DOCSLIB.ORG

The UK's Report on Compliance with the Obligations of the International Convention on Nuclear Safety

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The UK's Report on Compliance with the Obligations of the International Convention on Nuclear Safety THE UNITED KINGDOM’S NATIONAL REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON NUCLEAR SAFETY Revision 2, September 2001 URN 01/292 Contributors to the UK 's National Report The Health and Safety Executive prepared this report in consultation with and incorporating contributions from: { British Energy plc { British Nuclear Fuels plc { Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs { Department of Trade and Industry { Environment Agency { Food Standards Agency { Home Office { Magnox Electric plc { National Assembly for Wales { Scottish Environment Protection Agency { Scottish Executive Rev. 2 ii FOREWORD This report has been prepared by the United Kingdom (UK) to meet the requirement of Article 5 of the Convention on Nuclear Safety. It considers each of the Convention's obligations and explains how the UK addresses them. The report only covers land based civil nuclear power plant, that is, nuclear installations as de­ fined within Article 2 of the Convention. The safety of other UK nuclear facilities outside the scope of the Convention are also regulated and operated in a manner that maintains a high level of safety. The UK has no nuclear installations where significant corrective actions were necessary to comply with the Convention. This is because for many years the UK has been monitoring and improving the safety of its nuclear installations. This activity will continue in the future. Rev. 2 iii Table of contents Page Executive Summary 1 Introduction 3 National policy towards nuclear activities 3 Main Nuclear Safety Issues recently considered or being considered in the UK 4 Nuclear Installations in the UK 9 Information requested by First Review Meeting 10 Information requested by First Review Meeting relevant to Articles 6 to 19 17 Answers to written questions on first national report 25 ARTICLE 6: EXISTING NUCLEAR INSTALLATIONS 27 Nuclear installations in the UK 27 History of nuclear power generation in the UK 28 Regulatory inspection of nuclear installations 29 Nuclear Installations' Safety Reviews 30 Further operation of the UK's installations 33 Answers to written questions on first national report 35 ARTICLE 7: LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK 39 Legislative and Regulatory Framework 39 Laws, regulations and requirements 41 Notification of incidents 45 Licensing system 45 Framework for regulatory judgement 47 Answers to written questions on first national report 48 ARTICLE 8: REGULATORY BODY 50 Mandate and Duties of the Regulatory Body 50 Regulatory Authority and Responsibilities 51 Structure of the Regulatory Body 51 Financial Resources 52 Human Resources 52 Relationship of HSE with government departments and other regulators 53 Relationship of HSE to bodies responsible for promotion of nuclear energy 53 The Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee 54 The Ionising Radiations Advisory Committee 55 International Activities 55 Answers to written questions on first national report 57 ARTICLE 9: RESPONSIBILITY OF THE LICENCE HOLDER 57 Responsibilities of the licence holder 57 Ensuring operators meet their primary responsibility for safety 57 Answers to written questions on first national report 59 ARTICLE 10: PRIORITY TO SAFETY 61 Health and Safety Commission and the Executive's priority to safety 61 Licensees’ priority to safety 61 Principles related to safety 62 BNFL Vision and Principles 65 British Energy’s Health and Safety Policy and Principles 65 Regulatory control 66 Answers to written questions on first national report 67 Rev. 2 iv Table of contents cont. Page ARTICLE 11: FINANCIAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES 69 Financial resources 69 Financing safety improvements during operational life 70 Financing radioactive waste management at nuclear installations 70 Financing decommissioning programmes 71 Human resource arrangements of licensees for safety related activities 72 Regulatory requirements 75 Answers to written questions on first national report 76 ARTICLE 12: HUMAN FACTORS 79 Human performance 79 Methods to prevent, detect and correct human errors 79 Managerial and Organisational issues 81 Role of HSE in Human Factors Assessment & Inspection 84 Answers to written questions on first national report 86 ARTICLE 13: QUALITY ASSURANCE 89 Regulatory Policy and Requirements 89 Operator's QA programme 89 Operator's Implementation 90 Operator's Assessment 91 HSE regulatory control activities 91 Answers to written questions on first national report 93 ARTICLE 14: ASSESSMENT AND VERIFICATION OF SAFETY 95 The UK's safety case regime 95 Licence Requirements including Review Periodicity 96 Outage Reviews 100 Periodic Safety Reviews (PSRs) 100 Summary of generic results 101 Verification programmes undertaken by licensees 101 Regulatory validation activities 105 Answers to written questions on first national report 109 ARTICLE 15: RADIATION PROTECTION 111 Summary of laws, regulations and requirements 111 Implementation 113 Regulatory Activities 115 Answers to written questions on first national report 118 ARTICLE 16: EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS 121 Laws and Regulatory Requirements 121 Implementation 125 Classification of emergencies 126 Emergency response 126 Role of organisations dealing with nuclear emergencies 129 Radioactivity Monitoring 137 Public Information 137 Longer term actions 140 Emergency Exercises 140 International Arrangements 141 Extendibility 141 Answers to written questions on first national report 142 Rev. 2 v Table of contents cont. Page ARTICLE 17: SITING 145 National Laws, Regulations for Planning and Licensing Process 145 Government Siting Policy 146 Implementation 147 Maintaining the continued acceptability of the site 149 International Arrangements 150 Answers to written questions on first national report 151 ARTICLE 18: DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION 153 Licensing process and regulatory control 153 Defence in depth 154 Prevention of accidents and their mitigation 156 Technologies proven by experience or qualified by testing or analysis 158 Requirements on reliable, stable and easily manageable operation 158 Answers to written questions on first national report 159 ARTICLE 19: OPERATION 163 Licensing process and national law 164 Obligations under Article 19 164 Article 19(i) Initial Authorisation 164 Article 19(ii) Operational Limits and Conditions 165 Article 19(iii) Approved Procedures 166 Article 19(iv) Operational Occurrences and Accidents 166 Article 19(v) Engineering and Technical Support 167 Article 19(vi) Incident Reporting 169 Article 19(vii) Operating Experience 170 Article 19(viii) Radioactive Waste 170 Other Licence Conditions relevant to Operation 173 Answers to written questions on first national report 175 References 179 Glossary and Abbreviations 181 Annexes 186 1. Civil Nuclear Power Stations - Key Parameters 187 2. HSE's powers under a nuclear site licence 189 3. List of Generic Issues for the Magnox Periodic Reviews. 190 4. Nuclear Site Licence: Standard Licence Conditions. 195 5. Extracts from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 210 6. Extracts from the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended) 213 7. Extracts from HSE's 'Tolerability of Risk' 216 8. Extracts from HSE's Safety Assessment Principles 218 9. Operators' Accounts: [DELETED – REFERENCES WEB SITES] 221 10. British Energy's Segregated Fund for decommissioning costs 222 11. Key issues from First Review Oral Questions 227 Rev. 2 vi Table of contents cont. Page Tables 242 1. Status of Periodic Safety Reviews 243 2. Principle nuclear installation life phases requiring safety reports 244 3. Pre-construction Safety Report (PCSR) 245 4. Pre-operational Safety Report (POSR) 246 5. Station Safety Report (SSR) 247 6. Periodic Safety Review 247 7. Dose information for classified persons - nuclear installations 248 Figures 249 1. Structure of HSE 250 2. Structure of HSE's Safety Policy Directorate's Nuclear and Hazardous Installations Policy Division 251 3. Structure of HSE's Nuclear Safety Directorate 252 4. Tolerability of Risk Diagram 253 5. Emergency Arrangements Structure 254 6. Off-site Facility Representatives 255 7. NEBR and SEER Representatives 256 Rev. 2 vii UK REPORT FOR THE CONVENTION ON NUCLEAR SAFETY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Purpose and structure of the Report This report is the UK's submission to the second review meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS). It considers each of the Convention's obligations and explains how the UK meets them. The report only considers nuclear installations that are within the scope of Article 2 of the CNS (that is, land based civil nuclear power plant). As a result, the UK's report does not consider Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Is­ lands since the nuclear installations are all sited in England, Scotland and Wales. However, to avoid confusion this report uses 'the UK' where strictly speaking 'Great Britain' would be more accurate. The safety of other UK nuclear facilities outside the scope of the CNS are also regu­ lated and operated in a manner that maintains a high level of safety. In preparing this second report the following approach has been taken: • The introduction includes the main nuclear issues that have been considered in the UK since the first report was prepared and addresses the issues that were raised at the first Review Meeting on the UK’s report and Contracting Parties’ reports in gen­ eral. • The other chapters in the report on the articles of the CNS are mostly the same as those in the first report, but have been updated as necessary. Significant changes are shown by underlining new text or lines through
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Download a Copy
    Cover image: Courtesey of EDF Energy — www.edfenergy.com/energy CONTENTS... 1 AT A GLANCE... 2 A BRIEF HISTORY OF NUCLEAR ENERGY... 4 BENEFITS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY... 5 WHAT THE PUBLIC THINK... 6 HOW NUCLEAR CREATES ENERGY... 7 HOW A REACTOR WORKS... 8 THE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE... 9 MANAGING WASTE... 10 RADIATION EXPLAINED... 12 NUCLEAR AROUND THE WORLD... 14 UK NUCLEAR SITES... 16 NUCLEAR NEW BUILD... 17 NEW BUILD IN NUMBERS... 18 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE... 19 DECOMMISSIONING... 20 CAREERS IN NUCLEAR... 21 FUTHER INFORMATION... AT A GLANCE... Nuclear is a major part of our energy mix. Today it accounts for 21% of electricity generated in the UK and has been providing secure low carbon electricity for over 60 years. Low carbon energy, including There are 15 nuclear power and renewables, nuclear power account for almost 51% of the reactors operating UK’s generation electricity mix across eight sites in the UK In 2016 nuclear energy avoided 22.7 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions in the UK BEIS,Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2018 That’s equivalent to taking around a third of all cars in the UK off the road Civil nuclear contributes over £6 billion to the jobs in the UK civil nuclear sector UK economy as much as aerospace manufacturing 12,159 Women in civil nuclear 1,981 People on apprenticeships Three quarters of the public 914 believe nuclear should be part People on graduate schemes of the clean energy mix Jobs Map figures generated from participating NIA members 1 This simple timeline charts some of the key people, events and legislation A BRIEF HISTORY OF NUCLEAR ENERGY..
    [Show full text]
  • Our Vision: First in UK Power
    Operator: kevin Date: 02.06.2008 Server: studio 3 Set-up: Dave First Read/Revisions Our vision: First in UK power British Energy Group plc Annual Report and Accounts plc Annual ReportBritish Energy Group and Accounts 2007/08 British Energy Group plc GSO Business Park East Kilbride G74 5PG United Kingdom Registered in Scotland Number 270184 Annual Report and Accounts 2007/08 MM60056005 BBEE CCover.inddover.indd 1 99/6/08/6/08 007:24:147:24:14 Operator: kevin Date: 02.06.2008 Server: studio 3 Set-up: Dave First Read/Revisions British Energy is the lowest carbon emitter of the major electricity generators in the United Kingdom and the only low carbon baseload generator. BUSINESS SUMMARY Our Power Stations 01 Highlights 1 02 Our Strategy Torness Two advanced gas-cooled reactors 03 Key Performance Indicators 2 Hartlepool 04 Chairman’s Statement Two advanced gas-cooled reactors 3 Eggborough DIRECTORS’ REPORT – BUSINESS REVIEW Four coal-fi red units 06 Chief Executive’s Business Review 4 Sizewell B 14 Financial Review One pressurised water reactor 5 28 Corporate Social Responsibility ' Dungeness B / Two advanced gas-cooled reactors 6 Hinkley Point B DIRECTORS’ REPORT – CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 32 Board of Directors Two advanced gas-cooled reactors 7 1 34 Corporate Governance Heysham ( Two advanced gas-cooled reactors 42 Remuneration Committee Report 8 Heysham 2 49 Other Statutory Information . Two advanced gas-cooled reactors - ) 9 Hunterston B FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Two advanced gas-cooled reactors 51 Independent Auditors’ Report to the Members of
    [Show full text]
  • Name Surname
    OFGEM FINANCIAL INFORMATION REPORTING YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2010 Under the Ofgem issued “Energy Supply Probe – Proposed Retail Market Remedies”, changes to generators and suppliers licences were made requiring licence holders to publish financial information to aid comparability of suppliers and generators. This “Segmental Reporting” satisfies Standard Licence Condition 19A of the Gas and Electricity Supply Licences and Standard Licence Condition 16B of the Electricity Generation Licence. EDF Energy (UK) Ltd and its subsidiaries (“EDF Energy”) operate through 3 operational business units supported by corporate services. These are “Energy Sourcing and Customer Supply”, ”Nuclear Generation”, “Nuclear New Build” and “Corporate Steering Functions and Company Shared Services & Integration”. The principal activities of these business units and support services are: Energy Sourcing and Customer Supply (ESCS): the provision and supply of electricity and gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers, the provision of services relating to energy, including purchasing of fuel for power generation and the generation of electricity; Nuclear Generation (NG): the generation of electricity through its fleet of nuclear power stations and Nuclear New Build (NNB): the development and construction of new nuclear power plants in the United Kingdom Corporate Steering Functions and Company Shared Services and Integration (CSF/CSSI): the provision of support services including HR, Finance, Property and IT, and the development of greater integration and synergies across the company where possible. The results of NNB are excluded from the scope of the Ofgem requirements hence NNB indirect and direct costs are not included in the analysis below. No consolidated statutory accounts have been prepared which include all UK operations of the EDF Energy group of companies.
    [Show full text]
  • Nuclear Power and Deregulated Electricity Markets: Lessons from British Energy
    Nuclear Power and Deregulated Electricity Markets: Lessons from British Energy EPRG Working Paper 0808 Simon Taylor Abstract The privatisation in 1996 and subsequent financial crisis in 2002 of the company British Energy plc shed some light on the difficulties of running a nuclear generator in a deregulated electricity market. This paper explains the causes of the company’s financial difficulties and argues that they do not amount to evidence that nuclear power cannot survive in liberalised markets. The causes of the financial crisis were complex and varied but nuclear power risks are not conceptually different from those successfully handled by markets in other sectors. In particular there is no reason in principle why new nuclear power stations should not be viable in a deregulated power market, assuming they are fundamentally cost competitive. Keywords Keywords: Electricity markets, nuclear power, risk management, corporate strategy, financial strategy, G PAPER privatisation. N JEL Classification G32, L94, Q48 Contact [email protected] Publication February 2008 EPRG WORKI www.electricitypolicy.org.uk 1. Introduction The British government privatised the more modern UK nuclear power stations in the form of the company British Energy plc in 1996. The company was unusual in being a wholly nuclear merchant power generator in a deregulated power market. It was also unusual in having full financial responsibility for its back end nuclear liabilities. The company initially raised output and profits and saw its shares rise strongly. But by 2002 it had run out of cash and had to get emergency financing from the government to avoid going into administration.
    [Show full text]
  • Nuclear Research and Development Capabilities
    Nuclear Research and Development Capabilities Response from the Engineering the Future alliance which includes: • The Royal Academy of Engineering • The Institution of Engineering and Technology • The Institution of Mechanical Engineers • The Institution of Chemical Engineers • The Engineering Council • Engineering UK House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology April 2011 Engineering the Future is pleased to have the opportunity to input into the Committee’s inquiry into UK nuclear research and development capability. As the alliance of the UK professional engineering institutions, Engineering the Future can draw upon a wide range of expertise in the nuclear field. It is clear that maintaining a strong nuclear research and development capability within the UK is important not only in its own right, but also in terms of positioning the UK as a credible partner in the international civil nuclear business and in maintaining the skills pipeline required by the industry in the UK for today and the future. This response has been coordinated by the Royal Academy of Engineering on behalf of Engineering the Future. Engineering the Future is a broad alliance of engineering institutions and bodies which represent the UK’s 450,000 professional engineers. We provide independent expert advice and promote understanding of the contribution that engineering makes to the economy, society and to the development and delivery of national policy. Nuclear Research and Development Capabilities The implications of future scenarios • What are the research and capability requirements of nuclear energy policy options, roadmaps and scenarios up to 2050? • What consideration is the Government giving to the UK’s R&D requirements to meet the policy objectives for nuclear energy both in the near term and longer term (to 2050)? Does more need to be done? • What research capabilities and commitments are required now to meet these future nuclear energy policies? 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Endless Trouble: Britain's Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant
    Endless Trouble Britain’s Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) Martin Forwood, Gordon MacKerron and William Walker Research Report No. 19 International Panel on Fissile Materials Endless Trouble: Britain’s Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) © 2019 International Panel on Fissile Materials This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License To view a copy of this license, visit ww.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0 On the cover: the world map shows in highlight the United Kingdom, site of THORP Dedication For Martin Forwood (1940–2019) Distinguished colleague and dear friend Table of Contents About the IPFM 1 Introduction 2 THORP: An Operational History 4 THORP: A Political History 11 THORP: A Chronology 1974 to 2018 21 Endnotes 26 About the authors 29 About the IPFM The International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM) was founded in January 2006 and is an independent group of arms control and nonproliferation experts from both nuclear- weapon and non-nuclear-weapon states. The mission of the IPFM is to analyze the technical basis for practical and achievable pol- icy initiatives to secure, consolidate, and reduce stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and plutonium. These fissile materials are the key ingredients in nuclear weapons, and their control is critical to achieving nuclear disarmament, to halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and to ensuring that terrorists do not acquire nuclear weapons. Both military and civilian stocks of fissile materials have to be addressed. The nuclear- weapon states still have enough fissile materials in their weapon stockpiles for tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. On the civilian side, enough plutonium has been sepa- rated to make a similarly large number of weapons.
    [Show full text]
  • SSE Annual Report 2007
    energy made better Scottish and Southern Energy plc Annual Report 2007 Our purpose is to provide people with the energy they need – in a reliable and sustainable way. This Annual Report describes how we’ve worked to make energy better. And we’re continuing to work to make it better still. Scottish and Southern Energy Annual Report 2007 Contents 1 Chairman’s Statement 2 Directors’ Report 36 Dividends 68 Profile 3 Corporate Governance Report 38 Earnings Per Share 69 Providing Energy 4 Organisation and Structure 38 Intangible Assets 70 Key Performance Indicators 6 Board Effectiveness 39 Property, Plant and Equipment 72 Board Committees 39 Investment in Associates and Joint Ventures 73 Chief Executive’s Statement 10 Audit Committee 39 Subsidiary Undertakings 76 Financial Overview 10 Remuneration Committee 40 Acquisitions and Disposals 77 Energy Systems 11 Nomination Committee 40 Inventories 79 Generation and Supply 16 Risk Committee 40 Trade and Other Receivables 79 Contracting, Connections and Metering 25 Executive Committee 40 Cash and Cash Equivalents 80 Gas Storage 27 Health, Safety and Environmental Advisory Committee 40 Trade and Other Payables 80 Telecoms 28 Internal Control and Risk Management 40 Current Tax Liabilities 80 Exceptional Item 28 Going Concern 41 Construction Contracts 80 Investment and Capital Expenditure 28 Communication with Shareholders Loans and Other Borrowings 81 Financial Management 30 and Major Business Stakeholders 41 Deferred Taxation 83 Tax 31 Provisions 84 Balance Sheet 31 Directors’ Biographies and Responsibilities
    [Show full text]
  • The UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
    Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) www.psiru.org The UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority By Steve Thomas December 2004 Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), Business School, University of Greenwich, Park Row, London SE10 9LS, U.K. Email: [email protected] Website: www.psiru.org Tel: +44-(0)208-331-9933 Fax: +44 (0)208-331-8665 Director: David Hall Researchers: Robin de la Motte, Jane Lethbridge, Emanuele Lobina, Steve Thomas PSIRU’s research is centred around the maintenance of an extensive database on the economic, political, financial, social and technical experience with privatisation and restructuring of public services worldwide, and on the multinational companies involved. This core database is financed by Public Services International ( www.world-psi.org), the worldwide confederation of public service trade unions. PSIRU’s research is published on its website, www.psiru.org . PSIRU University of Greenwich www.psiru.org 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................... 3 2. WHAT IS THE COMMISSION CASE ABOUT? ................................................................................................ 3 2.1. THE WESTINGHOUSE BUSINESS .......................................................................................................................... 4 3. THE NDA ................................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Signature Research on Legacy Management at the National Nuclear Laboratory, United Kingdom - 10362
    Signature Research on Legacy Management at the National Nuclear Laboratory, United Kingdom - 10362 A. W. Banford National Nuclear Laboratory, Risley, Warrington, Cheshire, WA3 6AS, United Kingdom ABSTRACT The United Kingdom (UK) National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) is establishing four Signature Research Areas, which will underpin the future requirements of the UK nuclear Industry. The management of radioactive waste, nuclear plant and sites at the end of operations is a significant challenge in the UK and internationally. Therefore the NNL Signature Research Area on Legacy Management aims to address this challenge. The key theme of the research area is to inform and underpin the development of strategies for legacy management through an understanding of the nature of the waste inventory, the potential endpoints and the identification of possible processing options. This strategic approach aims to identify the key challenges, identify required evolutionary changes to existing technologies and identify areas in which revolutionary change could make most impact. This paper provides a technical overview of the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory Signature Research Area on Legacy Management; which will focus on the range of technical areas notably; • strategy development • waste, facility and land characterisation • waste behaviour • decontamination • retrieval and remote deployment • decommissioning techniques • contaminated land and site end points. INTRODUCTION A series of four Signature Research Areas have been identified as being central to the United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory mission, to provide independent, authoritative advice on nuclear issues. These areas encompass activities which are of strategic significance to the NNL and both the UK and international nuclear industry. The four areas are defined as follows, • Fuel and Reactors • Spent Fuel and Nuclear Materials [1] • Legacy Waste and Decommissioning • Waste Processing, Storage and Disposal Collectively these areas cover most of the nuclear fuel cycle.
    [Show full text]
  • October 3 2011 the Rise and Fall of the Fast
    Fall 08 October 3 2011 The rise and fall of the fast breeder reactor technology in the UK: between engineering “dreams” and economic “realities”? Markku Lehtonen Jenny Lieu 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction 6 II. The inception of the nuclear power programme (from 1940) 9 2.1 Military ambitions 10 2.1.1 The early pioneers (early 1940s) 10 2.1.2 The Atomic Project (mid-1940s) 11 2.1.3 Windscale reactors (from late 1940s to 1950s) 16 2.2 The civil nuclear power programme 17 2.2.1 Motivations for the nuclear programme and the creation of the AEA (1950s) 17 2.2.2 British reactor technologies (1950s to 1980s) 18 2.2.3 Plan to privatise the electricity industry... 21 2.2.4 ...and the withdrawal of nuclear from privatisation 23 2.3 Summary of the evolution of the UK nuclear sector 27 III. The fast breeder reactor dream: expectations for the future 29 3.1 FBR as the long term goal 30 3.1.1 Dounreay Experimental Fast Reactor, DFR (1950s to mid-1960s) 31 3.1.2 Prototype Fast Reactor, PFR (mid-1960s to 1970s) 33 IV. The long decline 38 4.1 AEA split-up and the erosion of institutional support for fast breeders? (1970s) 38 4.2 Towards a commercial fast breeder reactor (CFR) and international collaboration (1970s) 39 4.3 RCEP’s 6th report – the “Flowers Report” (1970s) 41 4.4 Reprocessing, proliferation concerns and the Windscale Inquiry (late 1970s) 43 4.4.1 The institution of public inquiry and the run-up to Windscale Inquiry 44 4.4.2 Reprocessing, FBRs and proliferation fears 46 4.4.3 The outcome of the Inquiry: landmark of participatory decision-making or a symbol of opposition against the ‘nuclear complex’? 47 4.5 CFR – an experimental or commercial reactor? (late 1970s) 49 4.6 "Thatcher the scientist" takes office: an interlude of optimism in the fast reactor community (late 1970s) 50 4.7 International collaboration - preparations for the 'fallback option' begin (late 1970s to 1980s) 51 V.
    [Show full text]
  • XA0201764 Factors Determining the UK's Back-End Nuclear Fuel Cycle Strategy and Future Nuclear Systems
    XA0201764 Factors determining the UK's back-end nuclear fuel cycle strategy and future nuclear systems M.J. Dunn, Z.E. Ainsworth Thorp Group, British Nuclear Fuels pic, Risley, Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom Abstract. Nuclear generating capacity in the UK is static with no units currently under construction. The AGRs and the UK's only PWR, Sizewell B, are operated by British Energy Generation Ltd (BEGL) and British Energy Generation (UK) Ltd (BEG(UK)L), who are subsidiaries of British Energy pic (BE) which was privatised in July 1996. Ownership of the Magnox stations, which were excluded from this privatisation, has now been transferred to BNFL.Government policy on spent fuel management in the UK is that it is for the owners of the spent fuel to decide on the appropriate spent fuel management options, based on their own commercial judgement, subject to meeting the necessary regulatory requirements. The main factors which have predominantly determined UK utility decisions on spent fuel management, to date, have been based on the technical considerations of the spent fuel characteristics, economic attractiveness of the options and at reactor site spent fuel storage capacities. To date, reprocessing has been the dominant form of spent fuel treatment in the UK. Spent fuel storage facilities consist of a mixture of at-reactor stores and large, centralised ponds associated with the reprocessing activities which take place at the Sellafield site. BEGL and BEG(UK)L have contracts for the lifetime arisings of AGR fuel which allow for all AGR spent fuel to be sent to Sellafield for reprocessing or long-term storage.
    [Show full text]
  • Nuclear Site Specific Hydrographic Parameters for Use with the WAT/ADO Models
    Nuclear Site Specific Hydrographic Parameters for use with the WAT/ADO Models Science commissioned by: Food Standards Agency CEFAS Contract RB101 Environment Report RL12/03 Nuclear Site Specific Hydrographic Parameters for use with the WAT/ADO Models Science commissioned by Food Standards Agency CEFAS Contract RB101 Environment Report RL 12/03 Environment Report RL 12/03 Nuclear Site Specific Hydrographic Parameters for use with the WAT/ADO Models The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT M R Allison and M P Grzechnik June 2003 The work in this report was completed under contract to the Radiological Safety Unit of the Food Standards Agency CEFAS contract RB102 1 Table of Contents 1 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 5 2 Aldermaston and Burghfield............................................................................................... 6 2.1 Aldermaston ................................................................................................................ 6 2.2 Burghfield .................................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Current liquid discharge limits for Aldermaston .......................................................... 7 2.4 Hydrographic Data ...................................................................................................... 7 2.5 References.................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]