The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

NDA Sites Monthly Performance Update

General Evaluation - Key Elements

• Work is being delivered for less than expected costs.
• The overall NDA programme is behind schedule.
• Year to date electricity generation is 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 December 2007, the programme delivered work for less than expected costs. Measured against the year to date budget the programme of work at the end of December 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 December 2007. Electricity generation for the month was above target.

Items of Interest

Key Elements

• On the Trawsfynydd Ponds Scabbling Project all active commissioning operations in Lane AB North have now been completed.
• On the Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) Store Construction Project at Trawsfynydd the contractor has completed the construction phase of the project.
• At Sizewell A the 2007/8 target for incinerating Low Level Waste (LLW) oil has been reached four months early.
• Sizewell A is supporting the southern Magnox sites by providing resources under the mobile work force scheme.
• At the Low Level Waste (LLW) Repository agreement has been reached on the community benefit package.
• At the Harwell B459 Shielded Cell Facility the 2007/8 target for lead shaving was met four months ahead of schedule.
• Although still behind schedule, the overall plant operation at the Sellafield Mox Plant (SMP) continues to improve.
• During the month, final preparations were put into place to enable the Sellafield Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) to restart when the necessary permissions are received from the regulator. Out of the reporting month on 28 January 2008 an incident occurred at THORP during preparations for restart, leading to a hold on restart operations.
• At Dungeness A there are issues over the maintenance of the beach crest which is required by the safety case.
• Threats to the start of defuelling remain at Chapelcross.

On the Trawsfynydd Ponds Scabbling Project all active commissioning operations in Lane AB North have now been completed. Brokk 2 was introduced into Lane CD North after the approval of the active commissioning schedule, and the pecking of the chamfers has progressed. Dose reduction proposals have been successfully trialled in the Filling Station areas.

On the Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) Store Construction Project at Trawsfynydd the contractor has completed the construction phase of the project, leaving minor snagging items remaining. Historic delays have been experienced on the project with the concrete pours to the walls and roof taking longer than expected earlier this year, which has had a knock-on effect on other activities. The programme has been recovered following the implementation of robust recovery plans. During the period, progress has continued towards commissioning of the store with testing of the internal cranes progressing well.

At Sizewell A a further 1900 litres of Low Level Waste (LLW) oil (33% of annual target) have been incinerated in December, in the new Waste Oil Burner, by staff from all five shifts. This means the site achieved its annual target during the period, with a draft trend raised for a change to exceed the annual target. This demonstrates the benefits of the newly installed burner during 2006/7, the site’s shift staff’s ability to incinerate 24 hours a day via self-perform and has made the site independent of its previous arrangements for disposal of oil via Sizewell B.

Sizewell A is supporting the southern Magnox sites by providing resources under the mobile work force scheme. There are currently 3 people at Berkeley, who are on secondment for a period of 3 months or more. There are also 12 people going to Hinkley Point A in January 2008. This is a team of Defuelling and Health Physics technicians who will be bringing valuable skills back to site to help train others.

At the Low Level Waste (LLW) Repository agreement has been reached on the community benefit package. This has created some media coverage in advance of the Vault 9 planning application. Approval of the planning application by Cumbria County Council (CCC) will enable accelerated construction of Vault 9 to be an effective risk mitigation strategy against a shortfall in storage capacity. Although out of the reporting month, on Wednesday 23 January CCC granted planning permission for a new vault at the Low Level Waste Repository.

At the Harwell B459 Shielded Cell Facility the 2007/8 target for lead shaving of 40 tonnes was completed at the start of the period. This means that the target was met four months ahead of schedule. A change proposal has been approved to allow processing of an additional 25 tonnes of lead this financial year.

Although still behind schedule, the overall plant operation at the Sellafield Mox Plant (SMP) continues to improve month on month with in-period consistency of throughput within the pelleting areas and week on week improvements in the production of rods. Yields remain high within the plant, such that, more recycle is being consumed than generated. Work has accelerated on the recycle (crushing and blending) of reject material from the tray store.

During the month, final preparations were put into place to enable the Sellafield Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) to restart when the necessary permissions are received from the regulator. Out of the reporting month on 28 January 2008 an incident occurred at THORP. The incident was caused by the failure of the fuel elevator hoist cables whilst fuel was being raised to the shear cave. This is an anticipated failure scenario, recognised in the plant safety case and the designed safety features operated correctly which ensured that there were no significant radiological issues. Preparations for restart have been put on hold pending investigation of the root causes and rectification of the failure.

At Dungeness A British Energy (BE) provides a service to maintain the beach crest at the level required by the safety case and have recently lodged a planning application to continue to extract shingle for this purpose from the location on the east of the Dungeness shore line (Borrow Pit). The council members considering the application visited the site this period and questioned representatives from British Energy, Magnox South and Natural England (who have raised an objection to the application). The council members found the visit very useful and will be considering the application in early 2008. For the time being there is sufficient height and breadth of the shingle bank to comply with the safety case requirements for at least a further 12 months. An important contractual agreement remains to be resolved which is to have in place arrangements to rebuild the shingle bank in the event of a severe storm which may seriously erode the beach. Shingle will need to be extracted from alternative sources if consent is not granted which will incur additional cost.

At Chapelcross the upgrading of Reactor 1 still remains extremely challenging with interface problems between the new Fuel Route Transition Project (FRTP) equipment and a number of items of original unmodified equipment providing much more challenge to resolve than expected. This situation has been made worse by problems with the site steam heating which has left the Pile caps untenable for extended work periods and a plant isolation event which resulted in the withdrawal of the Pile Cap permits. The above continues to threaten the schedule requirement for the start of defuelling in April 2008. The site has mitigating actions in place.

Safety and Environment Performance

Safety and Environment - Key Elements

• One INES level 1 event at Sellafield.
• Two RIDDOR reportable Lost Time Accidents (LTAs), one at Sellafield and one at Springfields.
• Monitoring of the Scottish Solway coast for radioactive particles completed with no finds.
• 1998 Dounreay regulator audit closed out.

Dosimetry is the measurement of absorbed dose in matter and tissue resulting from the exposure to ionizing radiations.

Nuclear Safety

One event rated at Level 1 or above on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) has been reported as occurring at NDA sites during the period.

• At Sellafield, a significant number of Plant Maintenance Schedule activities in B215 have not been completed within safety case specified timescales. The majority of items were associated with equipment that was not in use and hence maintenance should have been suspended. In all other instances, alternative safety measures were in place.

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

Two events reportable under RIDDOR have occurred in the period.

• At Sellafield, a contractor cut his thumb, damaging tendons, whilst cutting timber with a saw. The contractor was consequently absent from work for greater than three days.
• At Springfields, an operator on the Hex Raft injured his back whilst attempting to manually wind down a damaged support leg on a Hex transport trailer. This event was reported as a RIDDOR Lost Time Accident (LTA).RIDDOR stands for the reporting of injuries diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations 1995. RIDDOR '95 requires the reporting of work-related accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences. It applies to all work activities, but not to all incidents.

Environmental Protection

No environmental non-compliances have been reported in this period.

The monitoring of the Scottish Solway coast for radioactive particles from Sellafield has been completed with no finds.

The regulator has confirmed that they will take enforcement action against Chapelcross as a result of errors in Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) activity levels for shipment to Sellafield. An Environmental Non Compliance is a breach of a permit condition set by the Environment Agency or the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency that prevents or controls risk of pollution to the environment.

Safety and Environmental Achievements

Hunterston A met with the regulator to consider the site’s solid Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) retrieval approach and presented arguments that installing argon suppression was not required in relation to the potential for a uranium hydride fire. The site intends to write to regulator to submit their arguments formally. This will be a significant achievement that will present opportunities for other NDA reactor sites.

The regulator has agreed that the 1998 Dounreay Safety Audit can be closed out with any remaining recommendations being assimilated into the regular inspection programme.

Springfields completed its Stage 2 assessment against OHSAS 18001 which concluded with the assessors recommending certification.

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.