The Office for Nuclear Regulation has agreed a three-month extension to an Improvement Notice served on licensee BAE Systems Marine Ltd last year relating to its Devonshire Dock Complex site in Barrow-in-Furness.
ONR issued the Improvement Notice in December 2014 following the failure to demonstrate that only suitably qualified and experienced persons perform any duties which may affect the safety of operations on the site or any other duties required under the nuclear site licence conditions.
ONR has closely monitored the work to comply with the Improvement Notice and considers that the licensee has undertaken a fundamental analysis of the issues raised and a significant amount of work to deliver both compliance with the Improvement Notice itself and greater alignment with our regulatory expectations for other relevant licence conditions.
The extension of the Improvement Notice compliance date to 31 March 2016 will enable the licensee to provide us with an adequate demonstration of its revised arrangements and ensure that these arrangements align with its wider organisational change programme.
Until we consider that the Improvement Notice has been complied with, we will continue to ensure that the licensee has mitigations in place to ensure safety and manage and control risk associated with any gaps.