Live issues

• Geological Disposal
  Information on HSE’s role in the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely implementation process with respect to the development of a geological disposal facility.
• Next stage of GDA starts
  On 6 June 2008, HSE and the Environment Agency wrote to the Government formally announcing that they were starting the next, more detailed stage of the Generic Design Assessment process (GDA).
• Procurement of Technical support services to the Nuclear Directorate, June 2008
  HSE is seeking to appoint a number of suppliers to a framework agreement for the provision of technical support to its Nuclear Directorate (ND). The support will be required to enable ND to complete their programme of work relating to the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process and the subsequent site specific licensing process for Nuclear New Build. Interested parties are invited to download and complete a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) by no later than 5pm on 04 July 2008.
• Annual Civil Plutonium and Uranium Figures as of 31 December 2007
  The United Kingdom Safeguards Office (UKSO) have published figures on the amounts of Plutonium and Uranium held in civil locations.
• Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee (NuSAC) Open Meeting 3 July 2008
  NuSAC's, next meeting to be held on 3 July 2008, will be open to the public. It will take place at the Health and Safety Executive's offices, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS. Entry is by ticket only.
• Major hazards conference, 29 April 2008
  The conference will provide a forum for invited chief executives and other industry, regulatory, trade union and government leaders to discuss and share experiences on how top level commitment and leadership can make such a huge difference to securing the strong, positive safety cultures so important if major incidents are to be avoided.
• Human Costs of a Nuclear Accident [232 KB]
  This report is in response to an invitation Health and Safety Executive to advise on the valuation of health effects to radiation, to inform a model being developed by the Health Protection Agency to assess the economic consequences of an accidental release of radioactive material. (March 2008)
• UK/France summit declaration: Communiqué on nuclear matters, 27 March 2008
• Revision to the HAL Stocks Specification [55KB]
  Under Licence Condition 32, HSE has revised the specification of limits to the stock of liquid High Level Waste (HLW) stored at Sellafield. Some of the information in this letter has been withheld under Exemption 38 of the FOI Act. (March 2008)
• HSE decision on the adequacy of the Periodic Safety Review for continued operation of Dungeness B (January 2008)
• NII statement regarding its enforcement action taken at UKAEA's Winfrith and Harwell sites under Licence Condition 35 - January 2008
• Joint Guidance on Radioactive Waste Management - Part 1: The Management of Higher Activity Radioactive Waste on Nuclear Licensed Sites
  Guidance from HSE, EA and SEPA to Nuclear Licensees - updated 14 December 2007.
• Nuclear materials balance - 2006/07
  The annual publication of figures which illustrate how civil nuclear materials (plutonium, uranium) are handled and accounted for at licensed sites in the UK.
• The United Kingdom's fourth national report on compliance with the convention on nuclear safety obligations [640KB]
  This report has been prepared by the United Kingdom (UK) to meet the requirement of Article 5 of the Convention on Nuclear Safety. It considers each of the Convention's obligations and explains how the UK addresses them. More information on the Convention of Nuclear Safety can be found at:
  • Department for Business Enterprise Regulatory Reform (DBERR)
  • International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
• Annual Civil Plutonium and Uranium Figures as of 31 December 2006
  The United Kingdom Safeguards Office (UKSO) have published figures on the amounts of Plutonium and Uranium held in civil locations
• OCNS Annual Report 2006 / 2007 [213KB] 
  OCNS has produced an annual report entitled "The state of security in the civil nuclear industry and the effectiveness of security regulation". The document fulfils the requirements placed on the Director, Civil Nuclear Security to report on the state of the security in the civil nuclear industry and to provide an assessment of the effectiveness of regulation in the UK.
• Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station periodic safety review
  Statement of progress on follow-up work, June 2007
• Managing Competence for Safety-related Systems
  

  The Health and Safety Executive in partnership with the Institution of Engineering Technology (IET) and the British Computer Society (BCS), have published guidance to help companies manage the competence of staff who are involved with electronic safety-related systems e.g. access protection for nuclear reprocessing, fly-by-wire in aircraft, shutdown systems in the petrochemical industry and offshore and safeguarding arrangements for machinery and industrial automation. The guidance is published in two parts and is available free via the links below.

  • Part 1: Key Guidance [690KB]
  • Part 2: Supplementary Material [1.1MB]
• Environmental Impact Assessments for Decommissioning Nuclear Reactors
  New guidance on compliance with Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999 (as amended 2006).
• Agreements to reactor start ups
  In late May NII issued agreements to allow start up of reactors at three power stations: Hinkley Point B, Hunterston B and Oldbury.
• The storage of high level liquid waste at BNFL Sellafield
  HSE has published a series of reports on the key safety issues associated with Highly Active Liquor (HAL) storage and our regulatory approach to these.
• HSE decision on the Periodic Safety Reviews for continued operation of Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B
• The Licensing of nuclear installations [191KB]
  This document describes how HSE regulates the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of any nuclear installation for which a nuclear site licence is required under the Nuclear Installations Act. It replaces the HSE publication 'Nuclear Site Licences under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended) - Notes for Applicants [HSG120]' issued in 1994.
• Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) leak investigation report now available
• New nuclear reactors - guidance
• Nuclear Safety Research FP7, Seventh Research Framework Programme
• HSE stresses importance of nuclear industry safety standards following Sellafield sentencing

• Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) final report and recommendations to Government on the long term management of the UK's higher activity radioactive waste