Executive summary
Date(s) of inspection:
- February 2024
Aim of inspection
In accordance with the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s (ONR’s) Sellafield Strategy, each year ONR performs a series of planned inspections to seek assurance of compliance against selected licence conditions, targeted at those facilities with significant importance to nuclear safety. One such inspection was undertaken at Special Nuclear Materials Value Stream (SNM) facilities at North and South within the Sellafield site in West Cumbria to sample evidence of implementation of Sellafield Limited's arrangements for compliance with Licence Condition (LC) 28 (examination, inspection, maintenance and testing), specifically to overpacks and Magnox hybrid packages, in order to inform a regulatory judgement regarding the licensee’s compliance with its legal duties under the nuclear site licence.
Subject(s) of inspection
- LC28 - Examination, inspection, maintenance and testing - Rating: Green
Key findings, inspector's opinions and reasons for judgement made
The inspection was undertaken on 7 and 8 February 2024. The inspection team comprised of the SNM site inspector and a structural integrity specialist inspector. The inspection was also attended by one nuclear graduate trainee. The inspection targeted compliance against Licence Conditions (LC) 28 (Examination, inspection, maintenance and testing), specifically in relation to overpacks and Magnox hybrid packages.
The inspection involved a planning phase and a site visit, which included discussions with relevant Sellafield Limited personnel, review of records, and sampling of information contained within electronic databases and other documentation.
Based on the evidence sampled, we concluded the following:
No significant matters were identified that required immediate regulatory attention.
Sellafield Limited is currently implementing a number of improvements in response to Regulatory Issue 11185, previously raised in this area, which will aid further clarity and transparency in demonstrating compliance with the corporate arrangements.
Overall, we were satisfied that the licensee provided an adequate level of assurance and evidence to demonstrate compliance with LC28. Examination, inspection, maintenance and testing has been undertaken to satisfy both the LC28 requirements as well as other requirements identified by SNM Technical.
Based on the training evidence sampled we were satisfied that the selected personnel were suitably qualified and experienced for the task and their training was found to be in date.
Some minor anomalies were identified and regulatory advice was provided.
Conclusion
On the basis of evidence sampled and the interactions that we held with Sellafield Limited staff, at the time of the inspection, we judge that, on balance, Sellafield Limited has largely implemented its arrangements for compliance with LC28 (Examination, inspection, maintenance and testing). Upon consideration of the ONR guidance on inspection ratings, we judge that a rating of green (no formal action) is appropriate.