Guidance

Energy Security Bill factsheet: Proposals to amend the regulatory framework for the final stages of nuclear decommissioning

Updated 1 September 2023

Simplifying the regulatory framework for the final stages of nuclear decommissioning is expected to save the taxpayer around £500 million over the next 20 years.

Why are we legislating?

There reasons for legislating are:

• In the final stages of decommissioning and clean-up of nuclear sites, hazards and risks fall to levels comparable to those on non-nuclear industrial sites and the focus is on waste management and land remediation.
• However, under UK law, nuclear sites in the final stages of decommissioning remain subject to nuclear third-party liability for longer than required by international agreements.
• In the final stages of decommissioning, Government considers that continued regulation by ONR is unnecessary and that former nuclear sites should be regulated in a more proportionate way.
• Disposal facilities for radioactive waste of nuclear origin are subject to nuclear third-party liability. However, some disposal facilities present a very low level of risk. Adopting internationally agreed standards would allow these facilities to exit nuclear third-party liability and reduce costs for operators.

In May 2018, Government consulted on amendments to legislation. The proposals will align the UK with international standards and are estimated to save at least £500 million of taxpayers’ money over the next 20 years, with similar savings in the following 40 years. In addition, we estimate up to £7.5 billion additional savings over the next 100 years as the Sellafield site is decommissioned, although this estimate is uncertain.

How the Bill will achieve this

The Bill will simplify the regulatory framework that applies to the final stages of nuclear decommissioning and nuclear third-party liability regime. It will allow nuclear sites to be delicensed earlier than at present, but they will remain under regulation by the relevant environment agency and the relevant Health and Safety Executive.

The Bill will also provide the Secretary of State with the powers to set out the documents that must be included in an application to exclude a disposal facility for low or very low-level radioactive waste of nuclear origin from the nuclear third party liability regime.

FAQ

Is this a weakening of standards for radioactive waste on former nuclear sites? Isn’t it all about reducing costs of decommissioning?

There is no relaxation in the standards for public protection. The measures align with UK radiological protection law, international standards and UK Health Security Agency guidance.

If site operators wish to dispose of lightly contaminated waste on-site, they will have to apply for a permit from the relevant environment agency.

The environmental permit would only be granted if disposing of waste on site would be a safer and more sustainable option than excavating it and transporting it to disposal facilities elsewhere. A decision to award an environmental permit for on-site disposal of lightly contaminated waste would never be taken solely on the grounds of costs.

Background

The Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (NIA65) sets out a system of regulatory control based on a robust licensing process administered by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). Under this regime, a site operator is required to have a licence to use a site for specified activities such as the operation of nuclear power stations.

In addition to the nuclear site licensing regime, the NIA65 requires that financial provision is in place to meet claims in the event of a nuclear incident, as required under international law on nuclear third-party liability.

A nuclear site currently remains subject to the nuclear third party liability regime until ONR notifies the licensee that the period of responsibility has ended because the site has reached the “no danger” criterion specified in the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (NIA65).

The “no danger” requirement was interpreted by the regulator in 2005 following legal advice and extensive public consultation. In practice, meeting this interpretation of the “no danger” criterion generally means removing virtually all the lightly radioactively contaminated foundations and substructures from a site and transporting them to disposal facilities elsewhere. For a typical Magnox site, this can represent thousands of cubic metres of lightly contaminated waste.

The excavation and transport of this waste for disposal elsewhere results in a number of adverse impacts on people and the environment. In particular: creation of radioactive dust; risks to construction and demolition workers; traffic risks due to many movements of heavy lorries taking waste away and bringing fresh material in for filling voids; and the filling up of the limited space in specialised radioactive waste disposal facilities.

In some cases, the risks of leaving lightly contaminated substructures and soils in place, where it is safe to do so, may be significantly lower than those of excavating, transporting and disposing of them elsewhere. The current requirement to meet the “no danger” criterion means that it is not possible to weigh up the benefits of moving the lightly contaminated material against the wider environmental, social and economic impacts.

We therefore consider that, for many sites, the “no danger” criterion may not be the most appropriate criterion for determining the degree of clean-up required.

Existing environmental legislation (the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales 2016) and the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018), provide a robust mechanism for assessing the wider impacts of different clean-up proposals and identifying the best overall solution for the site, which may include disposing of lightly contaminated material on-site, subject to environmental permit.

Government therefore considers that that the existing environmental regulation would provide a more proportionate regulatory framework than the existing nuclear regulation in the final stages of decommissioning. For this reason, Government proposes that a nuclear site licence can be ended once the site meets internationally agreed standards for ending nuclear third party liability and once ONR is satisfied that all nuclear safety issues have been addressed.

The nuclear decommissioning programme requires adequate capacity for disposal facilities for radioactive waste. Since 01/01/2022, all disposal facilities for radioactive waste of nuclear origin are required to have nuclear third party liability cover. However, some disposal facilities present a very low level of risk. Adopting internationally agreed standards would allow these facilities to exit nuclear third-party liability and reduce costs for operators.

Further information

The following documents are relevant to the measures and can be read at the stated locations:

• Policy: “Discussion paper on the regulation of nuclear sites in the final stages of decommissioning and clean-up” (November 2016)
• Consultation: “Consultation on the regulation of nuclear sites in the final stages of decommissioning and clean-up” (May 2018)
• Government Response: “The regulation of nuclear sites in the final stages of decommissioning and clean-up” (October 2018)

This publication is available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-security-bill