Skip to content

Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston - Inspection ID: 53454

Executive summary

Date(s) of inspection: July 2024

Aim of inspection

To undertake a regulatory compliance inspection of the general fire precautions arrangements against all duties imposed by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO), (Articles 8 to 22), or by regulations made under Article 24. In addition, to gain assurance that the LC11 (emergency arrangements) are suitable and adequate.

ONR has selected to undertake this inspection to follow up on previous inspection Life Fire findings in this Tech Centre (dated 7/11/23), and to gain access to A82 premises, which was previously unavailable due to unplanned maintenance.

Subject(s) of inspection

  • Fire (Life Safety) Compliance Inspection - Rating: Green

Key findings, inspector's opinions and reasons for judgement made

A life fire safety inspection of the A82 facility was carried out, as access was not available due to unplanned maintenance on a previous planned inspection.

I sampled the fire risk assessment, maintenance and testing records for fire safety related systems and checked the understanding and training records of operations staff.

Overall, I am content the licensee demonstrated an adequate understanding of the duties required under the RRO, and that arrangements for life fire safety were suitable and sufficient. Areas for improvement were identified and these observations were provided to AWE, and requested that the fire risk assessment is reviewed to take these comments into consideration.

No significant life fire safety shortfalls were identified. Therefore, I rate the inspection on the compliance against the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 as GREEN (no formal action).

Conclusion

Overall, I am content the licensee demonstrated an adequate understanding of the duties required under the RRO, and that arrangements for life fire safety were suitable and sufficient. Areas for improvement were identified and these observations were provided to AWE. No significant life fire safety shortfalls were identified. Therefore, I rate the inspection on the compliance against the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 as GREEN (No formal action).

This rating is in line with the established ONR guidance as follows:

  • Relevant good practice generally met, or minor shortfalls identified, when compared with appropriate benchmarks.
  • Relatively minor, if any, deficiencies in compliance arrangements.
  • No significant shortfalls identified in the delivery of safety, safeguards or security functions.