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Environment Agency (A Non-Departmental Public Body, Partly-Sponsored by Defra) Regulates Radioactive Substances and Radioactive Waste in England

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Environment Agency (A Non-Departmental Public Body, Partly-Sponsored by Defra) Regulates Radioactive Substances and Radioactive Waste in England SPRINGFIELDS FUELS LIMITED (SFL) SITE STAKEHOLDER GROUP REPORT FOR THE PERIOD NOVEMBER 2014 – MARCH 2015 FOREWORD This report is a brief summary of our regulatory activities relating to Springfields since the last regular site stakeholder group meeting. The Environment Agency (a non-departmental public body, partly-sponsored by Defra) regulates radioactive substances and radioactive waste in England. On nuclear sites such as Springfields, we regulate radioactive waste disposals by determining applications and granting Permits under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. These Regulations cover the disposal of gaseous and liquid radioactive wastes and the disposal and transfer of solid radioactive wastes. Many of the site’s activities, including operation of chemical plant and combined heat and power plant, fall within a different section of the Environmental Permitting Regulations, for which a separate Environment Agency Permit is in force. In our capacity as joint Competent Authority with the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), we regulate the Springfields site under the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH). We also determine and issue regulatory permissions under the Transfrontier Shipment of Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Regulations 2008 and the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Regulations 2012. We help produce the annual “RIFE” Report. “Radioactivity in Food and the Environment” is a collaboration between the Food Standards Agency and the UK Environment Agencies (ourselves, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales); it summarises the previous year’s results of all the Agencies’ radiological monitoring of food and the environment. Routine Matters We carried out a visit to discuss the operator’s approach to decommissioning redundant facilities, including a visit to the former Magnox fuel canning plant. Our vision for the environment and a sustainable future is: “A healthy, rich and diverse environment for present and future generations” We have held initial high level discussions with the site on a potential new process which will utilise the Hex Plant. SFL have made it clear that they see the closure of the Hex plant as temporary and will be pursuing suitable business opportunities. We are continuing with the review of groundwater and contaminated land issues on site and have received further archived reports from SFL to assist this process. There are no major areas of concern and we are satisfied that SFL has a robust monitoring programme for detecting any changes or trends for any materials which might be significant, and are working closely with the ONR on this issue. The revised Springfields off-site emergency plan prepared by Lancashire County Council has been issued since the last site stakeholder group meeting. We have attended the initial planning meeting for Exercise Heron 6 which is scheduled for October 2015 and will test the emergency arrangements specified in the off-site plan. We also attended the routine meeting of the Lancashire County Council emergency planning consultative committee. We carried out a visit to site to follow up on an issue with the flow readings used in calculating emissions to air from the combined heat and power plant - the facility which generates the steam and electricity for the site processes. The site is carrying out an investigation and will be reporting the findings to us, although we are satisfied that there were no breaches of any emission limits specified in the permit. The issue was identified during commissioning of a new continuous emission monitoring system which will measure flow directly rather than relying upon software to calculate flow rate based mass releases; the new system will be more robust. We have been involved in discussions with Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in facilitating the return to Dounreay of some oxygen monitors which had been inadvertently sent to SFL in a consignment of fuel pins for processing by NNL. We are in discussions with SFL on the best environmental option to dispose of glycol which has been used as part of the refrigerant cooling system in hex plant. This may result in minor changes to the permit to allow the disposal to take place. Discharges and Disposals: Compliance with numerical limits Numerical limits on discharges to air and water are set within both Environmental Permits (one covering releases of radioactive substances, the other covering emissions of chemical species). In the period covered by this report, discharges have remained within the authorised limits. Enforcement activities There have no non-compliances with permit conditions in the period of this report. Other matters No other matters have arisen since the last site stakeholder meeting Mike Baggs Nuclear Regulation Group (North) 23 March 2015 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you want to know more about our role on nuclear sites, see our website at the address below: www.gov.uk/environment-agency Our Nuclear Regulators are happy to respond to any questions raised at the Site Stakeholder Group meetings. Alternatively, please contact us at our Penrith office: Nuclear Regulation Group (North), Environment Agency, Ghyll Mount, Gillan Way, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 9BP. Telephone: 01768 215729. ++++++++++++++++ .
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