Executive summary
Date(s) of inspection:
February 2025
Aim of inspection
The aim of this inspection was to cover Licence Condition (LC) 35 Decommissioning and standard conditions in the environmental permit EPR/CB3735DT. This inspection examined the adequacy of Hinkley Point B’s planning for decommissioning and focussed on the site-specific decommissioning plan (SSDP) or equivalent documentation.
Subject(s) of inspection
- LC 35 - Decommissioning - Rating: GREEN
Key findings, inspector's opinions and reasons for judgement made
LC35 requires the licensee to make and implement adequate arrangements for the decommissioning of any plant or process which may affect safety (1) and make arrangements for the production and implementation of decommissioning programmes for each plant (2). Decommissioning can be split into stages where appropriate (5). Decommissioning cannot commence before ONR has granted a consent under the Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999 (EIADR).
Hinkley Point B’s (HPB) decommissioning strategy is for an early safestore with decommissioning split into three phases (care and maintenance (C&M) preparations, C&M, and final site clearance) after completion of defueling. I found the strategy to be suitably underpinned with evidence and to be well justified, with the main factors being operator doses and the Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) availability to receive intermediate level waste (ILW) from the site. HPB plans to have defueled both reactors by the end of 2025 and is currently planning for decommissioning whilst carrying out enabling works such as demolition of ancillary buildings. Decommissioning is set to commence at HPB in early 2026.
The site will be relicensed and transferred to Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) in approximately 2027. To support decommissioning planning, EDF is implementing risk-based deplanting at its sites and HPB is due to begin assessing its buildings to determine the order and extent of decommissioning based on risk. I sampled a suite of records HPB is developing to feed into the site specific decommissioning plans (SSDP), such as facility characterisation reports and lifetime asset management plans (LAMP) and I found them to provide appropriate operational information to inform planning decisions.
HPB is awaiting learning from experience to be harnessed from the decommissioning planning activities at Hunterston B (HNB) to inform decommissioning planning activities for HPB. Consequently, the SSDP for HPB were not available during the inspection. However, I am confident HPB has appropriate arrangements in place to deliver the SSDP prior to fuel-free verification and subsequent transfer to NRS.
I considered EDF to have demonstrated suitable awareness and ongoing development of arrangements for transfer of HPB’s radioactive waste records to NRS upon transfer of the site.
This was a joint inspection with the Environment Agency (EA), which has written a separate report. The EA did not identify any permit non-compliances during the inspection.
Conclusion
Overall, based on my sample, I judge EDF to be undertaking appropriate planning activities for decommissioning HPB. HPB aims to incorporate appropriate learning from HNB decommissioning planning and input from NRS to the process to ensure the plans are credibly underpinned and executable by NRS following transfer. When taking into account these constraints, I judge there to be adequate arrangements and ongoing assessments to develop the SSDP. I am therefore applying a ‘green’ rating to this inspection and I have not raised any regulatory issues.