Guidance

Nuclear sites RSR: environmental permits

Nuclear site radioactive substances regulation (RSR), when you need a permit, how to apply, how to change (vary), transfer or surrender your permit

From:
Environment Agency
Published
2 December 2021
Last updated
25 June 2024 — See all updates

Applies to England

This guidance is for operators of nuclear sites who are licensees under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965. It is also for operators who are tenants on nuclear sites.

There is separate guidance for users of radioactive substances that are not located on nuclear licensed sites – known as the non-nuclear sector.

If you know which permit you need and just want to find a specific application form or piece of technical guidance we have also published these separately.

Radioactive substances include radioactive material and radioactive waste. The Environment Agency regulates radioactive substances activities to make sure they meet high standards of environmental protection. They do this under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) (2016).

When you need a permit

If you are going to carry out a radioactive substances activity you may need to apply to the Environment Agency for a permit. You must do this before you start the activity.

If you hold a licence under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 you may need a permit if you:

  • receive or dispose of radioactive waste
  • keep or use mobile radioactive apparatus (portable equipment containing radioactive material) away from the nuclear site

If you are a tenant on a nuclear licensed site you may need a permit if you:

  • keep or use radioactive material
  • keep or use mobile radioactive apparatus
  • receive or dispose of radioactive waste

The Environment Agency does not regulate the accumulation of radioactive waste on nuclear sites by either licensees or tenants, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) does this.

Mobile radioactive apparatus and sealed sources

Mobile radioactive apparatus and radioactive material can include sealed sources. You will need separate permits for sealed sources and unsealed sources.

A sealed source is a radioactive source where the radioactive material is permanently sealed in a capsule, or is in a solid form, and where radioactive substances cannot escape under normal conditions of use. The legal definition of a sealed source is given in the Basic Safety Standards Directive 2013.

Any source that does not meet the definition of a sealed source is called an unsealed source.

If you need to apply for a sealed source permit, check the non-nuclear sector guidance for information about how to apply and the form to use.

You may also need another type of permit if you carry out other activities as well as your radioactive substances activity. Check if you need an environmental permit for your other activities.

You are breaking the law if you operate without a permit when you should have one.

When you do not need a permit

You do not need a permit if the radioactive substances you are dealing with are ‘out of scope’ or the activity that you are carrying out is ‘exempt’.

Out of scope

Some radioactive substances are out of scope of the legislation (EPR 2016) and so are not legally classed as radioactive material or radioactive waste. This means the Environment Agency does not need to regulate them to protect the environment. But they may still need to be regulated for health and safety purposes. On nuclear sites this is done by ONR.

Deciding if a radioactive substance is out of scope of the legislation involves applying rules about:

  • whether the radionuclides are naturally occurring or artificial
  • the type of activity that natural radionuclides are used for
  • whether the concentration of radionuclides is above specified levels
  • whether other criteria apply, such as radionuclides with a very short half life

The government has published guidance that explains which activities or substances are out of scope. You can check section 2 (pages 11 to 33) of the guidance Scope of and exemptions from the radioactive substances legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to see if your activity is out of scope.

If you are not sure whether your activity is out of scope, contact us or consult a radioactive waste adviser.

Exempt activities

Some activities are exempt and you do not need a permit for them. This is because the risks to people and the environment from them are very low. But they still need a ‘light touch’ level of regulation and this is done through an exemption.

You must meet certain conditions for your activity to be exempt. For example, there are conditions on how to dispose of the waste from your radioactive substances activity. The conditions are there to make sure you carefully control and manage your activity.

There is government guidance that describes each exemption in full. You can check section 3 (pages 34 to 112) of Guidance on the scope of and exemptions from the radioactive substances legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In practice most of these exemptions will not apply to activities on nuclear sites. If you are not sure whether your activity is exempt contact us for advice or consult a radioactive waste adviser.

Apply for a permit

Before you apply you must do all the following:

These are the different permits for radioactive substances activities on nuclear sites.

Unsealed sources and radioactive waste permit

If you are nuclear site licensee, you should apply for an unsealed sources and waste permit if you plan to:

  • dispose of radioactive waste
  • receive radioactive waste for disposal

If you are a tenant on a nuclear site, you should apply for an unsealed sources and waste permit if you plan to:

  • keep or use unsealed radioactive sources, including unsealed sources in mobile radioactive apparatus
  • dispose of radioactive waste
  • receive radioactive waste for disposal

This permit should not be used for any activity involving sealed sources or waste sealed sources.

To apply for an unsealed sources and radioactive waste permit you need to complete these 3 forms:

Each form has supporting guidance and you should read this before you start to fill in the form.

If you are applying for a permit to dispose of radioactive waste (other than disposal of solid radioactive waste by burial), this guidance is also important and will help you prepare your application:

On-site burial of radioactive waste permit

This permit is for burying radioactive waste in a disposal facility or landfill that is located on a nuclear licensed site.

To apply for this permit you need to complete these 3 forms:

Each form has supporting guidance and you should read this before you start to fill in the form.

If you are disposing of radioactive waste by burial, this guidance is also important and will help you prepare your application:

Help with your application

You can talk to an officer in the relevant nuclear regulation group if you have any regulatory or technical questions.

Nuclear regulation group (north)

Telephone: 020 3025 5873

Email nrg.north@environment-agency.gov.uk

Nuclear regulation group (south)

Telephone: 020 8474 8298

Email nrg.south@environment-agency.gov.uk

Sensitive information

The Environment Agency normally puts all the information in applications for unsealed source permits, or for radioactive waste permits, on a public register of environmental information.

However, they may not include certain information in the public register if this is in the interests of national security, or because the information is commercially confidential.

You can ask for information to be accepted as commercially confidential on Part F of the application form. You should enclose a letter with your application giving your reasons. If the Environment Agency agrees with your request, they will tell you and not include the information in the public register.

If they do not agree with your request, they will let you know how to appeal against their decision, or you can withdraw your application.

If you believe including information on a public register would not be in the interests of national security, you can indicate this on Part F of the application form and tell the Secretary of State. You do not need to do this if the reason is because you have a sealed source. The Environment Agency does not put applications about sealed sources (including mobile radioactive apparatus) on the public register.

You must enclose a letter with your application stating that you have told the Secretary of State and you must still include the information in your application.

The Environment Agency will not include the information in the public register unless the Secretary of State decides that it should be included.

Pay for your radioactive substances permit

Charges for permits on nuclear sites are billed on the actual time spent and costs incurred. The environmental permitting charges guidance explains the charges.

After you apply

The Environment Agency may reject your application if, for example you have not:

  • used the right forms
  • provided important information

Once they have the information needed to start assessing your application, they will contact you and tell you that your application is ‘duly made’. This means they are starting the assessment process (the determination). They may still ask for more information if they need it to complete their assessment.

Consultations on your permit application

The Environment Agency will publish online a notice of your application and instructions for how other people can comment on it and see the application documents on the public register.

Members of the public and anyone interested in the application have at least 20 working days to comment.

The Environment Agency may also consult other public bodies, for example the Food Standards Agency and Natural England.

If they consider your application is of high public interest, they may:

  • take longer to give you a decision
  • carry out an extra consultation on the draft decision
  • advertise the application more widely

The Environment Agency’s public participation statement explains how and why they consult on permit applications.

Decisions about your permit

The Environment Agency will write to you to tell you their decision.

There is no fixed time limit for a decision about an application on a nuclear site but they will keep you informed of progress.

You can appeal if they refuse your application.

You can also appeal if you applied for a bespoke permit and you’re not happy with the conditions

The decision letter will explain how you can appeal.

The Environment Agency will publish their decision on the public register.

Change, transfer or cancel your permit

When you have a permit you can:

  • change (vary) the details on it
  • transfer the permit to someone else
  • cancel (surrender) your permit

To do any of these you need to complete the relevant application form.

Change (vary) your permit

Depending on the change to the permit you can apply for.

  • an administrative change
  • a variation

Vary your unsealed sources and radioactive waste permit

To vary your unsealed sources and radioactive waste permit use Part RSR C3: vary an unsealed sources and radioactive waste permit.

If you want to vary your permit to add on-site disposal of radioactive waste that is not in a disposal facility, use Part RSR C5: on-site disposal of solid radioactive waste (not in a disposal facility).

Vary your permit for the on-site burial of radioactive waste

To vary your permit for the on-site burial of radioactive waste in a disposal facility use Part RSR B5: burial of radioactive waste in a disposal facility or landfill.

If you are using Part RSR B5 to vary a permit for a disposal facility or landfill, you only need to provide information in the form about the changes you are making to your activities.

In all cases, you will also need to fill in forms:

Each form has supporting guidance and you should read this before you start to fill in the form.

You cannot use a variation if you want to reduce the size of the permitted area shown on the site plan in your permit. To do this, you need to apply for a partial surrender of your permit.

Vary your sealed source permit

If you need to vary a sealed source permit see the non-nuclear sector guidance for information on how to do this and the forms to use.

Transfer your permit

You can transfer all or part of your permit to another person. To do this, both of you must fill in the relevant Part D form.

You must also fill in forms:

You must both sign the declaration in the Part F form and each complete a Part A form

Surrender your permit

You can apply to surrender all or part of your permit.

If you want to reduce the size of the permitted area shown on the site plan in your permit you should apply for a partial surrender for that area.

To surrender all or part of your permit you must fill in the relevant Part E form:

You must also fill in forms:

If you are applying to surrender a permit for unsealed sources and radioactive waste on a nuclear site, the guidance Decommissioning of nuclear sites and release from regulation is also important and will help you prepare your application.

After you get your permit

You must read the guidance that explains the permit conditions and what you must do to comply with your permit.

The Environment Agency has also produced guidance that explains how you’ll be regulated you when you start operating.

Nuclear sites that are decommissioning

If you are planning or undertaking decommissioning activities on a nuclear site, the following guidance will help you manage the generation and disposal of radioactive waste during decommissioning:

Contact us

Email RSR.Rotherham2.NE@environment-agency.gov.uk

You can talk to an officer in the relevant nuclear regulation group if you have any regulatory or technical questions.

Nuclear regulation group (north)

Telephone: 020 3025 5873

Email nrg.north@environment-agency.gov.uk

Nuclear regulation group (south)

Telephone: 020 8474 8298

Email nrg.south@environment-agency.gov.uk

For other enquiries, use these contact details.

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Updates to this page

Published 2 December 2021
Last updated 25 June 2024 + show all updates

  1. In the section 'When you need a permit' clarified that you may need a permit if you keep or use mobile radioactive apparatus (portable equipment containing radioactive material) away from the nuclear site.

  2. Removed out of date contact details in the 'help with your application' and 'contact us' sections.

  3. Added link to new application form Part RSR-C5: variation to a bespoke radioactive substances activity.

  4. First published.

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