Skip to content

Sizewell B - Inspection ID: 53548

Executive summary

Date(s) of inspection: November 2024

Aim of inspection

To meet the requirements of the Sizewell Statutory Outage Project as defined in the ONR Outage Inspection Plan.

To provide regulatory confidence in relation to RP and compliance with Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (IRR’17).

To inform the ONR decision relating to the issue of a Licence Instrument for Consent for return to service of the Sizewell B Reactor.

Subject(s) of inspection

  • IRR17 - Rating: Green
  • LC18 - Radiological protection - Rating: Green

Key findings, inspector's opinions and reasons for judgement made

This report is on ONR’s assessment of EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Ltd.’s (NGL) radiological risk management arrangements during the 2024 (RO-19) statutory outage of the Sizewell B reactor. The site intervention sought to establish if the license’s statutory outage work programme was being conducted in compliance with the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (IRR17).

The intervention focussed on the following:

  1. Summary of outage programmed work, its radiological implications and application of ALARP (Regulation 9, 10, 11).
  2. >Radiation protection input to outage work planning including radiological risk assessment risk assessment (Regulation 8, 14).
  3. Control of work including role of RPS (Regulation 18).
  4. Operational dose management, i.e. day-to-day dose management and profiling during the outage (Regulation 12).
  5. Radiological event investigation and follow-up including response to leakages and spillages of radioactive material (Regulation 31).
  6. Outage contractor selection, training, control, supervision, and competence (Regulation 15, 16).
  7. Radiation and contamination survey regime, analysis and outputs (Regulation 20).
  8. Radioactive source management (Regulation 28, 29, 30).

I found adequate arrangements were in place for the 2024 RO-19 statutory outage and I judged an overall inspection rating of green was appropriate.

Conclusion

The inspection findings were presented to NGL at the close of the inspection.

The inspection found adequate arrangements relating to application of ALARP, radiological risk assessment risk assessment, role of the RPS, dose management, radiological event investigation, contractor selection, radiation and contamination survey regime and radioactive source management.