- Site: Hunterston A
- IR number: 22-028
- Date: June 2022
- LC numbers: N/A
Executive summary
Purpose of Intervention
We undertook an inspection to assess compliance with the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (IRR17) on the Hunterston A licensed site. The site is licensed to Magnox Limited. This was one of a series of routine planned IRR17 inspections for 2022/23 in support of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) Decommissioning Fuel and Waste (DFW) sub-division strategy (2020/261871) and DFW Inspection planning guidance (2020/917).
Interventions Carried Out by ONR
As part of the inspection, we sampled the licensee’s IRR17 compliance arrangements. We sought to gain evidence that the arrangements have been implemented on the site during a meeting at Hunterston A with Magnox employees (and contractors) and inspection of facilities on site including radiological controlled areas.
This intervention was performed against the requirements of IRR17. The following sources of relevant good practice were considered:
- Work with Ionising Radiation – Ionising Radiation Regulations 2017, Approved Code of Practice and Guidance, L121, HSE.
- NS-TAST-GD-038 Revision 9, Radiological Protection.
Explanation of Judgement if Safety System Not Judged to be Adequate
N/A.
Key Findings, Inspector’s Opinions and Reasons for Judgements Made
Compliance with the requirements of IRR17 was judged overall to be adequate. The following points were noted during the inspection:
- Radiological protection resource profile has improved since the last IRR17 inspection.
- Evidence was seen of sealed sources being routinely leak tested every year rather than at the minimum two years.
- Adequate segregation of radioactive waste in the radiological controlled areas was observed.
There were a few minor areas for improvement noted:
- Local rules for the site should identify an appropriate formal dose investigation level.
- Three source containers in the main source store had inappropriate/insufficient labelling.
- Americium-241 liquid source in the chemistry laboratory had not been subject to routine wipe testing.
- Some external C2 controlled areas had been removed from the routine survey schedule.
- Scaffolding items were seen being stored in the external C2 areas.
Level 4 regulatory issues will be raised against the source management issues identified and the arrangements for the external C2 areas.
Conclusion of Intervention
Compliance with the Ionising Radiation Regulations 2017 was judged to be of an adequate standard in the areas inspected, with some opportunities identified for further improvement, which were discussed and agreed with the licensee.