The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

NDA Sites Monthly Performance Update

General Evaluation - Key Elements

• The programme delivered work below budgeted costs for financial year 2007/8.
• Overall the NDA programme was marginally behind schedule at the end of the financial year.
• Electricity generation, for the month and financial year, was above planned.
• On the Low Level Waste (LLW) Repository Competition the contract was awarded to UK Nuclear Waste Management (UKNWM). The signing ceremony on 31 March 2008 signalled the success of the first competition for the NDA.

Year to Date Cost and Schedule Performance
For financial year 2007/8 the programme delivered work for less than expected costs. Measured against the year end budget the programme of work was marginally behind schedule.

Please note: We use Earned Value Performance Management to measure programme performance. This compares the budgeted cost of work that was scheduled with the budgeted cost of work that was actually performed to determine schedule performance and the budgeted cost  of work actually performed with its actual cost to determine cost performance.

Electricity generation at the fleet of Magnox nuclear reactors operated by the NDA was above target for financial year 2007/8. Electricity generation for the month was above target.

On the Low Level Waste (LLW) Repository Competition the contract was awarded to UK Nuclear Waste Management (UKNWM). The signing ceremony on 31 March 2008 signalled the success of the first competition for the NDA. Transition to the new Parent Body Organisation (PBO) commenced on the 19 March 2008. Due Diligence is progressing on schedule and to date has not highlighted any major issues. UKNWM has been incentivised to complete this work early (forecast mid May) as this is the point when hold-harmless concludes, which removes NDA’s liabilities.

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Items of Interest

Key Elements

• At Sellafield operations restarted in the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) during the month.
• Calder Hall received permission to proceed with its transition into the Sellafield site.
• Dungeness A obtained approval to enter Passive Cooling after 42 years of forced cooling.
• During the month Dungeness A received permission to enter the bulk de-fuelling phase in its life cycle.
• During the month the Dounreay Cementation Plant (DCP) facility recovery works were successfully completed and active drum cementation commissioning operations resumed.
• At Dounreay a landmark in the decommissioning of the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) was achieved during the month. The Sodium Disposal Plant (SDP) was operated and all the remaining primary sodium has now been destroyed.
• During the month Harwell and Winfrith exceeded a number of 2007/8 targets for waste retrieval, processing and despatch.

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At Sellafield operations restarted in the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) during the month when the feed pond was successfully returned to service following the receipt of the replacement shock absorbers. Extensive proof testing of the Head End operations was completed and monitoring of the elevator operation continued during the current shearing campaign.

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From the beginning of April, Calder Hall will cease to be a separate site and will be subsumed within the Sellafield Life Time Plan (LTP). It has also transferred into Magnox Operations and effectively entered a period of interim Care & Maintenance from a state of active decommissioning and readiness to begin de-fuelling. The transition into the interim Care and Maintenance state was considered by both the Calder Reactor Nuclear Safety Committee and the Sellafield Nuclear Safety Committee, and forwarded to the regulator. During the period the site received a letter from the regulator allowing it to proceed with implementing the transition on the 1 April 2008. The implementation of the transition will be phased in during April.

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Having resolved all outstanding issues associated with the Post Operations Defuelling Safety Case and demonstration of Passive Cooling, approval was obtained from the regulator for Dungeness A to enter into Phase 3 ‘Passive’ Cooling. New Station Operating Instructions (SOIs) were issued this month. This marks a significant milestone in the history of the site, where after 42 years forced cooling of the cores is no longer required.

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During the month, permission was given for Dungeness A to move into the bulk de-fuelling phase. A small amount of fuel was removed from Reactor 1 as part of the Operations staff Suitably Qualified Experienced Personnel (SQEP) refresher training. The site’s defuelling and flask despatch will now be controlled under Magnox Operating Plan (MOP) 8 constraints with a total wetted fuel limit of 20 tonnes being imposed on the site.

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During the month the Dounreay Cementation Plant (DCP) facility recovery works were successfully completed and active drum cementation commissioning operations resumed. Out of the month, the Dounreay Cementation Plant received its license to restart from the regulator.

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At Dounreay a landmark in the decommissioning of the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) was achieved during the month. The Sodium Disposal Plant (SDP) was operated and all the remaining primary sodium has now been destroyed. All 1500 tonnes of hazardous liquid sodium metal has now drained from the reactor circuits, removing hazard from the site.

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During the month Harwell and Winfrith have exceeded a number of 2007/8 targets for waste retrieval, processing and despatch. These include:

• Harwell B462 Waste Processing, 2007/8 waste retrieval and processing exceeded originally planned throughput.
• Winfrith processing of bulk Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor (SGHWR) “heel” sludges began in the Waste Encapsulation Treatment Plant (WETP) during period 12. The sludge processing for the year was exceeded.
• Winfrith, the quantity of Low Level Waste (LLW) despatched to the LLW Repository exceeded the annual target.

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Safety and Environment Performance

Safety and Environment - Key Elements

• Final numbers of INES events, RIDDOR events and environmental non-compliances are all down from 2006/7 numbers.
• Two RIDDOR reportable events, one at Sellafield and one at Windscale.
• One environment non-compliance at Hinkley Point A.
• Many sites report Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) awards for their health and safety performance.

Dosimetry is the measurement of absorbed dose in matter and tissue resulting from the exposure to ionizing radiations.

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Nuclear Safety

No events rated at Level 1 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) have been reported as occurring at NDA sites during the month. The final figure for 2007/8 is therefore nine events which is one less than was reported in 2006/7.

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Dosimetry

The sites provide data on average individual dose, maximum individual dose and collective dose. These metrics are measured separately for SLC employees and for contractors. Note that the dose is measured by a dosimeter which has to be processed before the dose can be added to the record. Therefore dose figures always lag behind the current date. Dose figures are reported by calendar year rather than financial year and the graphs below present the latest figures for dosimeters worn by workers in calendar year 2007 to date. Individual average and maximum doses should be compared with the legal annual limit of 20 mSv.

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Radiological Protection

The sites provide data on average individual dose, maximum individual dose and collective dose. These metrics are measured separately for SLC employees and for contractors. Dose figures are reported by calendar year rather than financial year and, subject to confirmation, the following graphs present the final figures for dosimeters worn by workers in calendar year 2007. Average individual doses and maximum individual doses should be compared with (and are below) the legal annual limit of 20 mSv.

The following graph shows average individual doses. The graph is ordered by employee dose and shows that the Sellafield group of sites received the highest average individual employee doses. The highest average individual contractor doses are also seen at Sellafield (note that the LLW Repository and Calder Hall contractor doses are included within the Sellafield figures).

Sellafield also shows the highest maximum individual doses. The relatively high maximum individual contractor dose at Sellafield is due to the contaminated wound event reported as an INES Level 1 event from November 2007.

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Industrial Health and Safety

Two events reportable under RIDDOR have occurred in the month.

• At Sellafield, a worker scalded his foot when he lost his footing on rough ground at the same time as hot condensate was discharged from a building condensate pipe. The event was subsequently reported as a RIDDOR Lost Time Accident (LTA).
• At Windscale, a contractor slipped resulting in a broken wrist. This event has been reported as a RIDDOR Major Injury.

The final total of RIDDOR events reported in 2007/8 is therefore 50 events which is a reduction on the 67 events reported in 2006/7.

RIDDOR stands for the reporting of injuries diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations 1995. RIDDOR '95 requires the reporting of work-related accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences. It applies to all work activities, but not to all incidents.

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Environmental Protection

One environmental non-compliance has been reported in the month.

• A skip of controlled waste was dispatched from Hinkley Point A without a signed waste transfer note.

In addition, Chapelcross has reported that a further non-compliance took place in period 11.

Sellafield received a Warning Letter from the Environment Agency (EA) for failure to notify the EA of two previous events relating to damage to the sea-line filters. The Warning Letter has resulted in two new EA category 4 non-compliances which have been assigned to the years of the originating events: 2004/5 and 2006/7.

The final number of environmental non-compliances in 2007/8 is therefore eight, whilst (with the additional three non-compliances that have arisen from more recent Environment Agency action) the total number for 2006/7 was 18.

An Environmental Non Compliance is a breach of a permit condition set by the Environment Agency or the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency that prevents or controls risk of pollution to the environment.

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Safety Achievements

A very successful World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) Operations Conference discussing the topic of asset management was held at Sellafield on 26 and 27 February.

The Wylfa site has been awarded a 5 star rating from the British Safety Council following a 5-day audit in the last period. A 3 day audit from EAQA also resulted in a recommendation that the site should maintain its accreditation against ISO 9001 (quality management), ISO 14001 (environmental management) and ISO 18001 (health and safety management).

A sighting of a Great Bustard feeding near the silt lagoon at Oldbury has brought great interest to the site’s nature trail. Great Bustards became extinct in England around 1840 but have recently been reintroduced from Russia to a prepared site on Salisbury Plain.

The Springfields site has received certification to ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 for a further 3 years.

Radioactive Substances Act Certificates of Authorisation were transferred from to Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) in March to be come effective on 1 April 2008. NII’s verification inspection of DSRL’s readiness to receive the site licence was successful enabling the new site licence to be signed on establishment of DSRL on 1 April 2008.

The end of year number of consignments received at the Low Level Waste (LLW) Repository is significantly reduced from the Life Time Plan (LTP) estimate. Whilst this is in part due to consignor project prioritisation reducing the volume of waste being generated, another significant factor has been improvement in the packing fraction resulting in more waste being consigned per container.

Many of our sites have reported that they have received Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) awards for their health and safety performance in the year. These include:

President's Award (presented to those organisations which have achieved a minimum of ten consecutive Gold Awards).

Gold Medal (presented to those organisations which have achieved a minimum of five consecutive Gold Awards).

Gold Award (presented to organisations that have achieved a very high level of performance, demonstrating well developed occupational health and safety management systems and culture, outstanding control of risk and very low levels of error, harm and loss).

Please note We give the actual number of occurrences in each category. Not all sites employ the same number of people and/or undertake the same activities. This must be taken into account before comparisons between sites can be made.