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Programme Update - October 2007

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 October 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 October 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 October 2007. Electricity generation for the month was below target.

Items of Interest

Key Elements

  • Windscale and Sellafield Limited have entered into formal shadow working.
  • At Chapelcross the cooling towers landscape is practically complete.
  • A programme to accelerate fuel element thermocouple cropping at Dungeness A started during the period.
  • At Dungeness A all post operational decommissioning safety case submissions to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) were made during the month.
  • Dounreay started shadow working on 26 October 2007.
  • At Winfrith the Waste Encapsulation Treatment Plant (WETP) processed more than twice the drums ever processed in any other month.
  • At the Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) operations continue to suffer from poor plant availability.
  • Work continues towards the restart of sustained shearing at the Sellafield Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP).
  • Delays experienced within Legacy Ponds and Silos projects at Sellafield.
  • Issues remain over radioactive backwash tanks sludges at Dungeness A.

Windscale and Sellafield Limited entered into the formal shadow working phase on 22 October 2007. This key milestone on the Windscale transition was achieved one week ahead of schedule. The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) will undertake an initial inspection of arrangements for shadow working during November.

At Chapelcross the Cooling Towers Demolition Project has completed the separation of the steel reinforcing from the concrete debris. Over 1400 tonnes of steel reinforcing bar has been extracted from the rubble and sent for recycling. The sampling and characterisation of the West Runway soil piles is now complete. Only a small amount of contaminated concrete has been removed for Low Level Waste (LLW) disposal. All of the remaining material has been moved to the cooling towers site for redistribution. The cooling towers landscape is now practically complete. Meadow grass will be sown on the area in the next growing season of March/April 2008.

A programme to accelerate fuel element thermocouple cropping at Dungeness A started during the month. This work was originally planned to take place during bulk defuelling. By accelerating this work ahead of starting bulk fuel the site can reduce the time it will take to complete bulk defuelling, representing a saving in the out years. This work allows the site to progress “at reactor” operations, keeping the de-fuelling equipment in a good operational state and maintains fuel route staff Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel (SQEP) capability.

At Dungeness A all post operational decommissioning safety case submissions to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) were made during the month. The safety case is one of the key enablers that will allow the reactors to move to Phase 3 cooling. The NII has given feedback to the site stating that the safety case presented had satisfied their concerns.

The Dounreay site commenced shadow working on 26 October 2007 following receipt of Licence Instrument 536 from the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII). The relicensing date remains programmed for 1 April 2008.

At Winfrith the Waste Encapsulation Treatment Plant (WETP) processed 95 drums during the period. This is more than twice the drums ever processed in any other period. The processing of the second tank of sludge at WETP was completed just after month end.

At the Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) operations continue to suffer from poor plant availability. Operational focus is showing benefit with schedule adherence increasing from September, however, production failed to meet scheduled rates. In all areas of the plant there have been noticeable signs of improvement and each area has demonstrated throughputs and yields at or near to weekly plans although this is significantly behind targeted overall throughput requirements. The focus going forward is the action for consistency and sustainability. Work streams continue progressing this, with teams working on can cutting, pressing, pellet inspection and rod fabrication.

Work continues on the restart of sustained shearing at the Sellafield Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP). Preparation for operations have taken place throughout the month which included, following conservative decision making, the replacement of a number of key valves in the Uranium Purification (UP) to ensure that the integrity of the valve arrangement within the UP concentrate cell bulges was maintained. At the end of October, the UP cycle was preparing to start up. The plant will now process the resultant liquor from the shearing of the Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) fuel which took place in July and August 2007 and the remaining liquor from the Feed Clarification Cell (FCC) event. This will enable Highly Active Liquor (HAL) Storage Facility to process the Highly Active Aqueous Raffinate (HAAR).

Delays have occurred in two areas within Legacy Ponds and Silos (LSP) at Sellafield:

  • B29 Local Sludge Treatment Plant (LSTP) storage - Following the endorsement from the Sellafield Limited Board to progress the project in line with the revised commercial arrangements, the first meeting to negotiate remobilisation of the site was held. This meeting was deemed to be successful, the follow up tri-partite meeting was held to determine the way forward pending final agreement on commercial terms which will allow work to recommence. Authorisation to proceed was received on 4 October, 10 weeks later than assumed in the recovery programme. The impact of this delay is currently being assessed with the subcontractors.
  • B38 Waste Store – The portfolio is making steady progress but is currently behind programme mainly due to resources issues across the portfolio up to the end of October, which has had an impact on contract placement.

    At Dungeness A an ongoing issue with radioactive backwash tank sludges means that site sludge/resin storage capacity may become critical within the next 12 months. Work is in hand to remove the backwash sludges to a suitable storage tank. A decision has been made to pursue the option of installing additional tank storage capacity to deal with this issue and secure long term storage capacity for the site.

Safety and Environment Performance

Safety and Environment - Key Elements

  • Site incident declared at Oldbury for release of clean carbon dioxide gas.
  • Improvement Notice served on a contractor following an event at Sellafield in April.
  • Six RIDDOR reportable events reported from Sellafield (2), Calder Hall (2), Wylfa (1) and Oldbury (1).

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

Nuclear Safety

No events rated at Level 1 or above on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) have been reported as occurring at NDA sites during the period.

The Board of Inquiry into the abnormal internal dose biological sampling results of two contractors from operations in the Plutonium Finishing Plant at Sellafield has been completed and accepted by the Convening Authority. Assessment of the dose uptake continues and will take several months to be finalised.

A site incident was declared at Oldbury on 23 October following a release of clean (non-radioactive) carbon dioxide gas during a routine fuelling machine activity. The carbon dioxide was contained within the reactor building and there was no harm to personnel or plant and no hazard off site as a result of the incident.

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 events reportable under RIDDOR occurred in the period:

  • At Sellafield, a contractor dropped a flange (2-3 kg) from bench height onto his foot. This resulted in >3 days being lost from work.
  • At Sellafield, the catastrophic failure of an 11 kV ring main switch unit occurred at the fuse / oil chamber, causing oil to be ejected from the tank over a wide area. The equipment was rendered unusable for >24 hours and the event has been reported as a RIDDOR Dangerous Occurrence.
  • At Calder Hall, a contractor labouring for scaffolders on Reactor 3, Heat Exchanger 1, altered his footing to allow more room for materials and his right foot slipped through a four inch gap between the scaffold boards and the heat exchanger vessel. The gap had been intentionally left to allow for the removal of the asbestos lagging from the heat exchanger. The contractor twisted his knee and was absent from work for >3 days.
  • Also on Reactor 3, Heat Exchanger 1 at Calder Hall, a contractor sustained a sprained wrist whilst dismantling scaffolding. Whilst loosening a fitting, the spanner snapped back jolting the operative’s arm. This resulted in the contractor being absent from work for >3 days.
  • At Wylfa, a contractor suffered a hand injury, breaking two bones in the back of his hand. No loss of working time resulted but the event was reported under RIDDOR as an injury.
  • Oldbury reported a case of hand-arm vibration syndrome diagnosed by the company chief medical officer. This is a RIDDOR reportable illness. The case has been discussed with the chief medical officer and with the senior medical inspector at Bristol. In this case, the individual’s exposure is both work and home based. The individual has not carried out work at Oldbury involving vibratory tools for a number of years. The case has been under review for a period of approximately 3 years.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Improvement Notice has been served on a contractor relating to provision of adequate training and the use of work equipment on the Sellafield site under the Provision of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) following an event during the sea-line refurbishment in April 2007 where a drill operator’s arm was fractured after becoming entangled with the drill.

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 the period.

  • Following two events in period 6, Chapelcross have re-evaluated their approach to all matters relating to waste management and environmental issues. A review of how the site complies with its obligations under the Radioactive Substances Act has been initiated, led by the Hunterston A Environmental, Health, Safety & Quality (EHS&Q) Manager and including a number of independent experts.
  • A Warning Letter was received by Dungeness A from the Environment Agency (EA) in respect of the Active Effluent Water Treatment Plant event in June 2007 when approximately 5 gallons of water leaked from pipe work associated with an air blower.
  • A three-day waste audit by four Environment Agency (EA) inspectors and one Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) inspector concluded that the performance by the Sizewell A site in the waste management area was “better than acceptable”.
  • The Pollution Prevention Control (PPC) Permit was issued to Sellafield site on 22 October with the limits applying with immediate effect.
  • Monitoring of beaches at St Bees, Seascale, Drigg and Barnscar near to Sellafield has been completed and there have been 13 finds in total. At a meeting between the Environment Agency (EA), Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), NDA and Sellafield Ltd, it has been agreed that monitoring of locations on the Scottish Solway coast will be carried out in this financial year.

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

Oldbury led the national Level 3 emergency exercise “Sabrina” on 17 October.

Chapelcross gave adequate demonstrations of their emergency arrangements in Level 1 exercises witnessed by Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII).

Sizewell A gave adequate demonstrations of their emergency arrangements in Level 1 exercises witnessed by Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII).

Dounreay has received its certificate for the new British Standard for Occupational Health and Safety, BS18001:2007, which was published in July.

The Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) is a measure of the number of injuries and illnesses that occur as a rate compared against the number of hours worked.

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.