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Re: Dounreay plant under the Microscope
The HSE press given below may be of interst and conatins the Webb address
of the full report 161 pages PDF Format
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today published the results of the
joint HSE/Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) audit of the
management of safety at the Dounreay nuclear licensed site in Caithness. The
audit commenced on 1 June 1998.
At a press conference close to the site, in Thurso, HSE's Chief Inspector of
Nuclear Installations, Laurence Williams, said: "The site is currently safe
and the audit team found no acute safety problems. The Fuel Cycle Area is
effectively non-operational at the moment and processing activities will
remain shut down until HSE Consents to their restart. This will only be
given when HSE inspectors are satisfied that an adequate Safety Case for
operation has been made. The licensing regime will be applied robustly to
ensure that safety is maintained following any restart.
"The team did, however, find many chronic safety problems and these are
discussed in the Report. The audit team's main finding is that
organisational changes made within the United Kingdom Atomic Energy
Authority (UKAEA) over the last four years have so weakened the management
and technical base at Dounreay that it is not in a good position to tackle
what is now its principal mission - the decommissioning of the site.
"It is evident to us that UKAEA needs to invest considerable effort, time
and resources at Dounreay to bring it up to the standards HSE requires for
continued operation of a nuclear installation, and to enable the site to be
decommissioned safely and made safe for future generations,"
said Mr Williams.
Other key findings indicate specific areas of concern to HSE including:.
UKAEA is over-dependent on contractors for the delivery of many of the key
functions which HSE would expect to see under the clear control of UKAEA as
the licensee for the site;
UKAEA has not yet developed a comprehensive strategy for dealing with the
various forms of radioactive waste already in being at Dounreay, or those
which will arise in future;
HSE is concerned at the lack of progress on decommissioning;
Decommissioning and radioactive waste strategies should be integrated for
the site as a whole;
Fuel Cycle Area conditions range from the good to the very bad. While HSE is
satisfied there is no imminent danger, it is suspect that UKAEA has been
operating plants without clear knowledge of some of the risks.
Mr Williams said:
"HSE will be asking UKAEA to prepare a comprehensive Action Plan setting out
how it will respond to these recommendations, together with estimates of the
necessary resources.
"This will have to be submitted to HSE and SEPA by 30 November this year.
When the Action Plan has been agreed, we will look to UKAEA to publish it as
soon as possible, so that the public may be fully informed. HSE will from
time to time make information available on progress against the plan.
"HSE has already served three Improvement Notices relating to the
containment of radioactivity in a plant which produces enriched uranium
metal and emergency arrangements and the revision of the Safety Case for the
High Active Liquor Storage Plant. UKAEA have to take remedial action before
30 November.
"Most points raised in this report have been the subject of previous
discussions with UKAEA. The company has been responding to many of HSE's
concerns, and has begun to address many of them positively. In particular
HSE welcomes the improvements introduced across UKAEA as a whole by the new
Chief Executive. We believe his initiatives at Dounreay should improve
safety, but more is required.
"However, I want to make it quite clear that we are looking for a culture
change. UKAEA will need contractors to implement many of the necessary
improvements. But it is UKAEA as the licensee which needs to supply the
controlling mind, and to specify and drive through the work, and satisfy
itself that work is being done properly. It must take ownership of the
necessary high standards and targets, rather than attempting to do the
minimum necessary."
Copies of the report: Safety Audit of Dounreay, MISC 148 are available on
request from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 6FS on
01787-881165 or fax: 01787-313995. It can be accessed via the internet on
http://www.open.gov.uk/hse/nsd/dounreay.pdf
Notes to Editors.
The audit was initiated on behalf of the HSE by HM Chief Inspector of
Nuclear Installations and followed an incident on 7 May of this year which
left the Fuel Cycle Area without its normal electricity supplies for 16
hours.
The Chief Inspector assembled a multi-disciplinary team to carry out a
comprehensive review of health and safety. The audit covered general
management of the site, the role of contractors, management of Fuel Cycle
Area operations, decommissioning and radioactive waste, and the condition of
plant and equipment. The team comprised 13 nuclear inspectors from HSE's
Nuclear Safety Directorate and two inspectors from its Field Operations
Directorate. An inspector from SEPA also joined the team and has made a
significant contribution to the joint report. The team started work at
Dounreay on 1 June. A summary of their findings is attached.
PUBLIC ENQUIRIES: Call HSE's InfoLine, tel: 0541 545500, or
write to: HSE Information Centre, Broad Lane, Sheffield, S3 7HQ.
Original Message-----
From: Sandy Perle <sandyfl@earthlink.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 01 September 1998 15:57
Subject: Dounreay plant under the Microscope
Managers at the Dounreay nuclear plant in Scotland are
bracing themselves for more criticism this week when
the biggest audit in its 40-year history is published.
The audit was carried out by the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) this summer following several incidents,
including a 16-hour power failure in the fuel cycle area
after underground cables were cut.
Highly radioactive materials are manufactured,
processed and recycled in the fuel cycle area.
The audit, which is published on Tuesday, is expected to
call for a major review of working practices. Improvement
notices have already been placed at the plant by the
HSE.
A 1997 report on the fuel cycle area released in June by
the HSE's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate criticised
Dounreay on a variety of matters, including a lack of
proper safety mechanisms and waste management
strategies and problems with care and maintenance.
Just before the report was published, the government
had stated that Dounreay would cease to process
commercial nuclear waste.
Dounreay is now gradually being run down. Campaigners
against nuclear fuel claim those living near nuclear
plants may be at greater risk of developing cancer.
------------------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
ICN Plaza
3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306
Fax: (714) 668-3149
sandyfl@earthlink.net
sperle@icnpharm.com
ICN Dosimetry Website:
http://www.dosimetry.com
Personal Website:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1205
"The object of opening the mind, as of opening
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
- G. K. Chesterton -
The opinions expressed are solely, absolutely, positively, definitely those
of the author, and NOT my employer
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