Executive summary
Date(s) of inspection
- August 2026
Aim of inspection
The purpose of this inspection is to review the adequacy and implementation of Sellafield Ltd’s intelligent customer (IC) arrangements.
Subject(s) of inspection
- LC17 - Management systems - Rating: Green
- LC36 - Organisational capability - Rating: Green
Key findings, inspector's opinions and reasons for judgement made
I, with support from Supply Chain and Quality inspectors, undertook a planned inspection of Sellafield Ltd's Intelligent Customer (IC) arrangements against Licence Condition 36 (Organisational Capability) and Licence Condition 17 (Management Systems). The inspection examined the adequacy of arrangements and the effectiveness of their implementation across the Design Engineering and Technical functions, including the oversight and assurance of work undertaken by suppliers and external service providers.
I identified examples of effective implementation of Intelligent Customer principles, including active succession planning, adequate technical expertise of the IC personnel and visible oversight of supply chain activities.
Whilst the direction of travel is positive, there is no overarching IC policy and some of the IC documentation sampled related to arrangements which are distributed across the Sellafield Enterprise Management System (SEMS) framework and lack a clear golden thread linking all the IC arrangements.
Overall, I judged the implementation of Intelligent Customer arrangements to be adequate and assigned a GREEN rating, but with a Level 4 regulatory issue to seek improvement relating to the governance of the arrangements.
Conclusion
Based on the samples examined, Sellafield Ltd have adequate arrangements for Intelligent Customer, and we saw evidence of their adequate implementation across two different areas. However, whilst local arrangements were effective, the inspection identified variation in how Intelligent Customer arrangements are described across professions. As there is no overarching Intelligent Customer (IC) policy or manual, ONR considers that the introduction of such a document could help provide a more cohesive and consistent approach across Sellafield Ltd and support the maintenance of standards in the longer term.
Similarly, some of the IC documentation sampled related to arrangements which are distributed across the Sellafield Enterprise Management System (SEMS) framework and lack a clear golden thread linking all the IC arrangements.
The IC training is available to all, but Sellafield Ltd should identify and document which personnel require IC training, and whether that is at awareness or practitioner level.
We noted several areas of good practice, including the coverage of IC in the Annual Health Reports, succession planning, and evidence of organisational learning. In addition, Sellafield Ltd were able to demonstrate effective oversight of the IC process from specification through to delivery of projects/tasks in the areas inspected.
Sellafield Ltd gave a good account of how the Centres of Expertise supported the IC arrangements in ensuring that personnel had adequate technical competency in the areas for which they acted as Intelligent Customer.
I rated the inspection as GREEN, with a Level 4 Regulatory Issue on the introduction of an overarching IC policy or manual, and formalising the arrangements which are distributed across the Sellafield Enterprise Management System (SEMS) framework.