Office for Nuclear Regulation
An agency of HSE

About ONR - Background

Introduction

Safety

Under UK law (the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974) employers are responsible for ensuring the safety of their workers and the public, and this is just as true for a nuclear site as for any other. This responsibility is reinforced for nuclear installations by the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (NIA), as amended. Under the relevant statutory provisions of the NIA, a site cannot have nuclear plant on it unless the user has been granted a site licence by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The NIA stipulates that only a corporate body, or in other words, a legally united body that can act as one individual, such as a registered company or a public body, can hold such a licence. This licensing function is administered on HSE's behalf by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). The legal regime is complemented by the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRRs) which provide for protection of workers in all industries from ionising radiations and by the generality of health and safety regulation which ONR also enforces on nuclear sites.

ONR, acting for HSE, sets out in conditions attached to a site licence the general safety requirements to deal with the risks on a nuclear site. Licensees comply with these in different ways; such as, with a safety case to meet a stage in the plant's life, or with arrangements and procedures to meet a licence condition. Guidance is also set out in the safety assessment principles, which ONR has developed for its own use, and made available to the public.

ONR seeks to keep up and improve safety standards for work with ionising radiations at licensed nuclear installations. It does so through its licensing powers by assessing safety cases and inspecting sites for licence compliance. It sets national regulatory standards and helps to develop international nuclear safety standards.

Security

Office for Nuclear Regulation’s Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) is the security regulator for the UK's civil nuclear industry. It is responsible for approving security arrangements within the industry and enforcing compliance. OCNS conducts its regulatory activities on behalf of the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) under the authority of the Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003 (NISR 03) . OCNS also undertakes vetting of nuclear industry personnel with access to sensitive nuclear material or information. It works in close conjunction with nuclear security policy officials in DECC and with other government departments and agencies, and with overseas counterparts.

Safeguards

The UK Safeguards Office (UKSO) oversees the application of nuclear safeguards in the UK to ensure that the UK complies with its international safeguards obligations. Nuclear safeguards are measures to verify that States comply with their international obligations not to use nuclear materials (plutonium, uranium and thorium) for nuclear explosives purposes. Global recognition of the need for such verification is reflected in the requirements of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) for the application of safeguards by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Also, the Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (the Euratom Treaty) includes requirements for the application of safeguards by the European Commission. UKSO works with the UK nuclear industry and others with safeguards reporting requirements to monitor the application of the safeguards measures and ensure that the UKs Additional Protocol (measures to improve the efficiency and strengthen the effectiveness of the IAEA safeguards system) is implemented.

Transport

Regulatory responsibility for the transport of radioactive materials moved from the Department for Transport to ONR in October 2011.

The Radioactive Materials Transport team (RMT) regulates the transport of radioactive material by road and rail in Great Britain. They also advise on its transport by sea and air within the United Kingdom.

Organisation and responsibilities of the Office for Nuclear Regulation

Background – Office for Nuclear Regulation

On 8th February 2011, a written ministerial statement by the Rt. Hon. Chris Grayling MP announced the Government’s intention to bring forward legislation to create a new independent statutory body outside of the HSE to regulate the nuclear power industry. The new statutory corporation will be known as the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and will take on the relevant functions that were carried out by the Health and Safety Executive and the Department for Transport. The ONR will be a new independent regulator, formally responsible in law for delivering its regulatory functions. The creation of the ONR will consolidate civil nuclear and radioactive transport safety and security regulation in one place.
Pending the legislation, and in the interim, the Health and Safety Executive has taken steps to establish the ONR as a non-statutory body from 1 April 2011, signalling the commitment to securing an appropriately resourced and responsive regulator for the future challenges of the nuclear sector. The Government will review the functions and processes of the interim body in order to inform its planned legislation.

In April 2007, the security activities of the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) and the operational nuclear safeguards work of the then Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), now Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, along with associated staff were transferred to the HSE.

Independent advice

Although ONR has most of the expertise it needs to form its own judgements, it uses consultants and has a nuclear safety studies programme geared to its own needs. These give ONR an independent source of specialist advice. ONR can also call on specialists in other parts of HSE. It uses this wide range of contacts to help with its assessment and inspection work and to gain data and information about faults and operating experiences world-wide. Its consultants come from universities, engineering firms and national organisations, such as the TWI and the British Geological Survey. Each year HSE produces an Annual Research Index. This lists the issues that HSE considers need more research and will form the basis of the research procured under the HSC Co-ordinated Programme of Nuclear Safety Research.

International work

ONR gives specialist assistance to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Nuclear Energy Agency and Euratom. ONR also shares information with nuclear regulators in countries such as Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine and the United States. Much work has also been done to see what may be needed to enable ONR to licence foreign reactor designs for use in the UK. ONR also offers assistance to the EC's various regulatory assistance programmes to countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

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Updated 21.12.11