"To protect people and society from the hazards of the nuclear industry."
HSE regulates the nuclear industry through its Nuclear Directorate (ND). The Directorate's primary goal is to ensure that those it regulates have no major nuclear accidents. It is responsible for the UK safety regulation of nuclear power stations, nuclear chemical plants, decommissioning, defence nuclear facilities, nuclear safety research and strategy and for civil nuclear operational security and safeguards matters.
Through its own regulation and in partnership with other regulators and agencies, ND works to deliver a substantial reduction in nuclear industry precursor incidents, which are occurrences having the potential to lead to an accident. By seeking this, it aims to meet HSE’s strategic vision: 'To reduce the likelihood of low frequency, high impact catastrophic incidents while ensuring that Great Britain maintains its capabilities in those industries strategically important to the country’s economy and social infrastructure.'
ND also takes responsibility for approving security arrangements within the industry, and for securing compliance with those arrangements. It also oversees safeguard measures to verify that States comply with their international obligations not to use nuclear materials for nuclear explosives purposes.
In anticipation of the challenges that the UK nuclear sector is likely to face in the future, the Government has decided to restructure HSE’s Nuclear Directorate (ND). The proposals make for the creation of a new independent Nuclear Statutory Corporation (NSC) under the auspices of HSE. To achieve this new status, ND has implemented a Transition Programme.
