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Sellafield - Licence Condition 14 intervention

  • Site: Sellafield
  • IR number: 21-127
  • Date: November 2021
  • LC numbers: 14

Executive summary

Purpose of Intervention

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) undertakes all its regulatory interactions with the Sellafield site licensee, Sellafield Limited, against a strategy defined by the ONR Sellafield, Decommissioning, Fuel and Waste (SDFW) Division.  In accordance with this strategy, a planned intervention targeted at Sellafield Limited’s site-wide corporate arrangements for compliance with Licence Condition 14 (LC14) “Safety documentation” and their implementation was carried out on 17-19 November 2021.

The objectives of this intervention were to determine the adequacy, judged against ONR’s expectations, of:

  • Sellafield Limited’s site-wide corporate arrangements made to comply with LC14(1);
  • The interfaces between Sellafield Limited’s site-wide corporate arrangements made to comply with LC14 and particularly relevant other Licence Conditions (LCs);
  • Experience and training of selected persons assigned responsibility under Sellafield Limited’s site-wide corporate arrangements to address the requirements of LC14;
  • Sellafield Limited’s organisational capability to produce and assess safety cases, including the application of independent challenge and safety case governance;
  • Records [Licence Condition 6 (LC6) “Documents, records, authorities and certificates” refers] made to demonstrate compliance with LC14;
  • Sellafield Limited’s means of gaining internal assurance of compliance with LC14;
  • Sellafield Limited’s learning from incidents related to safety cases and safety documentation; and,
  • Implementation on a sampling basis of Sellafield Limited’s site-wide corporate arrangements to address the requirements of LC14(1) since the Sellafield site was relicensed on 1 April 2017.

Although this intervention focussed mainly on Sellafield Limited’s site-wide corporate arrangements made to comply with LC14, it sampled implementation of these arrangements too.

Interventions Carried Out by ONR

The intervention was carried out by the Sellafield Compliance, Intelligence and Enforcement (SCIE) Corporate Arrangements Inspector with support from: a Nuclear Liabilities Regulation (NLR) Specialist Inspector; a Fault Studies Specialist Inspector; a NLR Nuclear Associate; a Nuclear Safety Project Inspector; and, a Human Factors Specialist Inspector.

The intervention comprised discussions with Sellafield Limited staff and reviews of a targeted sample of Sellafield Limited’s documentation. The scope and priorities of the intervention took into account intelligence gained from other ONR interventions.

ONR expectations relevant to the intervention included:

Explanation of Judgement if Safety System Not Judged to be Adequate

Not applicable, as this was not a System Based Inspection.

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

I (SCIE Corporate Arrangements Inspector) considered that the engagement prior to and during this intervention allowed ONR to complete a meaningful LC14 intervention focussing mainly on arrangements, but sampling some elements of implementation. I considered that all the objectives of this intervention were met.

On the basis of the evidence sampled before and during this intervention, I identified the following areas of good practice relating to Sellafield Limited’s LC14 arrangements and/or their implementation:

  • In relation to nuclear safety, the recently updated LC14 arrangements are broadly aligned with ONR’s expectations.
  • There has been proactive stakeholder engagement during the development of the recently updated LC14 arrangements.
  • The Sellafield Limited safety cases team has worked collaboratively with the internal regulator.
  • The Sellafield Limited safety cases team has taken on board lessons from “The Nimrod Review”.

I identified the following areas of good practice relating to delivery of this intervention:

  • The Sellafield Limited safety cases team delivered the information requested prior to and during the intervention promptly which facilitated development of an evidence base to support this intervention.
  • The Sellafield Limited safety cases team demonstrated a good internal challenge culture and willingness to learn.

On the basis of the evidence sampled before and during this intervention, I identified the following items of regulatory advice. In relation to the recently updated LC14 arrangements the Sellafield Limited safety cases team to consider:

  • Seeking legal advice on the use of “should” in the updated Sellafield Limited Manual (SLM) 2.17.02 “Safety Cases Manual” and in the updated Sellafield Limited Practice (SLP) 2.17.02 “How do I develop a Safety Case?”.
  • Developing guidance on how to record and justify decisions not to adopt a “should” in the updated SLM 2.17.02 and SLP 2.17.02.
  • Clarifying when a safety case strategy must be produced.
  • Reviewing the use of language around, for example, “must be considered” and more generally ensuring that narrative is consistent within and across the LC14 arrangements.

On the basis of the evidence sampled before and during this intervention, I identified the following regulatory findings, summarised as follows. The Sellafield Limited safety cases team to:

  • Provide a consolidated and resource informed LC14 improvement plan which includes both improvements to address self-identified shortfalls and improvements to address the following additional ONR findings arising from this inspection.
  • Produce a document which describes how the LC14 arrangements interface with other relevant LC arrangements and with duties to reduce risks so far as is reasonably practicable to ensure that adequate safety cases will be produced which are commensurate with their safety significance for all phases of a facility’s life cycle. This document should identify any changes required to relevant LC arrangements and a programme to implement such changes.
  • Update the safety cases “mandatory standard” and the associated LC14 compliance matrix to provide a clear and complete route map which demonstrates that Sellafield Limited is meeting its obligations related to safety cases.
  • Produce a document to explain how the LC14 arrangements ensure that safety cases are giving adequate recognition to the purposes of future post operation clean out and decommissioning.
  • Update training and competency documents to reflect the updated safety case arrangements.
  • Review the status of roles that contribute to Sellafield Limited’s Intelligent Customer Capability in respect of safety case resources and ensure that they are adequately captured on the Nuclear Baseline.
  • Define the interface between the Licence Condition 16 site plan and schedule and the LC14 arrangements.

Prior to the start of this intervention, the Sellafield Limited safety cases team had identified a need to implement improvements in a number of areas including: clarity of the LC14 arrangements; safety cases resources/ capability; and, safety cases assurance activities. Several improvements have already been made and more are planned. In deciding the rating for this LC14 intervention I have taken into account: the improvements already made; those planned; and, that many of the planned improvements relate to the interfaces between LC14 and other relevant LCs, such as Licence Condition 22 (LC22) “Modification or experiment on existing plant”.

In terms of the shortfalls I identified during this intervention (rather than Sellafield Limited’s self-identified shortfalls), I am satisfied that they represent relatively minor deficiencies in Sellafield Limited’s LC14 arrangements and/ or their implementation when taken individually or as a whole.

Sellafield Limited has agreed to provide a consolidated and resource informed LC14 improvement plan which includes; improvements to address shortfalls identified by Sellafield Limited; improvements to address the shortfalls I have identified; and, the required inputs from outwith of the safety cases team which will be needed to address shortfalls relating to interfaces with other relevant LCs.

I have raised three Level 4 (the lowest level) Regulatory Issues to monitor Sellafield Limited’s progress to address the shortfalls identified during this intervention.

Conclusion of Intervention

Taking the above into account and on the basis of the evidence sampled at the time of the intervention I considered that an intervention rating of Green (No Formal Action) for LC14 was merited, having noted the guidance in ONR documentation.