Britain's Office for Nuclear regulation said that findings from the themed inspection of the Hinkley Point C nuclear build in Somerset showed five key supply chain areas where improvements could be made, but noted that “good progress had been made with improvements of some areas of supply chain management.”
Because of the number of recommended improvements cited, the ONR gave the construction site and “amber” status, which means “some arrangements are below standard and ONR is seeking improvements,” the agency said.
The inspection was prompted by supply chain concerns that could be traced to the 2016 findings of falsified records sourced at Areva's Creusot Forge in France.
The controversy began in 2015 with the discovery of high-carbon anomalies in the bottom vessel head at the Flamanville Unit 3 construction project, which prompted a closer look at the forge's components and paperwork trail. In the subsequent investigation, numerous paperwork errors, falsifications and omissions were found.
With the inspection and the report, the British regulator said that the agency had launched its new “themed” inspection process. This one, focused on supply chain issues, also involved cooperation with the French nuclear safety regulator Autoriite de Surete Nucleaire (ASN).
In Britain, 11 inspectors were dispatched to carry out the process that also included a look at quality control processes at the construction site. The inspectors examined “the robustness of NNB GenCo's arrangements for ensuring the quality of plant structures, systems and components for the new nuclear power plant,” the regulator said. The inspection took place over seven days in both England and France.