ONR has served an Improvement Notice on EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Ltd (NGL) following an incident at Heysham 1 power station on 16 March 2015. The incident led to the release of around 30 tonnes of clean CO2 from a failed pipe in the Carbon Dioxide storage and distribution plant on site. There was no release of radioactive material, no persons were injured and the two reactors remained operational during the event.
It is the duty holder’s responsibility to make and implement adequate arrangements for the regular and systematic examination, inspection, maintenance and testing of its facilities. Following a preliminary investigation, ONR inspectors judged that NGL had failed to meet this condition of its nuclear site licence, therefore compromising the safety of its employees.
NGL is now required to demonstrate improvements to the above arrangements for examination, inspection, maintenance and testing of the Carbon Dioxide storage and distribution plant to ONR by 30 September 2015.