- Site: Heysham 1
- IR number: 20-076
- Date: October/November 2020
- LC numbers: 28
Executive summary
The aim of this remote intervention was to carry out a Licence Condition (LC) 28 inspection relating to the civil engineering aspects of reactor 1 at EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Limited’s (NGL) Heysham1(HYA) power station during its 2020 statutory outage. This intervention serves to support an Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) Assessment of the Approved Examiner (APEX) return to service examination report in accordance with LC 30(1).
The intervention was planned in accordance with ONR’s Integrated Intervention Strategy (IIS) for Heysham 1 2020/21, R1Outage.
Interventions Carried Out by ONR
Due to Covid 19 restrictions two ONR civil engineering specialist inspectors performed a remote inspection with the aid of the Station APEX and Site Engineer. The purpose of the inspection was to judge the compliance of the site outage works against License Condition 28; Examination, inspection, maintenance and testing and to gather early information relating to the APEX examination of the Prestressed Concrete Pressure Vessel (PCPV).
The inspection covered aspects relating to the normal civil engineering inspection carried out by the APEX in support of the production of his return to service / APEX 28 day report for the statutory outage, in compliance with the Written Scheme of Examination (WSE) and Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (PSSR 2000 regs).
This intervention will also serve to inform an ONR Assessment Report (ONR-OFD-AR-20-066)[4] to be carried out on the APEX’s return to service report for this outage.
The intervention was performed in line with ONR's guidance requirements (as described in our technical inspection guides) in the areas inspected.
Key Findings, Inspector's Opinions and Reasons for Judgements Made
The scope of this remote inspection was to sample the civil engineering aspects of the examination, inspection, maintenance and testing activities (LC28) being undertaken. The scope also included the extent to which the personnel controlling, supervising and undertaking the Maintenance Schedule activities are suitably qualified and experienced with the appropriate level of control and quality surveillance given the potential impact on safety. The full scope can be found within the inspection plan [1]
With respect to the Licence Condition 28 relating to examination, inspection, maintenance and testing the following judgements were made:-
- We considered that the work had been pre planned and generally followed the relevant guidance and procedures.
- There was evidence of good interactions with third parties and an ability to be flexible to meet ongoing demands.
- There was a willingness to achieve, even working with the recent greater demands imposed due to Covid 19.
Conclusion of Intervention
ONR reviewed the examination, inspection, maintenance and testing aspects considered under LC28. We judged that for the sample inspected the Licensee had, in general, adequate arrangements. Whilst the examination, inspection, maintenance and testing were being carried out regularly, systematically and generally by suitably qualified and experienced personnel we were not content with some ‘cultural issues’ found which ultimately impacted on some findings related to LC28 (6a).
However, on balance and for the purposes of this report an overall rating of Green was given in accordance with ONR RAG rating system (Refer ONR-INSP-GD-064) for this licence condition.