A Nuclear Management Partners company operated under contract to the NDA
Defence
in depth
Safety
Performance
Report 2013
2 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
The safe, secure stewardship of the
Sellafield site is our overriding priority.
It covers everything from the safety
of our employees and care for the
environment through to the secure
management of nuclear materials. It
underpins every decision we make.
2013
In 2013, Sellafield Ltd received
a Silver Award from the Royal
Society for the Prevention of
Accidents (RoSPA) for its approach
to occupational health and safety
All of our employees
and contractors
have a role to play in
continually improving
our safety performance
Sellafield Ltd Overview
4
Sellafield Site Overview
5
Managing Director’s Foreword
6
Sellafield Ltd Safety
8
Risk and Hazard Reduction in 2013
10
Nuclear Safety
12
Environmental Safety
16
Industrial Safety
20
Radiological Safety
24
Occupational Health
28
The People Behind Safety
30
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 3
Sellafield Ltd
Overview
Under the ownership of Nuclear Management Partners, Sellafield Ltd is the site
licence company responsible for the safe delivery of work at the Sellafield site, Risley
site and our satellite offices.
Our approach of putting safety first has always been at the heart of our activities and
decision making.
Our focus on safety is shared by our customer and site owner, the Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority, which continues to allocate the majority of its available
funding to the clean-up of the Sellafield site.
We, in turn, dedicate the majority of our annual budget towards risk and hazard
reduction programmes associated with the buildings and facilities which span the
history of the UK’s civil and military nuclear history.
By focusing our efforts on cleaning up the legacy buildings
we are making the Sellafield site safer every day.
Our team is responsible for
safe performance across all of
our operations
These clean-up operations, along with our spent fuel management and nuclear
waste management programmes, are underpinned by rigorous safety processes and
procedures. We closely monitor our performance against these measures as do our
independent external regulators.
All of our operations at Sellafield are subject to stringent
rules and regulations.
Everyone who works for or on behalf of Sellafield Ltd has a personal responsibility
for safety. While our continued safe operation is a key part of everyone’s job, we also
have a dedicated full-time team of safety experts.
This team draws together expertise in all facets of safety including radiological
safety, nuclear safety, industrial safety, human performance, safety case
development, risk assessment, and environmental protection.
As a team we are enhancing safety in all of our nuclear and non-nuclear
operations by:
s
3EEKINGOUTANDIMPLEMENTINGBESTPRACTICE
s
-ONITORINGCOMPLIANCEWITHREGULATIONSANDINTERNATIONALSTANDARDS
s
.EVERBEINGSATISlEDWITHOURSAFETYPERFORMANCEANDDRIVINGFORCONTINUAL
improvement
Our safety efforts are enhanced through our involvement with expert organisations
including the World Association of Nuclear Operators and the Institute of Nuclear
Power Operations.
This report covers our performance across all areas of safety and our plans to
improve in line with these international benchmarks.
4 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
Sellafield Site
Overview
The safety of our employees, supply chain and visitors on
the Sellafield site is paramount. Access to the Sellafield
site is subject to stringent arrangements including a sound
understanding of our safety and security standards and
expectations. Once on site, additional safety instructions are
provided through briefings, signage and building procedures.
The Sellafield site in West Cumbria is home to some of the most iconic landmarks and
facilities within the UK’s nuclear industry.
Covering two square miles, the site is home to four groups of facilities. The first is a
group of buildings dating back to the beginning of the UK’s nuclear programme and are
known as Legacy Ponds and Silos. The safe and accelerated clean-up of these buildings
is our primary mission on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
Three years of successful effluent
transfers from the Magnox Swarf Storage
Silo have culminated in a landmark of
one million litres of radioactive liquor
retrieved to support decommissioning
of the legacy facility
The second group makes up the remainder of our decommissioning programme and
includes the world’s first commercial scale nuclear power station – Calder Hall. The site
is also home to the Windscale Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor which is the first power
producing reactor in the UK to be fully decommissioned.
Over one hundred operational buildings designed to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and
safely manage all levels of nuclear materials make up the third group of facilities. The
last group is comprised of the entire infrastructure needed to operate the site, including
office accommodation, change rooms and stores. We also operate and maintain the
utilities required on any working site, including a Combined Heat and Power Plant which
provides steam to the site, electricity substations and water provision.
The module being lifted into the vertical
position at the Evaporator D site
Every project and building at Sellafield poses
its own unique set of safety challenges.
Meeting these challenges is what drives us.
In 2013 we have completed a number of complex projects with no significant
nuclear or conventional safety events. These include:
s
REDUNDANTPIPEBRIDGELINKINGTWOLEGACYNUCLEARFACILITIESHASBEENSUCCESSFULLY
!
removed ahead of schedule with a £1.3m efficiency saving
s
!MAMMOTH3EMI'OLIATHCRANEHASBEENINSTALLEDASPARTOFANEW7ASTE
Retrieval Facility being built to empty our Pile Fuel Cladding Silo and will be used
to lift legacy nuclear waste packages
s
7ORKTOREMOVETHElLTERGALLERYFROMTHETOPOFTHEREMAINING7INDSCALEPILE
chimney started, opening the chimney for the first time in over 17 years to enable
work on dismantling it to begin
s
HELARGESTMODULEINTHE%VAPORATOR$PROJECTMEASURINGTHEHEIGHTOFSIXDOUBLE
4
decker buses and weighing 500 tonnes, was safely delivered to the Sellafield site
and installed into the construction project
Sellafield is home to more
than two hundred nuclear
facilities and more than
one thousand buildings.
Our primary mission is
the safe acceleration of
risk and hazard reduction.
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 5
Managing Director’s
Foreword
Welcome to our annual safety performance report for 2013
– an overview of our safety performance at Sellafield Ltd
in nuclear, radiological, industrial and environmental safety
and occupational health.
In the calendar year 2013, we launched our new business strategy to enable
Sellafield Ltd to maintain and build on its role as ‘Key to Britain’s Energy Future’. At
the very heart of that strategy is our renewed commitment to the safe and secure
stewardship of the Sellafield site.
Within our overall safety focus, nuclear safety is our overriding priority. One of our
foundations of nuclear safety is the accelerated clean-up of some of the oldest
buildings on the Sellafield site, known as our legacy ponds and silos.
Achievements this year include the removal of the last remaining pile fuel decanner
from the Pile Fuel Storage Pond and ventilation systems fitted to 22 compartments in
the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo, improving our ability to manage the plant’s hydrogen
emergency response.
We need to achieve a sustained and consistent rate of progress in this area, and this
is a primary focus for 2014.
Helping our people stay safe at work is a fundamental component of our safety
culture and performance. I continue to be impressed by the safe working
achievements of teams across the business and the concerted efforts of our
employees in keeping Sellafield and each other safe.
While this report provides an overview of our safety performance in 2013,
there are a number of ways that you can stay up-to-date with our safety
progress throughout the year:
s
)NCIDENT2EPORTSAREPUBLISHEDINOUR3ELLAlELD,TDNEWSLETTER4OSUBSCRIBETO
the newsletter please visit www.sellafieldsites.com
s
7
EGIVEREGULARUPDATESONOURSAFETYPERFORMANCETOTHE7EST#UMBRIA3ITES
Stakeholder Group, an independent scrutiny body. The Group’s meetings are
open to the public and reports are published on their website www.wcssg.com
s
7EPUBLISHANANNUALDISCHARGEANDMONITORINGREPORTANDANANNUAL
groundwater report which can be found on www.sellafieldsites.com
Openness and transparency in this area are vitally important to me. I welcome this
opportunity to share the improvements in safety progress our teams are making
across the business.
Tony Price Managing Director
6 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
“Our highest value at Sellafield Ltd is placed on safety. It
covers everything from keeping ourselves and others safe,
to safe operations, safeguarding nuclear materials, reducing
risk and hazard and stewardship of the environment.”
Tony Price, Managing Director
I took up the post of Chief Environmental, Health, Safety
and Quality Officer at Sellafield Ltd in January 2014
and join a great team who are already making progress
in raising the safety bar. I am excited to be part of our
relentless pursuit of continual safety improvement.
Sellafield is one of the most complex nuclear sites in the world and, as such, brings
huge challenges across the entire spectrum of safety.
There are many challenges ahead and throughout our focus remains on safe, secure
site stewardship. Sustaining and improving our overall safety and environmental
performance across all areas is crucial to delivering our mission.
Nuclear safety remains our overriding priority. Creating a disciplined and
conservative safety culture must remain at the forefront of everything we do.
A key factor of such a safety culture is learning from
experience and undertaking the corrective actions required
to prevent recurrence.
At the end of 2013 we had two INES (International Nuclear Event Scale) Level 1
events (see page 13). We take all such events seriously and are addressing lessons
learnt to ensure that we continue to deliver improvement. We have also taken
learning from the Environment Agency prosecution for incorrectly consigning four
bags of non-exempt waste to a landfill site; strengthening procedures and preconsignment checks.
We are committed to accelerating hazard and risk reduction and relentlessly make
safety improvements to keep our people, facilities and the environment safe.
Our primary strategy remains in providing safe, secure site stewardship and I am
committed to challenging and improving the overall safety performance and hazard
reduction across Sellafield Ltd.
Steve Long Chief EHS&Q Officer
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 7
Sellafield Ltd
Safety
The Sellafield site is one of the most complex nuclear
sites in the world and, as such, brings huge challenges
across the entire safety spectrum.
The number one priority and strategic
objective for Sellafield Ltd is safe, secure
site stewardship.
Quality is integral to safety
We aim to achieve the highest
appropriate standards in environmental
performance, health of our employees,
safety, security, safeguarding of nuclear
materials and quality of operations.
Robust and rigorous systems,
processes and procedures and their
correct application are essential to a
strong safety culture.
We’re working with our supply chain
colleague to drive improvements in
quality across our business.
Assurance
Caring for the environment is
embedded in all of our activities from
design through to operations and
decommissioning.
Assurance arrangements provide oversight of
business operations
Our employees, contractors and supply
chain colleagues are all crucial to
success across the safety spectrum at
Sellafield Ltd and in providing safety
defence in depth. They are our extended
safety team.
This publication looks at our nuclear,
environmental, radiological and industrial
safety as well as risk and hazard
reduction and occupational health. The
following elements are also integral to
safe, secure site stewardship.
Our employees, contractors and supply chain
colleagues are crucial to our safety success
Quality
Quality is a vital part of Sellafield Ltd’s
business.
Our quality management system
arrangements define the way we safely
operate our plants to meet customer and
regulator requirements.
8 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
We carry out a wide range of assurance
and internal regulation activities for
the monitoring, assessment, review,
benchmarking and improvement of
processes internal to Sellafield Ltd.
Our arrangements are designed to
provide oversight and internal regulation
to confirm that risks associated with our
operations are being managed and that
the business complies with legislation
and standards.
Safeguards
We must ensure that nuclear materials
for which we are legally responsible are
properly controlled and accounted for at
all stages on and off the Sellafield site.
Nuclear safeguards are the measures
we use to verify that civil nuclear
materials are properly accounted for
and are not diverted to undeclared
uses. The measures include nuclear
materials accountancy, containment and
surveillance.
“The main strategic objective for Sellafield Ltd
is safe, secure site stewardship. We all have an
important role to play in keeping ourselves, our
colleagues,our facilities and our environment safe.”
Steve Long, Chief EHS&Q Officer
Environmental
Safety
Industrial
Safety
s3AFEGUARDS
s!SSURANCE
s/CCUPATIONAL(EALTH
s1UALITY
Radiological
Safety
Nuclear
Safety
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 9
Risk and Hazard
Reduction in 2013
The safe, accelerated cleanup of the Sellafield site is
our priority. The challenges
at Sellafield are substantial
particularly in some of our
oldest building – our Legacy
Ponds and Silos.
We have delivered some key risk and
hazard reduction activities this year,
which are covered here. However, we
need to improve our performance in
both risk and hazard reduction and the
delivery of projects needed to support
the clean up of Legacy Ponds and Silos.
We have restructured the
Decommissioning organisation to
accelerate our delivery programme and
improve project target achievement.
Pile Fuel Storage Pond
s
s
Redundant equipment has
been removed including the last
remaining pile fuel decanner
First Generation Magnox
Storage Pond
s
machine is operational again after
10 years. It has been used to install
a pipebridge linking a new sludge
storage facility to this legacy pond.
Radioactive sludge is being
recovered from skips and pond floor
areas to the in-pond corral
s
Teams across Decommissioning have
worked more than four million man
hours without a lost time accident, whilst
delivering a range of demanding and
diverse work programmes, many in high
hazard areas.
4HE$RUM&ILLING0LANT0ROJECTn
Caption
which will export the sludge
– ishere ....
delivering an innovative solution
which will see sludge exports
start four years early compared
with a conventional build nuclearshielded plant
s
The new Sludge Packaging Plant
has been built to hydraulically
receive and store the retrieved
sludge and is currently undergoing
commissioning
Pile Fuel Cladding Silo
Magnox Swarf Storage Silos
s
s
Three years of successful effluent
transfers from the Magnox Swarf
Storage Silos (MSSS) have culminated
in a landmark one million litres retrieved
HE7ASTE2ETRIEVAL&ACILITY
4
superstructure has been
constructed
s
Passive vents have been installed for all
s
HEMANUFACTUREANDFABRICATION
4
of six silo containment doors and
a Retrievals Access Penetration
Rig is well under way
s
s
HETECHNOLOGYTORETRIEVELEGACY
4
waste has been reviewed and
alternative options proposed to
accelerate decommissioning
A mammoth semi goliath crane
has been installed to handle
approximately 2,000 waste
packages from the facility
s
Remotely Operated Vehicles are being used to
consolidate historic nuclear fuel and prepare it
for retrievals
10 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
The refurbished skip handler
22 waste compartments to manage the
hydrogen hazard
HE-3333EISMIC2ESTRAINT
4
Tower has been built but has yet
to be connected into the building
structure. This will provide seismic
strengthening for the facility’s
decommissioning
HAL
Highly Active Liquor and Evaporation
Storage (HALES) have processed
sufficient HAL to fulfil the requirements
for our overseas returns contract
arrangements
4m
Four million hours worked safely by
teams across Decommissioning
Decommissioning
HAL reduction
Sellafield Ltd is decommissioning the
last remaining chimney associated with
the Windscale Pile built in the 1940s
to produce plutonium for defence
purposes. The chimney has been
opened up for the very first time in
over 17 years, which is a tangible sign
that real decommissioning progress is
being made. Work is now under way
for the major demolition of the filter
gallery structure and this is due to be
completed by the end of 2014.
Highly Active Liquor (HAL) arises as
a result of reprocessing irradiated
nuclear fuel. We turn this waste
into a solid stable form through a
process called vitrification. In 2013 we
continued to reduce our HAL stocks
at Sellafield and processed sufficient
HAL to fulfil the requirements of
our overseas returns contract
arrangements. The return to service of
one of our evaporators is going well
and has entered its final phase with an
anticipated readiness date of Spring
2014 The Evaporator D schedule of
work is ongoing under the direction of
our Project Management directorate.
&/#53!2%!
3PECIAL!RRANGEMENTS
Key to success in accelerating risk reduction
is the application of ‘special arrangements’ –
innovative, fit-for-purpose technical methods and
management practices that balance the risks of
necessary retrieval actions with the longer term
risk of inaction or delayed retrievals.
The special arrangements approach was first piloted in
the First Generation Magnox Storage Pond programme,
leading to a revised strategy for fuel movements and
retrieval with a significantly improved risk profile.
A rapid retrievals approach using an ‘accelerated
decommissioning mindset’ has the opportunity to reduce
complexity, schedule and costs. This option is being
applied across the decommissioning portfolio.
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 11
Nuclear
Safety
Safe Operations: Radioactive liquor
is retrieved from legacy silos
We benchmark our performance against the
World Association of Nuclear Operators and
the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations
Overview
22
Introduction of passive vents
in 22 waste compartments
at a legacy storage silo
Many of our buildings at Sellafield process and manage nuclear materials. Our
programme of nuclear safety protects our employees, the public and the environment
from undue radiological hazard by ensuring correct operating conditions, prevention
of accidents and mitigation of accident consequence.
Nuclear safety includes acceleration of risk and hazard reduction. Whilst we
recognise the successes achieved this year, as highlighted in the risk and reduction
section of this report, we acknowledge the continued need for demonstrable
progress.
Nuclear safety is our overriding priority and it is of paramount
importance to us, our customer and our regulators.
We continue to reinforce reporting and trending to identify areas where improvement
is required and address corrective action programmes.
1m
One million litres of
radioactive liquor retrieved
from legacy silos
12 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
We have developed a programme of nuclear safety training based on our nuclear
safety manual. This focuses on the key aspects of nuclear safety: physical controls;
local administration controls and instructions; standards, training and culture. We will
continue roll out of this programme next year.
Assurance and internal regulation continues to play a very important role in helping
us assess how we’re doing and where we need to centre our attention. The
Independent Nuclear Safety Assessment (INSA) team provides oversight of our high
risk activities and an independent peer review to confirm risks are being managed.
Sellafield Incident Reports (SIRs)
No. Sirs
30
25
18
17
15
18
18
14
13
13
12
7
5
0
This metric represents the number of radiological
and nuclear events categorised as significant under
Sellafield Ltd’s sentencing scheme and includes
examples of loss of services at Sellafield attributed
to severe weather and anomalies with working
practices.
23
20
10
Nuclear and radiological Sellafield Incident Reports
are included together.
28
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
8
2012
We use these metrics and others to scrutinise our
performance, identify areas for improvement and put
plans in pace to close gaps in performance.
2013
INES Events
No. INES
12
The International Nuclear and Radiological Event
Scale (INES) is a rapid alert system used for
consistent communication of events across the
nuclear industry. These are categorised between
Level 1, which is an anomaly, to Level 7 which
represents a major accident.
11
10
10
8
8
6
4
2
0
4
3
1
2
2
2002
2003
2004
3
In 2013 at Sellafield Ltd no nuclear events were
rated higher than Level 1 (an anomaly); we had
four INES Level 1 events.
4
4
2012
2013
2
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
In 2013, the Sellafield site had four events confirmed as INES Level 1
(an anomaly).
The International Nuclear and
Radiological Event Scale
12 March: Disruption of site compressed air supply.
22 March: Disruption to water and power supply during severe weather.
Serious Accident
6
Accident with Wider
Consequences
5
Accident with Local
Consequences
4
Serious Incident
3
Incident
2
Anomaly
Incident
13 December: A number of contaminated items of works clothing were
found outside of the appropriate disposal route in the High Level Waste
Plant change room. Monitoring confirmed that there was no spread of
contamination outside of the change room area however the event was
confirmed as an INES rating of 1, based on activity release levels in
excess of the authorised limit for the area.
7
Accident
27 November: Temporary disruption to power supply. The fault was
traced to a substation that feeds the Waste Vitrification Plant. Following
the power loss there was evidence of contamination within three areas
of Vitrification Plant Line three (lines one and two were unaffected by
contamination).
Major Accident
1
(Below Scale/Level 0)
NO SAFETY SIGNIFICANCE
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 13
Nuclear
Safety
Future focus
Continuous improvement
Our primary focus areas in 2014
include:
We are always looking to improve our
nuclear safety performance. We have
developed a programme of nuclear
safety training based on key elements
from our nuclear safety manual. The
first training pilot has been delivered by
personnel in the Waste Vitrification Plant
and learning from this will be shared
across the business.
s !CCELERATEDRISKANDHAZARD
reduction and demonstrating
progress in clean-up
We carry out a wide range of internal
assurance activities providing oversight to
confirm that risks associated with nuclear,
radiological and conventional safety, the
environment, quality and business reputation
are being managed and the business complies
with regulation and standards
s #ONTINUEDSAFEOPERATIONSON
site with no significant nuclear
events
s )MPROVEMENTINOVERALLNUCLEAR
safety trends
Teams at the Waste Vitrification Plant
take part in a training exercise relating
to nuclear safety
To more effectively measure our
progress, verify priorities and identify
areas where gaps exist, we are looking
to undertake a nuclear safety culture
survey with our employees. This will
also be used to bench mark and share
learning against other nuclear facilities.
s $EVELOPMENTANDIMPLEMENTATION
of improved nuclear safety training
across site
50+
independent peer reviews.
Providing oversight and
assurance on our operations
PFSP
The last remaining pile fuel decanner
has been successfully removed from
the Pile Fuel Storage Pond
14 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
Dismantling of a heat exchanger at Calder Hall
“Nuclear safety is our overriding priority and it is of
paramount importance to us, our customer and our
regulators. We are committed to nuclear safety performance
excellence and delivering a strong nuclear safety culture.”
Rex Strong, Head of Regulatory Integration
&/#53!2%!
“At Sellafield Ltd we are managing some of the
most complex and unique projects in the world.
Everything we do impacts on nuclear safety. All
of us at Sellafield Ltd have a vital role to play in
driving a strong nuclear safety culture.”
Graham Young, Head of Nuclear Safety
The implementation of
nuclear safety includes
five main elements
Physical Controls
Local Administrative Controls
.UCLEARSAFETYn
DEFENCEINDEPTH
Nuclear safety is the protection of workers,
the public, and the environment from undue
radiological hazard by achievement of proper
operating conditions, prevention of accidents and
the mitigation of accident consequences.
Nuclear safety incorporates the five
components pictured left.
9
Standards
Training
Culture
Physical controls include pieces of
equipment and buildings designed,
commissioned and installed to
ensure that nuclear material does
not affect workers, the environment
or the public.
Local administrative controls include
all plant specific documents such
as operating instructions which
are followed to ensure plants are
operating correctly.
Sellafield Ltd’s standards are
defined with its management
system and govern all aspects of
how work is performed from policy
approved by the Sellafield Ltd Board
down to specific Sellafield Ltd
practices.
It’s important to have the right
people, doing the right jobs and
that work is carried out by suitably
qualified and experienced people.
Nuclear safety culture is the core
values and behaviours resulting from
a collective commitment by leaders
and individuals to emphasise nuclear
safety to ensure the protection of
people and the environment.
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 15
Environmental
Safety
Monitoring of the environment
Environmental sampling
Overview
4,000
As part of our comprehensive
environmental monitoring
programme, 4,000 environmental
samples are analysed each year
Sellafield Ltd has an
independently accredited
certificate to the International
Environmental Management
Standard ISO: 14001
through our environmental
management system
16 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
Environmental stewardship is a core value of Sellafield Ltd. This is achieved by
preventing pollution, avoiding or reducing discharges and managing waste. We
also minimise our impact on the environment through continual improvement in our
processes and activities and striving for excellence in our environmental performance.
We work hard to minimise the environmental impact of our
operations across all areas of on-site activities; considering
the complete life cycle of projects from design through to
decommissioning.
We engage with our stakeholders and regulators on how we manage our
environmental responsibilities. Our environmental safety performance is discussed
regularly and is reported to the West Cumbria Sites Stakeholder Group and via the
Sellafield Ltd website.
In 2013 we held a successful recruitment campaign to provide additional
environmental support to the hazard reduction projects.
Sellafield Incident Reports (SIRs)
No. Sirs
16
14
This metric represents the number of environmental
events categorised as significant under Sellafield
Ltd’s sentencing scheme and includes breaches of
the environmental permit.
14
12
10
9
8
7
6
0
2
2002
3
2003
7
5
5
4
2
7
9
6
1
2004
2005
2006
2007
s /URACTIVITIESARESUBJECTTOREGULAR
INSPECTIONBOTHINTERNALLYAND
BYOURREGULATORSINCLUDINGTHE
Environment Agency (EA). In 2013
WEPARTICIPATEDINANUMBEROF%!
NATIONALTHEMEDAUDITSONSUBJECTS
including gaseous waste and
management arrangements
s 7ECONTINUETOBEFULLYENGAGED
with the EA’s Nuclear Sector Plan
which sets out how industry and
THEREGULATORISWORKINGTOGETHER
to address the environmental
challenges facing the nuclear
industry
s 7EAPPLYTHEPRINCIPLESOFTHE
waste management hierarchy
nAVOIDREDUCEREUSERECYCLE
disposal
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
We promote a culture where environmental issues
are reported, openly and honestly; and recorded so
that learning can be shared.
In 2013, we have had a period of greater than 190
days without a reportable environmental event;
we continue to work towards maintaining and
improving this.
&/#53!2%!
3ILOS-AINTENANCE&ACILITYn
ENVIRONMENTALEXCELLENCE
Re-use of construction waste by
teams at the Silos Maintenance
Facility (SMF) have produced
environmental savings of:
s
5,500m3 not disposed to landfill
s
5,500m3 virgin material not
purchased
s
1,100 lorry journeys avoided
The SMF team picked up the
Environmental Safety award at
Sellafield Ltd’s Excellence Awards
2013.
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 17
Environmental
Safety
Future focus
Our primary focus areas in 2014 include:
s 7EAREINTRODUCINGAFULLYFUNCTIONINGSITEWIDEPROGRAMMEFOROUR
environmental priorities that will drive improved reporting and resource
allocation
Seabed sediment grab sampling
s 7EAREDEVELOPINGANEWENVIRONMENTALTRAININGPROGRAMMETOENSURE
WEHAVETHERIGHTSKILLSANDEXPERIENCECONSISTENTWITHTHE%NVIRONMENT
Agency’s Radioactive Waste Advisor Scheme
s 7ECONTINUETODRIVEIMPROVEMENTSINENVIRONMENTALPERFORMANCEBY
encouraging the reporting of environmental events and applying the
learning to inform metric development
Environmental sampling
Continuous improvement
We continue to maintain dialogue with
the EA in order to ensure effective
compliance with environmental
legislation; this year has particularly
focused on promoting a joint
understanding of the implications of new
and amended legislation, including the
Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
10%
We have completed a successful
recruitment campaign which is
delivering a ten percent increase in
our environmental capability
18 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
190
In 2013 we had a period of more
THANDAYSWITHOUTAREPORTABLE
environmental event; we continue
TOWORKTOWARDSMAINTAININGAND
improving this
“Our environmental professionals share environmental
learning and awareness across the company at every
opportunity as the actions of any one of us can impact
on environmental protection.”
Dr Trish Dunlop, Head of Environmental Management
&/#53!2%!
-ONITORINGOFTHEENVIRONMENT
We have a comprehensive
environmental monitoring programme
that operates in line with the
principles of Best Available Technique.
The data is used to assess the impact
of current and past operations at
Sellafield and provides reassurance
that this impact is significantly below
internationally agreed levels.
Delivery of the monitoring programme is overseen by
the Environment Agency and is subject to independent
audit under Article 35 of the Euratom treaty.
Beach
monitoring
We continue with our beach monitoring programme
for 2013/14; as with last year we have a target of 150
hectares to complete. As part of the ongoing review
of the programme we have delivered a Best Available
Techniques (BAT) assessment for the future of particle
monitoring to the Environment Agency (EA).
A campaign of seabed monitoring was successfully
completed during the summer with no particles
detected.
We publish an annual discharge and environmental
monitoring report together with topic specific reports
such as particles in the environment reports, which
are available from our website: www.sustainability.
sellafieldsites.com/environment/environment-page/
annual-discharge-monitoring-reports/
150
7ECONTINUEWITHOURBEACH
monitoring programme for
2013/14; as with last year we
have a target of 150 hectares
to complete
)NFORMATIONON3ELLAlELD,TDS,AND1UALITY-ANAGEMENTCANBEFOUNDATWWWSELLAlELDSITESCOMLANDINDEXHTML
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 19
Industrial
Safety
Apprentices are trained in the principles
of MoveSMART® – an occupational injury
prevention programme
Overview
10yrs
Transport Maintenance Services
employees achieved 10 years
without a lost time accident
The safety of our employees is paramount. Our industrial safety programmes
ensure the occupational hygiene, chemical and conventional safety standards are
continuously challenged and improved.
We are never satisfied and always strive to be best in class.
Safe, secure site stewardship is our overriding priority.
Our Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous occurrences Regulations
(RIDDOR) lost time accident performance continues to improve, and for the second
consecutive year running a project at Sellafield Ltd won the URS Safe Project of the
year award in 2013.
3,700
In 2013, a further 3,700 employees
completed the MoveSMART®
occupational injury prevention
programme
20 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
In 2013 Sellafield Ltd were recognised with a Silver Award from the Royal Society for
the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) for continuous improvements in safety.
Number of Lost Time Accidents (including Major Injuries with Lost Time)
No. LTAs
60
50
50
40
43
44
44
43
37
30
47
38
35
29
26
20
22
This metric records the number of greater than
one day Lost Time Accidents.
We have seen a slight increase in the number of
Lost Time Accidents in 2013, compared to our
performance in 2012. Reducing the number of
Lost Time Accidents will be a focus area for us in
2014.
10
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Number of RIDDOR Injuries
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
No. RIDDOR
28
31
29
2003
2004
2005
RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and
Dangerous Occurrences Regulations).
29
19
18
2002
40
38
35
23
No RIDDOR Major Injuries occurred in 2013.
16
2006
2007
2008
2009
This metric records the number of RIDDOR
greater than seven days Lost Time Accidents and
Major Injuries.
2010
2011
2012
13
2013
Number of Dangerous Occurrences
No. DOs
7
6
6
6
5
5
5
4
We are delighted with improvements made in
preventing dangerous occurrences achieved
through a focus on asset care, effective
maintenance and strong safety leadership. Our
goal is to always prevent dangerous occurrences.
4
3
2
2
2
2
2007
2008
3
3
3
2010
2011
2012
1
0
This metric records the number of RIDDOR
Dangerous Occurrences from examples such as
failure of load bearing parts on lifting equipment
or malfunction of breathing apparatus.
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2009
2013
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 21
Industrial
Safety
EHS&Q
Improvements in EHS&Q were displayed at the
%(31%XCELLENCE$AYHELDINPARTNERSHIPWITH
the Chartered Quality Institute and Institution
of Occupational Safety and Health
9yrs
Teams at Calder have
reached 9 years without a
lost time accident
Future focus
Continuous improvement
Our primary focus areas in 2014
include:
We are always looking to improve our
industrial safety performance and, in
addition to our regular schedule of safety
inspections and internal regulation and
assurance, we continue to focus our
improvement around a number of key
programmes.
s 2ISKPERCEPTIONCOACHINGAND
implementation of human
performance error tools
Employees in the Waste Monitoring and
Compaction Plant have reached an impressive
10 years without a lost time accident
Peer to peer observations
s #ONTINUEDENGAGEMENTAND
COOPERATIONWITHOURWORKFORCE
and safety representatives
The project team at the Pile Fuel Cladding
Silo won the national Association of
Project Management Award for Health,
Safety, Security and Environment
s )MMEDIATEINVESTIGATION
post injury or near miss and
completion of corrective actions
to prevent repeats
s #ONTINUEDIMPLEMENTATIONOF
IMPROVEMENTSTOACHIEVEBEST
practice
MoveSMART®
We continue to see reductions in our
RIDDOR lost time accidents, major
injuries and dangerous occurrences.
Risk Perception Coaching
Our greater than one day LTA rate
remains an area for improvement as
we strive towards being in the top
quartile of World Association of Nuclear
Operators (WANO) performance.
Our focus remains on preventing all
injurious events and near misses. We
continue to engage our workforce
in identifying and removing risks
and in improving our safety rules
and procedures. The use of safety
representatives and leaders in driving
a positive safety culture will help our
continuous improvement in safety
performance.
22 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
Our employee led peer to peer
observation programme continues
with 39,737 observations undertaken
in 2013, our highest ever annual total.
The programme allows our workforce to
observe the safe and unsafe actions of
their colleagues. These are then trended
to enable focused areas of improvement.
Local charities benefit from the
observation programme and in 2014 we
will donate £45,000 to charities from our
observation performance.
In 2013, more than 3,000 employees were
trained in the MoveSMART® occupational
injury prevention programme for stretch,
flex, slip, trip and fall prevention.
We have provided coaching to the
workforce in risk recognition and
prevention. This focuses on enabling
individuals to acknowledge where risks
are in their actions and behaviours,
allowing them to prevent injuries.
Human Performance
Error Tools
The structured application of core human
performance tools will be implemented
across our facilities in 2014. These tools
improve everyday work and will further
support event free operations.
“Our peer to peer observation programme is about
our employees looking out for each other; having
a conversation with a colleague to reinforce safe
behaviours or prevent a potential unsafe or injurious act.”
Peter Oldfield, Head of Safety and Radiological Protection
&/#53!2%!
“I pass on my thanks to all contracting
companies for their contribution towards
maintaining safe, secure site stewardship.”
Tony Price, Managing Director
Contractor safety
award winners
#ONTRACTORSSAFETYFOCUS
Safety at Sellafield is the
responsibility of all of the people
who work there, and our contracting
community make up a large part
of that with more than 3,300
contractors working on the site.
Events and presentations held by the Sellafield
Contractors Safety Working Group ensure that there
are opportunities for the contracting community to
meet, share best practice and to learn from each
other.
The continued commitment of this community to
safe working has seen them achieve the lowest ever
RIDDOR rate with over two million safe man hours
worked.
Specific areas of exceptional or improved safety
performance were recognised at the annual
Contractors Safety Awards where Hertel, Shepley
Engineering, Costain and Amec received awards for
their achievements.
Our pursuit of excellence in safety applies to both
our employees and our contractors and we will
always look at how performance can be improved.
Continuous improvement
Improvement areas within the contracting
community in 2014 will include:
s
PROGRAMMEOFIMPROVEMENTSTOCLOSEGAPS
!
identified during traffic audits;
s
HEDEVELOPMENTOFASYSTEMWHICHWILLALLOW
4
contractors to access all of the standards
expected of them, in one place; and
s
REVIEWOFTHETRAININGUNDERTAKENBY3ELLAlELD
!
Ltd superintending officers and operation control
managers who manage contractors on site
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 23
Radiological
Safety
Health physics – changing air samples
Personal monitoring – change room
procedures
Overview
5%
The average Sellafield worker
receives only 5% of the
radiological dose limit in the UK
from working at Sellafield
1st
The first ever cohort of health
physics monitor apprentices
started their apprenticeship
in September 2013
24 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
Our radiological safety programme is focused on safeguarding our employees,
contractors and the public against the hazards of ionising radiation from our
operations.
We continuously maintain personal and environmental doses well below regulatory
limits and always as low as reasonably achievable.
The annual legal radiological limit for our workforce to
receive is 20mSv – the average Sellafield worker receives
less than 1mSv per year.
Improvements in contamination control continue with reductions in the number and
significance of personal and plant contamination events. Much of this has been
achieved through the dedication of local area contamination control groups.
Reportable contamination events
80
70
60
50
Our performance in reducing the number of
contamination events has improved consistently
with 2013 being our best year ever. We continue
to work with workforce radiological protection
working groups to further prevent contamination
events.
71
63
62
50
40
41
30
20
21
26
26
26
28
21
19
2012
2013
10
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
This metric provides the total number of personal
contamination events.
Sellafield Incident Reports (SIRs)
No. Sirs
30
28
25
20
23
15
10
18
17
18
18
13
13
12
7
5
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Dose Budget Control (Cumulative)
2009
2010
2011
8
2012
14
2013
Target
Sellafield Employees (incl ASW, CSW)
Contractors
5000
4000
This metric represents the number of radiological
events categorised as significant under Sellafield
Ltd’s sentencing scheme and includes examples
of doses greater than 10 per cent of a dose limit
or spillages of contamination.
Legacy contamination finds and an increase in
doses being greater than 10% of dose limit have
lead to a rise in the number of SIRs in 2013. As
we accelerate hazard reduction at Sellafield it is
imperative that we are ever vigilant about safety
performance and reporting.
This metric compares cumulative accrued dose
against predicted targets. Doses throughout 2013
remained well within set targets with no individual
exceeding 10 millisieverts in the calendar year.
3000
2000
1000
0
2012
P10
2012
P11
2012
P12
2013
P1
2013
P2
2013
P3
2013
P4
2013
P5
2013
P6
2013
P7
2013
P8
2013
P9
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 25
Radiological
2013
Safety
Best ever year in reducing the
NUMBEROFCONTAMINATIONEVENTS
A recruitment campaign,
internal and external to the
business, has seen 106
employees become health
physics monitors over the
past 18 months
Future focus
Our primary focus areas in 2014 include:
s #ONTINUEDREDUCTIONOFCONTAMINATEDAREASANDCONTAMINATIONLEVELS
through decontamination
First cohort of health physics apprentices
join Sellafield Ltd
s #ONTINUEDFOCUSONTHEREDUCTIONOFLOWLEVELPERSONALCONTAMINATION
events through coaching of individuals and improving plant radiological
conditions
s )MPROVINGWORKFORCERADIOLOGICALCAPABILITYTHROUGHTRAININGANDSKILL
sharing
Personal monitoring – change room
procedures
s #ONTINUEDENGAGEMENTANDCOOPERATIONWITHOURWORKFORCEANDSAFETY
representatives in reducing contamination events
Continuous improvement
Contamination Control
Working with best practice organisations,
Sellafield Ltd has been working on
UK and World Association of Nuclear
Operators (WANO) best practice
radiological protection groups producing
several Nuclear Industry Code of
Practices.
There are a number of contamination
control groups across site to identify and
implement improvements in local areas
to protect plant and personnel.
We continue to see improvements in
our radiological protection performance,
with less significant events whilst also
increasing our scope of radiological
work.
Our focus remains on preventing all
contamination events and unauthorised
doses whilst maintaining compliance
with all legislative requirement.
As with our conventional safety
performance, we continue to engage our
workforce in identifying and removing
radiological risks.
26 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
The use of local area improvements
groups in removing risks and using area
radiation protection advisors in driving
radiological improvements has brought
great benefits in continuously improving
our radiological protection safety culture.
Radiation Protection
Adviser Committee
This forum allows radiation protection
advisers across site to share ideas and
good practices, as well as identifying
training needs and design standards.
It provides radiological protection
assurance and sets radiological
protection standards and strategies.
“Radiological protection is hugely important at
Sellafield and health physics monitors play a key
part in ensuring the radiological safety of our
people and our site.”
Peter Oldfield, Head of Safety and Radiological
1mSv
&/#53!2%!
The average Sellafield
WORKERRECEIVESLESSTHAN
1 mSv per year from
WORKINGAT3ELLAlELD
$OSECOMPARISONSFORIONISINGRADIATION
Everyday, everywhere people all
over the world are exposed to
ionising radiation, almost all from
natural sources in the environment
or for medical reasons.
Radiation is nothing new. The earth is naturally
radioactive, so is the air we breathe, the food we
eat and the ground we stand on.
Ionising radiation has enough energy to cause
damage to cells which can increase the risk of
cancer later in life. However these risks to health are
actually low and ionising radiation is widely used
in cancer therapy. In general the health effects of
ionising radiation are dependent on the quantity of
radiation dose received.
In the UK the HPA (now part of Public Health
England) has calculated that on average people are
exposed to about 2.7 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation
a year.
The 2.7 mSv dose that people in the UK are
exposed to comes from a number of sources.
Many building materials contain low degrees of
natural radioactivity and radon gas seeps from the
ground into all buildings, so the largest exposure
is to naturally occurring radiation in homes and
workplaces. There are also significant contributions
from naturally occurring radioactivity in food and
from medical exposures.
Comparison of doses from
SOURCESOFEXPOSURE
(mSv)
Dose
Dental X-ray
0.005
135g bag of Brazil nuts
0.005
Chest X-ray
0.02
Transatlantic flight
0.07
Nuclear power station
worker
0.18
Average annual
occupational exposure
1.3
UK annual average radon
dose
2.7
CT scan of the chest
6.6
Average annual radon dose
to people in Cornwall
7.8
Annual exposure limit for
nuclear industry employees
20
Data courtesy of Public Health England
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 27
Occupational
Health
693
693 journeys were made to
Sellafield site and offsite locations.
during the cycle to work week
Content to be confirmed
Occupational health is a branch of health care which
specialises in the interaction between health and work.
A team of medical and occupational health professionals from chief medical officer,
senior doctors and nurses, physiotherapist and wellness coach provide a wealth of
services to support a healthy workforce and promote healthy lifestyle choices.
A round-the-clock emergency response is also available to the Sellafield site with one
of the five site surgeries providing 24 hour operations.
Services include first aid and minor treatment service; health surveillance and
promotion activities; personnel decontamination service; response to medical and
radiological incidents on the Sellafield site; support for the company’s substance
abuse policy; pre-employment medical assessments and support for employees on
sickness absence.
A range of occupational health
services help maintain a fit and
healthy workforce
The occupational health department is involved in the
company’s arrangements for compliance with a range
of regulations to maintain the health and safety of the
workforce.
Through our well-person screening programme and campaigns on healthy eating and
exercise, employees are encouraged to balance their work and home lives and lead
healthier lifestyles.
7th
We aim to maintain a fit and well workforce by eliminating ill health at work;
minimising radiations doses; encouraging employees to balance their work and home
lives; learning lessons from events, implementing corrective actions and seeking out
and using good practice.
This is the seventh year that
Sellafield Ltd has supported a
CYCLETOWORKSCHEME
8,000
Every year more than 8,000 medical
assessments are carried out under
the ionising Radiation Regulations
28 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
Wellness coach Sam Ayers and
Occupational Health nurse manager, Claire
Smith supporting one of the health and
safety events held across the business
“I am proud of the staff in our occupational health department
for their professionalism, teamwork, commitment and ability to
respond to changing demands and continue to provide a good
occupational health service in a nuclear environment.”
Dr Macgregor, Chief Medical Officer
Wellness programme
Continuous improvement
Our wellness programme focuses
on proactive health and lifestyle
improvements, prevention of soft
tissue injuries and enhancing employee
wellbeing.
Our primary focus areas in 2014 include:
We use the MoveSMART® occupational
injury prevention programme which aims
to ease the strains and stresses on the
body to help prevent injuries.
We promote safe cycling. Since 2007 we
have been part of a nationwide ‘Cycle to
Work’ scheme which enables workers
to hire and then the option to buy bikes
tax-free via ‘salary sacrifice’.
This year at Sellafield the first ever cycle
to work week took place and twenty-five
courses in a programme of Bikeability
training, a defensive cycling course
aimed at equipping attendees with skills
and knowledge for safe cycling, have
been held.
Our wellness programme
includes promoting
healthy food choices and
we’ve been working with
our contractor OneFM to
promote healthier options
including a trial of 500kcal
healthy meals.
Occupational health professionals host
a series of health promotional events
to provide advice on a range of health
topics from diet, back awareness,
diabetes awareness etc.
The physiotherapist and wellness coach
work with individuals on a one-to-one
basis, as part of a referral process from
our occupational health department to
improve employees’ lifestyles.
s 2EVIEWOURTASKANDWORKDRIVENMEDICALSURVEILLANCEPROGRAMMES
s 2EVIEWOURWELLPERSONSCREENINGPROGRAMMEANDPROMOTIONALHEALTH
ANDWELLBEINGACTIVITIES
s )NTRODUCEANEWMEDICALHEALTHCOMPUTERPROGRAMMEFORSTORAGEOF
occupational health records and organisational activities
s 0ROVIDEANOCCUPATIONALHEALTHSERVICETOEMPLOYEESMOVINGTO
off-site locations
&/#53!2%!
0RIDEOF3ELLAlELD,TD
The Pride of Sellafield Ltd awards recognise individuals who go the
extra mile to help an individual, group or community in need.
This includes life savers and responder awards. Among the winners in 2013
was Ryan Rickerby who came to the aid of a construction worker when
a disused mine shaft opened up underneath the area the individual was
working on close to Ryan’s home.
A team from AMEC picked up life saver and responder awards for their
actions in attending to a cyclist injured on one of site’s roads. Travelling
to work one morning on an AMEC crew bus, the group came across a
cyclist lying in the road. The passengers attended to the casualty; promptly
summoned AMEC first aiders who were in a nearby compound who helped
the casualty until Sellafield Fire and Rescue Service arrived.
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 29
The People
Behind Safety
“My role is to promote our safety
standards, embedding nuclear safety in
a project team which includes both
Sellafield Ltd and supply chain employees”
Damian Burns
EH&S Manager Major Projects
“I work with teams across the company
and regulators to ensure we safely
manage and reduce emissions and
wastes from Sellafield”
“Our wellness programme
focuses on proactive
health and lifestyle
improvements to support
a healthier lifestyle for our
employees”
Jenny Jennings, Compliance Advisor,
Environmental Management
Sam Ayers
Sellafield Ltd Wellness Coach
“I help our decommissioning
teams ensure that the
environmental impact of
their work is as low as
possible”
“I provide safety advice
to people working in
encapsulation plants,
helping colleagues to carry
out their duties safely”
“I advise colleagues at
Risley and remote offices to
ensure compliance with UK
health and safety legislation
and company requirements”
Jim Mawby, Environmental Advisor,
Decommissioning
Sharon Reynolds
Safety Advisor
Andrew Milbourne, Occupational Health
and Safety Manager
30 Sellafield Ltd Safety Report
All of our employees play a part in delivering a strong safety
performance – they are our extended safety team. Many
employees also have a specific safety role in helping keep our
people, facilities and our environment safe. Our people are
committed to continually improving safety across our business.
“I help ensure that we meet our
requirements under the Ionising
Radiation Regulations 1999 for dose
monitoring and dose control”
Amanda Crayston
Radiological Services Department
“My role is to support and
promote internal regulation
by providing independent
oversight and challenge on
day-to-day work practices
and activities”
“By assessing radiological conditions
we are able to provide appropriate
radiological safety advice to keep our
people, plants and the environment safe”
e”
George Heslop
Site Inspector
Jack Pike
Health Physics Monitor Apprentice
“The team I work in provides
advice and support to
employees and teams to
ensure effective control of
chemical hazards”
“I am responsible for the
Site Assurance Framework,
which helps ensure that
our processes are being
implemented correctly”
“My role in maintaining
our employees’ health and
safety is the prevention of
work related ill health and
injury”
Jade Beecroft, Technical Specialist
Trainee, Chemical Safety
Ricky Smith
Site Audit Manager
Claire Smith
Occupational Health Nurse Manager
Sellafield Ltd Safety Report 31
Sellafield site
Sellafield, Seascale
Cumbria CA20 1PG
www.sellafieldsites.com