Saturday 2 April 2011

New UK nuclear industry regulator launched which includes defence nuclear activities

New UK nuclear industry regulator Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) launched

"ONR has been established today as an agency of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), pending planned legislation to establish it as a statutory body. The ONR will bring together the relevant nuclear regulatory functions of HSE (through its Nuclear Directorate) and the Department for Transport.

The organisation will ensure that those authorised to carry out nuclear activities, in both the civil and defence sectors, do so in a safe way – from power stations and radioactive waste to transport of materials and submarines. ONR staff will also regulate the security of civilian nuclear installations."

The Ministry of Defence is to be commended in moving away from its own system of internal regulation to civil regulation with all the benefits that brings, particularly of transparency and independence, the authorisation of defence related nuclear activities such as nuclear submarines, their berths the ship lift at Faslane, RNAD Coulport, nuclear weapon transportation and the Vulcan reactor at Dounreay etc.

Link to the ONR statement

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