Office for Nuclear Regulation

We held bilateral meetings with the Norwegian and Japanese nuclear regulators last week, supporting our continued collaboration and knowledge sharing.   Our engagements with Norway's Direktoratet for strålevern og atomsikkerhet (DSA) and Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) focused on ongoing collaboration, inspector training and regulatory approaches, and the safety of civil nuclear facilities in Ukraine.   In our meeting with the DSA representatives, we discussed our upcoming visit to Norway focusing on decommissioning, while our meeting with the NRA covered their ongoing secondment programme to ONR.   The meetings took place as part of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s 8th Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management in Vienna. These engagements support us to learn from other countries while sharing our expertise.

Mark Foy, our Chief Executive and Chief Nuclear Inspector, met with Pierre-Marie Abadie, President of the French Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ASNR), at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 8th Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. Topics discussed at the bilateral meeting in Vienna included the formation of ANSR in January 2025 (the result of the merger of the French Nuclear Safety Authority and the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety), the use of Technical Support Frameworks by regulatory bodies and ongoing collaboration. Our engagement with fellow national nuclear regulators helps to influence the development of international standards and guidance for safety, security and safeguards to promote and sustain high standards globally and within the UK.

Paul Fyfe, our Deputy Chief Nuclear Inspector, delivered a presentation outlining our approach to outcome-focused nuclear security regulation at the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) Cyber Security Summit in London.   Paul’s presentation was entitled ‘Regulating High Risk CNI - How Regulators and Operators Can Collaborate to Drive Cyber Maturity’.   Paul, said: “Our outcome-focused nuclear security regulation is about ONR informing the dutyholder ‘what’ it needs to achieve, while allowing them the flexibility in ‘how’ they achieve it. This approach recognises that there may be a variety of ways for the dutyholder to achieve the same positive result.   “Outcome-focused regulation has enhanced dutyholders’ understanding of risk, improved organisational security culture and encouraged innovation and efficiencies.     “Collaboration between dutyholders and ourselves as the independent regulator is essential to achieve shared goals around proportionate cyber security and compliance with the law.”    The theme of this year’s summit was ‘Collaborating Against Critical Threats: Securing the Future of UK CNI’ which focused on real-world threats facing CNI organisations and looked at ways in which they can collaborate to protect themselves against ever-evolving risks.

We've met with the Chinese nuclear regulator - the National Nuclear Safety Administration - this week in Vienna at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 8th Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management. Mark Foy, our Chief Executive and Chief Nuclear Inspector, and Paul Dicks, our Director of Regulation - Sellafield, Decommissioning Fuel and Waste, met with Dong Baotong, Vice Minister, member of the Leading Party Members Group of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment; Administrator of National Nuclear Safety Administration of the People's Republic of China.   Topics discussed included future nuclear new build programmes in the UK and China, the regulation of radioactive sources, the use of AI in the sector, staff capacity and capability and the importance of openness and transparency within regulatory bodies and the wider industry. The arrangements for the forthcoming IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service mission to China was a particular focus, when Mark will lead a team of 24 experts to review the legal and regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety in their country.    Mark explained the value of our Chief Nuclear Inspector's themed inspections, designed to examine regulatory matters that are strategic or broader in nature than our more routine regulatory inspection activities.   The current themed inspection is focusing on licensees' arrangements and plans for the potential effects of climate change.   The bilateral meeting also highlighted some of our current Chief Nuclear Inspector priorities including nuclear site health and safety and cyber security.   Our engagement with fellow national nuclear regulators helps to influence the development of international standards and guidance for safety, security and safeguards to promote and sustain high standards globally and at home.

Inspectors from our decommissioning, fuel and waste division remain at this week's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 8th Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management.   This examines ways to safely manage disused sealed sources for the long term, along with assessing competence and staffing during the lifetime of spent fuel and radioactive waste management programmes.   The Joint Convention is the only legally binding instrument to address, on a global scale, the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste from its generation to disposal, with more than 1,000 delegates from 77 Contracting Parties attending the convention in Vienna.   Paul Dicks, our Director of Regulation - Sellafield, Decommissioning Fuel and Waste, today met with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ireland for a bilateral engagement as we continue our ongoing dialogue with international partners on regulatory matters, exchanging information and operating experience to promote good practice, maintain standards and transparency. #international #collaboration #regulation #safety #security #safeguards

The UK’s report has been delivered at the 8th Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna: https://lnkd.in/e_tHjVQh   Mark Foy, our Chief Executive and Chief Nuclear Inspector, presented the piece of work alongside jo nettleton, Chief Regulator at the Environment Agency and Clive Nixon, Group Chief Nuclear Strategy Officer, at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.   Several areas of good practice were highlighted including our industry-wide themed inspections, the UK’s pro-innovation approach to regulating artificial intelligence, our openness and transparency policy, the new UK-wide policy framework for managing radioactive substances and nuclear decommissioning, and our delicensing of the Imperial College London Reactor Centre. #nuclear #decommissioning #safety #security #regulation

Mark Foy, our Chief Executive and Chief Nuclear Inspector, took part in conversations about risk-informed regulation and small modular reactors at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's 37th Regulatory Information Conference (RIC) in Maryland. https://lnkd.in/exqiFFaQ The annual conference brings together thousands of participants from across the globe, including regulators, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, academia, industry, media and members of the public to discuss a broad range of topics in the fields of nuclear safety security and safeguards. Mark said: “The RIC provided an opportunity to have important conversations with international regulatory partners, helping us to reflect and learn from the experience of others as we continually seek to improve how we deliver our mission to protect society in an ever-changing environment.”

Delegates at last week's Waste Management Symposia 2025 (WM Symposia, Inc) in Phoenix, Arizona, were provided with a unique insight into how we regulate Sellafield, which remains one of the world's most complex and challenging nuclear decommissioning projects. Gary Cook, a principal nuclear safety inspector in our Sellafield, Decommissioning, Fuel and Waste Directorate, joined a panel discussion outlining our enabling regulatory approach and how we worked with other stakeholders to remove barriers to progress. Gary highlighted the significant advances being made across the Cumbrian site, with waste now being removed for the first time from Sellafield's four highest-hazard facilities. He discussed innovative approaches that we have permissioned, including the use of divers in the Pile Fuel Storage Pond, emphasising the need to embrace these when safe to do so and noting that solutions don’t always need to be technologically advanced. Gary also highlighted the importance of balancing experience and fresh perspectives within the workforce. He said: “Attending this event was extremely valuable. It's given ONR the platform to share our experiences and lessons learnt with an international audience, while also allowing us to gain insight into global approaches for regulating decommissioning sites." Learn more about our regulation of Sellafield: https://lnkd.in/g2KyfHxe

Industry stakeholders attended an engagement day for the ongoing Chief Nuclear Inspector’s themed inspection on climate change: https://shorturl.at/yYSM7   Our inspectors outlined the findings from the recently-completed site-based inspections at EDF (UK)'s Heysham 2 and Sizewell sites, Sellafield Ltd, NRS Dounreay and AWE (Aldermaston and Burghfield) to industry representatives at Redgrave Court, Bootle, Merseyside.   Rachel Kirley, our External Hazards Nuclear Safety Inspector, said: "We're committed to seeking consistent evidence that the industry understands and has taken into account climate change projections and can demonstrate that activities will remain safe and secure in the future." Environment Agency Regulating radioactive substances

Nuclear Restoration Services has formally submitted applications to regulators as it prepares to take responsibility for the Hunterston B site in Scotland next year. It represents a significant step towards the site becoming the first in the UK’s fleet of Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors (AGR) to transfer to NRS for decommissioning. This follows an agreement announced by the UK Government in 2021 that will see the sites transfer to NRS, part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) group, from EDF (UK) after they have ceased generating and been defueled. The NDA will take ownership of the site and NRS will manage the long-term decommissioning programme. NRS has now submitted an application to the Office for Nuclear Regulation seeking approval to become the duty holder for Hunterston B’s nuclear site licence at the point of transfer, currently scheduled for spring 2026. Meanwhile, NRS and EDF have collaboratively submitted an application to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency requesting the transfer of the site’s Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 permit for radioactive substances activities. The applications explain how NRS will be a capable organisation to hold the licence and permit, setting out arrangements ranging from the NRS company board to detailed site and management structures. Dr Andrew Munro, who has been appointed NRS managing director for the AGR and paired sites, said: “We’re delighted and proud to submit these applications, representing almost two years of collaboration and hard work between NRS and EDF, and our regulatory colleagues. We’ll now work with the regulators as they assess the applications and continue our exciting preparations for Hunterston B and the other AGR sites to become part of NRS, taking forward the important work of decommissioning the sites for all our futures.” EDF’s Nuclear Decommissioning Director, Paul Morton, said: “I wholeheartedly welcome the huge progress being made to ensure the required licences and permits will be in place to support the transfer of Hunterston B next year. In particular, the delivery of the first environmental permit transfer application for an AGR in the UK has been a significant piece of joint working between EDF and NRS. There is still lots to do but knowing the application has been submitted to SEPA three months ahead of schedule is a real confidence boost for everyone involved.” Seven Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor sites (AGRs) will ultimately join NRS from EDF for decommissioning. Hunterston B will be the first in 2026 followed by Hinkley Point B later the same year. The other sites will be Dungeness B, Hartlepool, Heysham 1, Heysham 2 and Torness.