An improvement notice has been served on a specialist rail freight company that carries nuclear material by the industry’s watchdog.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation announced today that it has served the notice on Direct Rail Services.
The company routinely transports radioactive material by rail, including flasks containing irradiated fuel, between EDF’s advanced gas-cooled reactors from its nuclear plants to Sellafield in West Cumbria Cumbria.
It said in November last year, Direct Rail Services Limited notified the Office for Nuclear Regulation that it was temporarily suspending movements of radioactive goods after it discovered that its appointed subcontractor was not complying with applicable regulations.
It was found that the subcontractor was not registered for certain practices involving radioactive material, did not have an appointed Radiation Protection Advisor or Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor in place, had not performed suitable and sufficient risk assessments and adequate training for staff was not provided.
DRS, which is part of Nuclear Transport Solutions, stopped transport movements for five days until it was satisfied this had been rectified and operations restarted.
There was no harm caused to the public or the environment as a result of these regulatory shortfalls, the Office for Nuclear Regulation said.
Following the office’s enquiries, it was also determined that various pieces of legislation had been, and continued to be, contravened by DRS and its subcontractor for the duration of the contract award.
Along with IRR17, the non-compliances related to the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009; the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) Edition; and the Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID) 2023.
ONR’s enquiries concluded that DRS had an inadequate management system for the procurement of nuclear services and their supply chain management revealed shortfalls relating to auditing and surveillance activity that failed to identify that its subcontractor was not compliant.
As a result, ONR issued an improvement notice to DRS in February this year. DRS lodged an appeal against the notice but this appeal was subsequently withdrawn.
Russell Bowden, an ONR Transport Competent Authority inspector, said: “Direct Rail Services’ notification to us at the end of last year identified shortfalls relating to their sub-contractor contravening applicable legislation.
“This means that Direct Rail Services, who engaged the services of the subcontractor carried Class 7 dangerous goods in Great Britain in breach of the legislation and so was also in contravention of the law.
“Our enquiries revealed that DRS’s management system had wider shortcomings in relation to procurement of nuclear services and failings with their processes for supply chain management and incident management and reporting.
“We will continue to engage positively with the dutyholder during the period of the improvement notice to ensure positive progress is made to address the identified shortfalls.”
DRS, which has a depot in Carlisle, must comply with the improvement notice by August 31.
An NTS spokesman said: “In November last year, we identified some shortfalls within our supply chain practices which led to us notifying the Office for Nuclear Regulation.
“Following a formal review process, we were subsequently issued with an improvement notice.
“While there were no consequences to public safety or the environment as a result of these shortfalls, we take our regulatory obligations seriously and are fully committed to meeting the highest standards expected by our regulators, customers, and stakeholders.
“We have already taken steps to strengthen our internal processes, and we will continue to work with ONR to ensure we comply with the improvement notice.”
