The nuclear regulator has served an improvement notice on a Rolls-Royce site in Derby for what it describes as “procedural safety breaches”.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said it had served the notice on Rolls-Royce Submarines’ site, in Raynesway, after “shortfalls” were identified against safety requirements at a nuclear fuel production facility on the site.
The Derby site, part of Rolls-Royce’s Defence division, makes nuclear reactor cores for Royal Navy submarines.
According to the ONR, the breach occurred when Rolls-Royce Submarines operators brought 21 units of fissile material (material capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction) into the facility – exceeding the limit of 16 units set out in the Criticality Control Certificate for the facility.
The breach was reported to the ONR by Rolls-Royce and action was “promptly” taken by the site to address the non-compliance.
While public and worker safety was not compromised, the regulator wants to see a number of improvements made to ensure the Derby site continues to comply with its licensing rules.
The ONR said all licensed nuclear sites in the UK must operate in accordance with a “safety case”, which sets out clear limits and conditions for such operations.
The regulator said that the limits specified in the safety case at Rolls-Royce’s Derby site were “extremely conservative”, which is why the breach did not present any immediate risk to safety.
However, adherence to the conditions set out in a safety case is required by law, which has prompted the ONR to serve the Improvement Notice to prevent it happening again.
Rolls-Royce Submarines has until May 31, 2021, to comply with the notice.
In a statement, Rolls-Royce said: “We identified a non-compliance with our strict processes, and in full discussion with us, the Office for Nuclear Regulation issued us with an Improvement Notice.
“As stated by the regulator itself ‘significant safety margins remained in place’ and ‘public and worker safety was not compromised’.
“That said, safety is of critical importance to us and we are disappointed to have fallen short of our own high standards.
“We have already put in place a set of robust improvement actions, together with a forward activity plan which we will work closely with the ONR to complete.
“As has been the case throughout 60 years of operations at our Raynesway site, it is important to clarify that at no time has there been any risk to the public or our people on site.
“The levels of tolerance we build into our own processes are some of the strictest in the industry so, while there was non-compliance, it was still well within safe operating limits.”
