During the reporting period from 1 October 2022 – 31 December 2022 there was one incident at a nuclear licensed site within Great Britain that met the Ministerial Reporting Criteria (MRC) as defined within the Nuclear Installations (Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations 1965 and ONR guidance in relation to notifying and reporting incidents and events.
- Incident ID: INF-2426
- Site/Consignor: Sellafield Ltd
- Date of occurrence: 5/10/2022
- ONR incident category: TS06
- INES rating: 0
- ONR governance category: 3
Incident description
An empty irradiated fuel transport flask was delivered to EDF's Hinkley Point B site from Sellafield on 5 October 2022. A routine radiation survey of the flask at Hinkley Point B revealed some contamination on the outside of the flask, which exceeded regulatory limits. Follow-up inquiries by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) confirmed that adequate protection measures were ensured during transport of the flask that would have prevented any further spread of the contamination, ensuring the continued safety of the public.
Dutyholder's response
EDF cleaned the contaminated areas of the transport flask and swabbed the flask for analysis. Sellafield Ltd were informed about the incident by EDF and immediately paused flask exports.
Sellafield Ltd completed radiation monitoring of the on-site route where the contaminated package could potentially have come into contact with other items. Levels of radioactivity were found to be within the low levels expected in these areas.
Sellafield Ltd introduced an enhanced monitoring regime prior to resuming the transport of flasks. No contamination incidents have occurred since.
ONR's action
ONR will inspect Sellafield Ltd's transport management arrangements for irradiated fuel flasks in the final quarter of 2022/23 to assess compliance with the regulations.