Performance Updates
Find out more about NDA Sites' Performance, visit our Programme Performance Updates section.
NDA Sites Monthly Performance Update
General Evaluation - Key Elements
- The programme delivers work marginally below budgeted costs.
- The overall NDA programme is behind schedule.
- Year to date electricity generation has fallen below target.
For financial year 2007/8, with the exception of Sellafield, plans are not over pressured. Work is ongoing to assess the funding requirements for Sellafield.
Financial year 2007/8 efficiency targets have been set and the monitoring programme has started.
Year to Date Cost and Schedule Performance
At the end of August 2007, the programme delivered work marginally below expected costs. Measured against the year to date budget the programme of work at August is behind schedule.
Please note: We use Earned Value Performance Management to measure programme performance. This compares the budgeted cost of work that was scheduled with the budgeted cost of work that was actually performed to determine schedule performance and the budgeted cost of work actually performed with its actual cost to determine cost performance.
Year to date electricity generation at the fleet of Magnox nuclear reactors operated by the NDA was below target at the end of August 2007. Electricity generation for the month was below target.
Items of Interest
Key Elements
- At Sellafield the initial campaign at THORP has been completed.
- The test blasts on the Calder Hall Cooling Towers have been successfully completed.
- At the Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) Vault 9 construction has been accelerated. It is now scheduled to start 6 months earlier than planned.
- Remediation of cooling towers basins at Chapelcross continues with good weather conditions helping productivity.
- Work continues on decommissioning projects at Hinkley Point A.
- New Operating Rules implemented at Sizewell A.
- Delays seen in projects within Legacy Ponds and Silos at Sellafield.
- Shaft Isolation Project at Dounreay continues ahead of schedule.
- Issues remain on the cleaning of the effluent pipeline at Chapelcross.
- Regulators express concerns over Operation and Control standards at Berkeley.
- Recovery work continues on the Dounreay Cementation Plant.
THORP shearing operations at Sellafield, which began in July, continued during August and by the end of August the initial campaign had been completed.
The Cooling Tower Demolition Project at Chapelcross continues to make progress separating the steel reinforcing from the concrete debris. The separation of concrete and steel has been completed on cooling tower's 2,3 & 4. A concrete crusher has now been brought to site to complete the final crushing of concrete in the cooling tower basins. The project is currently recovering some of the earlier schedule variance incurred due to the concrete and steel being harder to separate than anticipated by deploying an increased number of machines on site. The improved weather conditions have also helped to improve productivity. The pictures show the current position with remediation of cooling tower basins.
Progress is made on decommissioning projects at Hinkley Point A:-
- In the ponds area, where the sites major hazard lies, two Performance based Incentives (PBI) have been completed early within ponds decommissioning.
- Deplanting of the Turbine Hall has generated revenue from the sale of the scrap. An open day was held in the Turbine Hall to allow stakeholders to view the output of a decommissioning site.
Sizewell A has achieved a major milestone with the approval by the regulator and the successful implementation of the new Operating Rules which happened on 16 August, 23 days earlier than planned. This marked the sites entry into Phase 2 Cooling. This is the first time in 40 years that the station is not required to keep the reactors continuously cooled by forced means.
On the Shaft Isolation Project at Dounreay drilling and grouting in the Series 3 Primary grout boreholes is continuing ahead of schedule. A second series of constant head permeability tests were carried out in the second set of Series 3 boreholes to obtain a general overview of how much grouting has reduced rock permeability so far. Good initial results have been obtained.
The safety case to allow access to B13 Cave 3 at Windscale, to carry out equipment repairs has been endorsed by the Safety Working Party. Achieving access to Cave 3 will be a major milestone for B13 following many years where access has not been allowed.
Within Legacy Ponds and Silos (LP&S) at Sellafield a key safety case and related documentation for the installation of the in pond corral and remaining retrievals equipment was not approved at the Management Safety Committee. Modifications to the corral were completed and the lower section was delivered to site on 13 August and assembled. The remaining components are being held locally and will be delivered to site for assembly following the approval of the installation safety case.
During the period there has been no cleaning work carried out on the effluent pipeline at Chapelcross as the pipe has been returned for operational service in order for the site to deal with its waste water arisings. Prior to handing the pipe back a pressure test was successfully carried out prior to an interim commissioning report being presented and approved by the Plant Safety Panel to allow the temporary return to service. The contractor is in the process of being demobilised whilst the project scope is reassessed. In the interim, all cleaning equipment has been returned to site, however the draw lines have been left inside the pipe to save duplication of this work when the project is restarted.
During the period the regulators visited Berkeley Nuclear Licensed Site (BNLS) to gather information concerning the incident involving the Active Effluent Treatment Plant earlier in 2007. In their immediate response to the site they restated their expectation that decommissioning sites were required to maintain the same standards for Operation and Control as those applying at operational sites. Their view was this was not being achieved at BNLS. In response, a corporate improvement board led by the Chief Nuclear Operating Officer was established and additional resource provided to address the issues raised.
Work continues on the Dounreay Cementation Plant recovery programme. The change control for the revised programme has now be incorporated into the baseline and the programme is now slightly ahead of the new schedule. The date for the restart of routine cementation operations is June 2008.
Safety and Environment Performance
Safety and Environment - Key Elements
- Two INES Level 1 events reported.
- Six RIDDOR reportable events in August and 2 additional events reported late from July.
- No environmental non compliances reported in the month.
- Hunterston A achieves 6 years without a Lost Time Accident (LTA).
Dosimetry is the measurement of absorbed dose in matter and tissue resulting from the exposure to ionizing radiations.
Nuclear Safety
Two events rated at Level 1 or higher on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) have been reported as occurring at NDA sites during the month:-
- At Calder Hall, an Operating Rule was broken in relation to the setting of a gas safety relief valve. This event has been provisionally rated as INES Level 1.
- Wylfa have reported a breach of Licence Condition 23 due to the plant configuration being outside of the Operating Rules. With both reactors shutdown, the guaranteed supplies switchboard was taken out of service for defect maintenance at the same time as 2 out of the 3 diesel generators had been declared unavailable.
Dosimetry
The sites provide data on average individual dose, maximum individual dose and collective dose. These metrics are measured separately for SLC employees and for contractors. Note that the dose is measured by a dosimeter which has to be processed before the dose can be added to the record. Therefore dose figures always lag behind the current date. Dose figures are reported by calendar year rather than financial year and the graphs below present the latest figures for dosimeters worn by workers in calendar year 2007 to date. Individual average and maximum doses should be compared with the legal annual limit of 20 mSv.
Industrial Health and Safety
Six RIDDOR events were reported to have occurred in August:-
- At Dounreay, during dismantling of a scaffold, a scaffold tube slipped through an operator’s hand and struck their foot resulting in a broken little toe. The operator was wearing CE approved safety shoes at the time but these do not protect the part of the foot that was injured.
- At Sellafield, an individual injured his chest when he struck a scaffolding structure while trying to relocate it. This event has been reported as >3 days Lost Time Accident.
- At Sellafield, a contractor jarred his back when he tripped over a shutter retaining pin which was protruding above the shuttering. This event has been reported as >3 days Lost Time Accident.
- At Sellafield, an individual was injured when a door handle became detached from its fixing point whilst being opened causing the individual to fall. This event has been reported as >3 days Lost Time Accident.
- At Wylfa, a member of the team working on the turbine-alternator (T/A) 1 condenser re-tubing suffered a hand injury whilst cutting replacement condenser tubes. This resulted in the need for medical treatment and greater than 3 days loss of working time.
- At Harwell, a contractor tripped on a trailing cable laid across a roller shutter door entrance within the Waste Encapsulation Plant (WEP) construction project. He sustained fractures to 2 ribs and fractures to bones in the hand.
In addition, two further events have been reported which occurred in July:-
- At Sellafield, an individual injured his knee and thigh when he stumbled over a kerb. This event has been reported as >3 days Lost Time Accident.
- At Sellafield, an individual injured his back when the back bracket of the chair that he was sitting on failed causing him to fall backwards. This event has been reported as >3 days Lost Time Accident.
Environmental Protection
No environmental non-compliances have been reported this month.
The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has issued a final warning letter to UKAEA to address findings of an investigation and inspection of the Dounreay site’s waste disposal procedures.
Safety and Environmental Achievements
Capenhurst has been short-listed by Safety and Health Practitioner Magazine for an award in the category of “Best EH&S in Manufacturing - 2007” in recognition of the site’s Safety First initiatives.
Hinkley Point A celebrated a full year without a personal contamination event despite making more than 16,000 entries into C3 and C4 contamination controlled areas.
Sizewell A has been audited by EAQA against ISO 14001 (Environmental Management), ISO 9001 (Quality Management) and OHSAS 18011 (Safety Management). The audit tested the integration of the 3 management systems and the auditors recommended Sizewell A for certification against the standards and also identified a number of areas which they considered to be ‘best practice’.
Hunterston A has achieved six year without a RIDDOR Lost Time Accident (LTA).
Please note
We give the actual number of occurrences in each category. Not all sites employ the same number of people and/or undertake the same activities. This must be taken into account before comparisons between sites can be made.