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Site inspection to ensure compliance with the Fire Scotland Act 2005

  • Site: Chapelcross
  • IR number: 20-086
  • Date: December 2020
  • LC numbers: N/A

Executive summary

Purpose of Intervention

This was a planned intervention for Chapelcross Site, undertaken as part of the strategy for Decommissioning Fuel and Waste Sub-Division.

The purpose of the intervention was to check that Magnox Ltd was compliant with the requirements of the Fire Scotland Act 2005 to ensure the safety of people from the danger of fire.

Interventions carried out by ONR

The intervention was completed remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions. ONR could not therefore directly inspect the implementation of fire safety management procedures or assess directly the effectiveness of the activities being undertaken on the site or independently confirm actual compliance with Company processes.

Explanation of Judgement if Safety System Not judged to be Adequate

Not Applicable

Key Findings, Inspector's Opinions and Reasons for Judgements Made

Chapelcross does not have a single person in the role of Fire Safety Coordinator. The management and application of fire safety is provided by several individuals with the requisite skill set. This includes a Senior Fire Risk Assessor, supported by several others and specific system engineers.

Progress relating to the on-going Regulatory Issue is encouraging and is expected to be closed out by the end of April 2021. Matters relating to the fire exit doors in the ISF and the control of combustibles has also been addressed since the previous inspection at site.

I have asked the EHSSQ Manager to assess the suitability of the use of proprietary door hold open devices on all doors that serve staircases. Other than this I did not identify any significant departures from compliance that will require follow up as part of regulatory interactions.

Conclusion of Intervention

I concluded that the areas of fire safety arrangements that I was able to examine, within the limitations of a remote interaction are compliant with the legislation and demonstrate good practice in management of Fire Risk assessments.