Executive summary
Date(s) of inspection
- July 2026
Aim of inspection
In accordance with the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s (ONR’s) Sellafield Strategy, each year ONR performs a series of planned inspections to seek assurance of compliance against selected licence conditions, targeted at those facilities with significant importance to nuclear safety. One such inspection was undertaken at Sellafield Product and Residues Store (SPRS) Retreatment Plant (SRP) - Special Nuclear Materials South within the Sellafield site in West Cumbria to sample evidence of implementation of Sellafield Limited's arrangements for compliance with Licence Condition (LC) 19 (Construction or installation of new plant), LC28 (Examination, inspection, maintenance and testing), and Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, in order to inform a regulatory judgement regarding the licensee’s compliance with its legal duties.
Subject(s) of inspection
- LC19 - Construction or installation of new plant - Rating: Green
- LC28 - Examination, inspection, maintenance and testing - Rating: Green
- Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 - Rating: Green
Key findings, inspector's opinions and reasons for judgement made
The inspection was undertaken on 8 and 9 July 2026 by the SNM site inspector and supported by the SNM project inspector, a civil engineering specialist inspector and a fire safety specialist inspector.
The planned inspection targeted compliance against Licence Condition (LC) 19 (Construction or installation of new plant), LC28 (Examination, inspection, maintenance and testing), and compliance with Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, specifically to SRP construction project.
The inspection involved a planning phase and a site visit, which included discussions with relevant Sellafield Limited personnel, review of records, sampling of information contained within electronic databases and other documentation, and a plant walkdown.
Based on the evidence sampled, I concluded that Sellafield Limited is implementing suitable arrangements to support compliance with the requirements of LC19, LC28 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. No significant shortfalls were identified that required immediate regulatory attention.
In relation to fire safety, sample evidence demonstrated that suitable fire precautions and management arrangements are in place to control fire risks associated with the construction environment. Housekeeping standards were good, combustible loading was actively managed, suitable and sufficient construction fire risk assessments had been developed and maintained, and appropriate controls were in place for fire detection, alarm testing and hot works activities.
In relation to LC19, I judged that Sellafield Limited has made positive progress in demonstrating construction conformance. In particular, the development of the civil engineering conformance route map provides a structured and effective approach to demonstrating compliance with safety case claims and supports future permissioning activities. Construction management and handover arrangements were also observed to be well controlled and proportionate to the scale and complexity of the project.
In relation to LC28, the inspection provided confidence that maintenance requirements are being appropriately considered during the design and construction phases. Evidence was seen of maintenance-related requirements being incorporated through the development of technical documentation, maintenance analyses and stakeholder engagement. Whilst elements of the future asset management arrangements remain under development, these were considered appropriate to the current phase of the project.
ONR provided regulatory advice and guidance in a small number of areas to support continuous improvement and future permissioning activities.
These matters did not undermine confidence in the adequacy of the arrangements sampled during this inspection.
Conclusion
Based on the evidence sampled, I concluded that suitable arrangements were being implemented to comply with the requirements of LC19 and LC28 and the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Taking all of the above into account, and noting the ONR guidance on inspection ratings, it is my opinion that, on balance, an inspection rating of Green (i.e. no formal action) for LC19 and 28 and for Regulatory Reform (Fire safety) Order is merited here.