NRS LC28 structural inspections: improving safety through digital innovation

Safety is paramount in the nuclear industry, which is why site safety inspections require the utmost precision, rigour, and organisation.

Under Licence Condition 28 (LC28), nuclear site licensees are required to undertake inspections of all aspects of a nuclear plant that affect safety. Between 2020 and 2023 AtkinsRéalis undertook LC28 structural inspections at five NRS sites across the UK (Berkeley, Hinkley Point A, Bradwell, Sizewell A and Oldbury).

Client challenges

Previous inspection campaigns undertaken by NRS had faced significant technical challenges. These included:

• Poor consistency of data between each inspection campaign and between sites.
• Data spread across multiple databases.
• Multiple sources of inspection data which required significant effort to collate and check.
• Significant effort to convert inspection notes into final reports.
• Inefficiency in manually copying and transferring data.

Our solution

To deliver the campaign of inspections, AtkinsRéalis proposed a new commercial approach. Traditionally, NRS sites procured and managed their own LC28 inspections. Some sites performed them using ‘in-house’ SQEP (Suitably Qualified and Experienced Person resource). AtkinsRéalis proposed to group sites under a single contract. The key benefits of this approach were:

• Cost savings due to economies of scale (less time spent on procurement, project management and mobilisation)
• Efficiencies through repetition
• Consistency in delivery – the same staff working to the same process
• An opportunity to review lessons learned from across the five sites and share best practice

To tackle the project, AtkinsRéalis developed a digital delivery approach using our in-house structural inspection tool ASTRID (Atkins Structural Inspection Device). Initially created for use on bridge inspections, our team of Engineers and Data Scientists adapted ASTRID to make it compliant with the requirements of S-268 (the NRS Company Standard for undertaking LC28 structural inspections).

Essentially, ASTRID takes all of the traditional ‘paper-based’ inspection processes and incorporates them into a single digital workflow which is managed via an iPad App. Key features of ASTRID are:

• Predefined inputs parameters selected from drop-down menus ensure consistency.
• Automatic ‘tagging’ of defect photographs.
• The ability to dictate notes on site rather than type or write them by hand.
• The ability to mark-up PDF drawings digitally.
• Automated reporting using client specific report templates.
• Automated exporting of inspection data back into the NRS Structural Inspections Database.

Outcome

By harnessing AtkinsRéalis’ people, data and technology, we were able to deliver the following improvements:

• Faster inspections (~30% quicker)
• Greater consistency between inspections and between sites
• Faster report writing (up to 50% time saving in some cases)

Working closely with the site system engineers, AtkinsRéalis deployed SQEP inspection staff from our offices local to the NRS sites; staff from Bristol supported the inspections at Berkeley, Oldbury and Hinkley while staff from our London offices supported the inspections at Dungeness and Sizewell. Being able to call upon staff who were close to the site meant that AtkinsRéalis could offer a responsive service, deploying to site at short notice if required.

Future work

AtkinsRéalis’ ability to demonstrate the value in adopting a digital delivery model led to several follow-on pieces of work being commissioned by NRS under the inspections contract. These included:

• A study to investigate the potential for locating structural defects in a 3D model and linking these to ASTRID.
• A study to examine the potential for using AI to detect defects in concrete.
• A scoping study to investigate how tools such as Microsoft Power BI could be used to visualise and interrogate the inspection data.
• The use of remote robotics to undertake inspections and surveys in hazardous areas.

Much has changed since AtkinsRéalis’ pioneered the use of digital inspection tools in support of LC28. With digital technologies developing at an exponential rate, our focus in now on linking together the very latest in Building Information Modelling (BIM), Digital Asset Management, Robotics and Data Analytics to provide asset management solutions for the entire nuclear plant lifecycle.