United Kingdom

Nuclear regulatory authority

The designated UK Nuclear Regulatory Authority responsible for regulating safety and security is the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). ONR is an agency of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) pending relevant legislation to create ONR as a statutory corporation. ONR brings together the safety and security functions of  HSE's Nuclear Directorate (incorporating the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, Civil Nuclear Security and the UK Safeguards Office) and from summer 2011 the Department for Transport's Radioactive Materials Transport division. 

Nuclear activities

The following facilities are regulated by the UK Nuclear Regulatory Authority: 14 operating advanced gas-cooled reactors at seven nuclear power stations; four operating magnox gas-cooled reactors at two nuclear power stations; one operating pressurised water reactor; one operating research reactor; one supplier of radioactive healthcare products on three sites; a uranium enrichment plant, a nuclear fuel manufacture plant, and a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at Sellafield; radioactive waste conditioning and storage facilities at Sellafield and on decommissioning sites; 22 permanently closed (defuelling or decommissioning) magnox gas-cooled reactors on nine sites; and five 5 decommissioning nuclear research facilities, including research reactors, on five sites. 

The Nuclear Regulatory Authority does not regulate the use of radioactive sources or the transport of nuclear and radioactive materials unless these activities take place on a licensed nuclear site. Other agencies have responsibilities for regulating environmental emissions, depending on where the site is.

Radioactive waste and spent fuel management

Main legal instruments

The main legal instruments on these issues are:

The Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 which establishes HSE and sets out framework of requirements to ensure safety of workers and the public associated with all places of work; Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended) establishes system of licensing for nuclear installations; Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999 implements European Council Directive on Basic Safety Standards for radiation protection; The Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999 implements European Council Directive 85/337; The Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001 implements European Council Directive 96/29; The Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003; Freedom of Information Act 2000 makes provision for the disclosure of information held by public authorities; and Environmental Information Regulations 2004, as above in respect of information about activities which might affect the environment.