EDF Energy said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had published its review of Heysham 2 power station’s operational safety following a visit by an Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) to the station in October 2023.
The review team noted nine areas of good practice at Heysham 2 which can be replicated globally and provided eight recommendations for further improvement. Heysham 2 Station Director, Martin Cheetham, said: “The nuclear industry is always working to drive forward improvement, which is why regular in-depth reviews involving international experts are important. They supplement our own internal processes and our work with our regulator, the ONR [Office of Nuclear Regulation].
He added: “The three week review at Heysham 2 enabled a thorough assessment of operational safety at the station, helping to ensure that the IAEA’s global safety standards are met and good practices shared across the world. The report highlights strengths in training, operations and chemistry and also made recommendations in areas where we could improve further. Safety is our overriding priority and we greatly value the recommendations provided to the station. We have also invited the IAEA back to review our progress.”
EDF said the OSART mission reviewed 10 areas: Leadership and Management for Safety; Training and Qualification; Operations; Maintenance; Technical Support; Operating Experience Feedback; Radiation Protection; Chemistry; Emergency Preparedness & Response; Accident Management. During the mission, the experts observed that safety performance at Heysham 2 was good.
The team identified nine good practices. Good practices are defined as an outstanding and proven performance, activity or equipment in use that contributes directly to operational safety and good performance. The OSART team also offered recommendations and suggestions for further improvement.
The UK Department for Energy Security & Net Zero welcomed the report and commended EDF Energy and Heysham 2’s leadership and plant personnel for hosting the mission. “The UK Government is confident that good progress will be made by EDF Energy on the further enhancements suggested by the IAEA and recognises the positive feedback provided by IAEA on the operational safety of Heysham 2.”
The 13-member OSART team included experts from Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden, the USA, and three IAEA staff members. Heysham 2, in Lancashire on the northwest coast of England, features two 620 MWe advanced gas-cooled reactors which began operation in 1988 and are due to end operations in 2028.
Areas of good practice highlighted in the 82-page report includes the implementation of a "wall hound" system to "detect electromagnetic interference and radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI, including Bluetooth) emitted by mobile phones, laptops and smart watches raising an audible and visual cue/prompt".
The wall hound system was installed in 2020 at three key locations. Initially it detected about 450 devices a month, but that decreased to about 300 devices a month, about five of which were unauthorised and required action. "The benefit of the Wall Hound System is the prompt detection of EMI/RFI which could impact sensitive plant equipment and possibly impair equipment function resulting in a transient or plant trip," the report notes.
Also noted is the use of hot connection indicators to monitor cable connections temperatures and "the use of chemistry preservation metric by the plant to monitor system status". The report praises the use of military training expertise for staff, especially related to stressful or emergency situations.
The most significant proposals for improving operational safety were:
- The plant should improve its approach in setting and reinforcing expectations and challenge the site personnel to identify and correct substandard conditions and equipment deficiencies in a timely manner.
- The plant should improve the material conditions of some plant systems, structures, and components to further reduce the risk to plant safety and reliability.
- The plant should improve the control of fire doors and storage in the plant to further reduce fire risk to equipment and personnel safety.
The report says "during the review the team observed the following, field operators were not systematically identifying and reporting all deficiencies, additional equipment/materials were left at work sites, without proper fire loading risk assessments, the need for a number of maintenance tasks to be reworked, material deficiencies open for long time periods due to large work backlogs, oil leaks on all diesel generators, unsecured items in seismically controlled areas, contamination and occupational exposure control shortfalls".
The report also noted challenges caused by staff turnover but praised the safety culture. "The team identified that the plant has a good reporting culture enabled by a respectful work environment. The operating experience is well embedded and communicated: morning briefs involve all plant personnel and are customised if needed, the use of event briefs in pre-job briefs is relevant. In addition, the decision-making is rigorous and a conservative approach has been clearly demonstrated."
It added: "Heysham 2 NPP management expressed their commitment to address the issues identified and invited a follow up visit in about eighteen months to review the progress."
Image: Heysham Nuclear Power Station, near Morecambe, Lancashire, UK
