 2012, the date by when the next periodic safety review will be required.
As is normal for reviews of this type, the NII assessment identified further work that would enhance the current safety justifications. This work, some of which is ongoing, is in addition to plant, facility and procedural improvements that had already been identified by the licensee. RRMPOL has progressed the implementation of all reasonably practicable improvements on a broad front with emphasis on the key areas of criticality, fire and external hazards (flooding and seismicity). The overall position is considered satisfactory with a major proportion of the work complete and the majority of that which remains being planned for completion by summer 2004. Completion of all outstanding improvements is expected within two years, with the possible exception of the provision of new equipment, which may take until 2006 to complete.
As a result of its assessment, and considering the operating and maintenance history to date at the site, NII is satisfied that it is safe to continue operation of this facility until the end of 2012, subject to completion of an ongoing work programme and continuing satisfactory results from the routine monitoring and inspection programmes that underpin the normal regulatory control at the site.
In September 2001, during the period of the PSR assessment, the "The Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001" (REPPIR) were introduced. The natural links between the NII assessment of the REPPIR Hazard Identification and Risk Evaluation (HIRE) and the PSR made it appropriate to include the close out of the REPPIR assessment with that of the PSR for the Manufacturing Site. For completeness, this was extended to include the HIRE for the adjacent Neptune nuclear licensed site.
The NII assessment endorsed the conclusion reached by RRMPOL in their HIRE documents that there are no reasonably foreseeable hazards on either licensed site that could give rise to a radiation emergency, and hence there is no formal requirement for an off site emergency plan. Nevertheless the remote possibility of an on-site radiation accident exists and both sites will continue to operate an on-site emergency plan.
Following the incident at Tokai Mura in 1999, Derbyshire County Council drew up an Off-Site Contingency Plan that covers both RRMPOL nuclear licensed sites. RRMPOL has been involved with Derbyshire County Council Emergency Planners, Emergency Services and others in the development of this Off-Site Contingency Plan and continues to maintain and develop these links. NII believes that this provides an effective basis for extendibility of the current emergency arrangements.
1. At Raynesway in Derby, Rolls Royce Marine Power Operations Ltd (RRMPOL) operates two nuclear licensed sites - the Manufacturing Site and the Neptune/Radioactive Components Facility Site. RRMPOL is part of the Marine business of Rolls Royce plc. Originally, RRMPOL was known as Rolls Royce and Associates and this name change occurred on 15 January 1999.
2. The Manufacturing Site was first licensed under the 1959 Nuclear Installations Act in August 1960. The requirement to carry out a Periodic Safety Review (PSR) was first prescribed when a new licence containing the 35 standard licence conditions (now 36) was granted for the Manufacturing Site in August 1994, with the expectation that the review would be completed within the typical ten year cycle.
3. At the Manufacturing Site, the uranium fuel is processed and the nuclear reactor cores are fabricated and assembled for the Royal Navy's submarines. The uranium is received from the Ministry of Defence and its form and shape are then changed by the manufacturing process. Much of the work involves conventional manufacturing processes common to any engineering industry. At the end of this process, all the components are brought together and the finished reactor core is trial assembled. The first reactor core to be produced on the site was delivered to the Ministry of Defence in February 1963.
4. The Neptune/Radioactive Components Facility Site was first licensed in November 1961. The principal nuclear facility is the Neptune test reactor which is a low power reactor having a designed thermal power output not exceeding 300 watts. This is used to conduct experiments on the reactor cores manufactured at the nearby Manufacturing Site in order to confirm the design data. The site also contains sophisticated equipment for the measurement and analysis of ionising radiation as well as a facility for the calibration of radiation measuring equipment. A new licence containing the 35 standard licence conditions (now 36) was granted for the Neptune/Radioactive Components Facility Site in December 1997, and the PSR is expected to be completed by June 2007.
5. The majority of information concerning the work on both the Manufacturing and Neptune/Radioactive Components Facility Sites is protected for security reasons and hence cannot be disclosed. The HSE will therefore not be publishing a report on the findings of NII's assessment of either RRMPOL's PSR or its REPPIR Hazard Identification and Risk Evaluation.
All enquiries from journalists should be directed to the HSE Press Office
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