This page helps those with responsibilities during the life cycle of fusion energy facilities know their duties in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).
They can include:
- designers
- installers
- operators
A fusion energy facility includes research, development, demonstration and commercial facilities that use fusion technologies.
How fusion is regulated
Fusion is primarily regulated by 2 bodies to ensure safety, security and environmental protection:
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE): oversees workplace health, safety compliance, and radiological safety
- relevant environmental regulator: regulates the environmental impact of operations, including the use and disposal of radioactive substances and waste
The environmental regulator depends on where the facility is located:
- England – Environment Agency (on GOV.UK)
- Scotland – Scottish Environmental Protection Agency
- Wales – Natural Resources Wales
General health and safety responsibilities
If you design, install or operate fusion energy facilities, you must comply with health and safety law, this includes the following regulations.
Managing risks to your workers, other workers and the public. This is a legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations you must assess risks and put in place appropriate controls to manage them.
If you are constructing a fusion energy facility, you have responsibilities to apply the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations during the construction of a fusion energy facility.
Find out more about your health and safety duties under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations.
Under the Electricity at Work Regulations, you will also need to take precautions to prevent danger from electricity in work activities. In addition, you must assess and control pressure systems, and carry out appropriate examinations and inspections, as required by the Pressure System Safety Regulations.
Radiation
If you work with ionising radiation, under the Ionising Radiations Regulations, you must:
- assess and manage your risks
- limit exposure and not exceed dosage limits
- put contingency plans in place where necessary
- appoint a radiation protection adviser where necessary
- submit any relevant notifications, registrations and consent applications for work with ionising radiation
Find out more about ionising radiation.
If your facility uses high-strength magnets and high-powered lasers, you will need to limit exposure and keep within limits set out in the Control of Electromagnetic Fields at Work Regulations and the Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations.
Dangerous and hazardous substances
You must protect workers and others from fire and explosion risks, including risks from fusion fuel sources such as tritium. This is required by the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations.
If you hold 25 tonnes or more of a dangerous substance on site, you must notify your local fire and rescue service in writing and display warning signs. This is required by the Dangerous Substances (Notification and Marking of Sites) Regulations.
You must assess and control any substances that are hazardous to health, including established materials and new or novel ones used in fusion. You must limit exposure and keep within relevant exposure levels. This is required by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations.
If your site holds dangerous substances above qualifying thresholds, you may need to meet additional requirements, including notification. Check whether substances you use, for example for cooling, bring you into scope of the Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations.
Emergency planning
You must have appropriate emergency procedures in place for fusion energy facilities.
Read more about emergency planning responsibilities.
If the site exceeds qualifying thresholds of radioactive material, these responsibilities may apply in addition to any requirements under Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations (REPPIR).
Notifying your fire and rescue service
Under the Dangerous Substances (Notification and Marking of Sites) Regulations, if you are an operator of a fusion energy facility which holds 25 tonnes or more of dangerous substances, you must notify your local fire and rescue service to inform their emergency response planning.
Find your fire service on:
- Fire England
- Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
- Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service
- South Wales Fire and Rescue Service
- North Wales Fire and Rescue Service
Planning permission for fusion energy facilities
Planning permission for fusion energy facilities is a matter for local authorities.
HSE has a limited role in the planning process. We should only be consulted by developers and local authorities on planning proposals that appear to fall within known consultation zones around:
- major hazard establishments
- major accident hazard pipelines
- licensed explosives sites
Some fusion energy facilities may be subject to the Planning Act 2008, particularly where a development is considered a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).
Find out more about NSIPs and HSE’s role with them.
Further guidance and training on working with fusion
You can get training on the hazards associated with fusion energy, such as assessing and managing the risks of dangerous and hazardous substances.
Read more about:
Engaging with HSE
If you're planning or developing a fusion energy facility in Great Britain, and you still have outstanding regulatory questions after reading the guidance, you can contact HSE to request an introductory meeting.
The purpose of this meeting is to understand the regulatory framework, technology and timescales of the project. You do not need to have met with HSE before starting regulatory processes, such as applying for ionising radiation consent.
Before contacting HSE, you should have:
- plans in place, or under consideration, to establish a site in Great Britain
- a baseline or conceptual design
- identified potential locations for the facility
- expected project timescales and an understanding of the facility’s expected scale and inventory
If you have reached this stage, you can email HSE at [email protected]. We will ask for some additional information about your project to help us decide whether an introductory meeting would be useful at this point.
The Environment Agency has a similar contact process. Where requested, HSE and the Environment Agency will aim to hold a joint introductory meeting.