Improvement Notice served at Heysham Nuclear Power Station for shortfalls in safety procedures

The notice was served after some of the equipment which is used to measure reactor power was incorrectly configured during the reactor’s restart process following a planned outage in April 2020.

Operators quickly detected the error during the start-up process at very low power, and the restart was safely aborted.

A range of other safety barriers remained in place at the time of the incident, including other equipment to independently measure reactor power, and the safety of workers and the public was not compromised.

EDF Energy promptly reported the event and ONR was satisfied that appropriate measures had been taken before the reactor was allowed to restart.

The circumstances have subsequently been investigated by ONR, as the independent regulator, and an Improvement Notice served to prevent a recurrence.

Mark Lees, station director at Heysham 2 power station said: “We accept the ONR’s position on this issue which relates to one of our ‘detection’ systems not being set up properly.

“We have since carried out a full investigation and we have put actions in place to ensure this cannot happen again. It is important to stress that at no time was there any risk to the public.”

EDF Energy must comply with the notice by 30 April, 2021.