Office for Nuclear Regulation
An agency of HSE

Our work - Key themes

Management of radioactive wastes

A Statement by the Chief Inspector to the European Parliament

Standards and guidance

  • COCO 2 - A model to assess the economic impact of an accident
    A report jointly funded by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and HSE. The COCO-2 report is a model for assessing the potential economic costs likely to arise off-site following an accident at a nfauclear reactor. It builds on work presented in the model COCO-1 developed in 1991 by considering economic effects in more detail, and by including more sources of loss. It describes the methodology and discusses the results of an example calculation. This calculation is only for illustrative purposes on the effects of the new modelling compared with the original COCO and does not imply any figures for any site or accident sequence.
    This work has been widely mentioned in our regulatory work and publicly during the development of HSE's Safety Assessment Principles for nuclear facilities (SAPs06), an example being T/AST/005 Demonstration of ALARP
  • Environmental impact assessments for decommissioning nuclear reactors
    New guidance on compliance with Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999 (as amended 2006).
  • The licensing of nuclear installations
    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.
  • Applying for a nuclear site licence for new nuclear power stations: A step-by-step guide
    This guide sets out the actions required in preparing for a nuclear site licence. It is aimed primarily at organisations wishing to obtain a licence in order to construct a nuclear power station (many of which will be new to the UK's nuclear licensing regime), and supplements more general information on the licensing of nuclear installations in the UK
  • Safety assessment principles for nuclear plants
  • Permissioning inspection - Technical assessment guides
  • Decommissioning on nuclear licensed sites
  • The tolerability of risk from nuclear power stations
    This document sets out in detail the basis for HSE's assessments of civil nuclear risks and their approach, as the licensing authority, to its control. It is a straightforward account written for the general public. Among other things, it explains the nature of the risk from radiation and how this risk is calculated when deciding whether to license nuclear installations.
  • Site licence condition
    This is a copy of the standard set of conditions that HSE attaches to all UK Nuclear Site Licences. Compliance with the conditions, and any arrangements made pursuant to the conditions, is a legal requirement under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended)."
  • Human costs of a nuclear accident
    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)

Control and instrumentation

  • The use of computers in safety-critical applications
  • 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.
  • Licensing of safety critical software for nuclear reactors. Common position of seven European nuclear regulators and authorised technical support organisations (Revision 2010)
    This document describes the work of a group of regulator and safety authorities' control and instrumentation experts, which has been supported by the EC and WENRA. The document provides common technical positions on licensing issues raised by the design and operation of safety critical software used in nuclear power plants for the implementation of safety functions. It includes revisions of the common position and recommended practices of the EC consensus document published in May 2000: "Common position of nuclear regulators for the licensing of safety critical software for nuclear reactors (EUR 19265)"

Emergency preparedness

  • Civil Nuclear Emergency Planning - Consolidated Guidance
    The arrangements for responding to emergencies at civil nuclear sites are co-ordinated and agreed by the Nuclear Emergency Planning and Liaison Group (NEPLG) which brings together representatives of responding Agencies and nuclear operators under DBERR's chairmanship. This a live version of the guidance which is updated as necessary.
  • Programme of Nuclear Emergency Exercises
    A programme of exercises at UK nuclear sites is carried out to test emergency readiness. Level 1 (civil) / Grade C (MoD) exercises are tests of nuclear operator's on site arrangements and are witnessed and assessed by HMNII and /or MoD as appropriate. Level 2 / Grade B exercises test off-site response plans made under the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) (REPPIR) Regulations 2001 and are assessed by HMNII. Each year one Level 2 and one Grade B exercise are upgraded to also test Lead Government Department response arrangements and are identified as Level 3 or Grade A respectively.
  • Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2001 (REPPIR)
    Background, guidance and associated links related to the Regulations.

Directgov - Business Link

Updated 14.11.11