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 08 August 2007
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Distribution of Responsibilities in the Area of Civil Nuclear Safety

This page sets out in summary the distribution among Ministers, independent bodies and the devolved administrations of responsibility and accountability for the following areas:

  • safety regulation at civil nuclear sites;
  • nuclear emergency planning and response to a nuclear emergency or incident;
  • safe transport of radioactive materials;
  • safe storage, use, discharge and disposal of radioactive materials;
  • safety of radiation levels in food;
  • environmental radioactivity and contaminated land; and
  • involvement in international work on nuclear safety.

It covers only central government responsibilities, including those of the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The second section summarises further the distribution of accountabilities between Ministers and the devolved administrations.

Safety Regulation at Civil Nuclear Sites

  1. The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has statutory responsibility for ensuring that there is an adequate framework for regulation of safety at nuclear sites in the UK. The licensing and day-to-day regulation is carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which regulates work-related health and safety generally. Licence conditions cover all the arrangements for managing safety, including response to accidents, leaks and spillages of radioactive materials, emergency planning arrangements, and all aspects of transport of radioactive material on the sites. The HSC and HSE are accountable to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for their nuclear safety work.
  2. The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is the Government sponsor and part owner of the UK civil nuclear industry. As such, (s)he is well placed to monitor and understand the technical complexity of the sector and respond quickly to any emergency, and to thrust home to the industry the message that safety must be its highest priority. So as part of his/her general responsibility for civil nuclear policy, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is accountable for nuclear safety at nuclear power stations and other licensed civil nuclear sites in the UK.
  3. The Secretary of State is advised on policy and operational safety matters by the HSC; the Secretary of State and the HSC are in turn advised by the Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee (NuSAC).
  4. To ensure that environmental impact of day-to-day operations is minimised, the routine discharge and disposal of nuclear waste and other radioactive material is regulated by the Environment Agency (EA) in England and Wales and by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland. (There are no licensed nuclear sites in Northern Ireland.)
  5. The EA is accountable to the Secretary of State for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for its work in England, and to the National Assembly for Wales for its work in Wales. SEPA is accountable to the Scottish Executive.

    Nuclear Emergency Planning and Response to a Nuclear Emergency or Incident
  6. A nuclear emergency would require co-ordinated action from many different public authorities, each of which is required to have a suitable emergency plan in place. To ensure that emergency plans are well co-ordinated, all the key organisations are represented on the Nuclear Emergency Planning Liaison Group. The Group monitors and improves emergency planning procedure and organisation across Great Britain.
  7. The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, as the Minister accountable for safety at civil nuclear sites, has overall responsibility for the co-ordinating framework for nuclear emergency plans. More general responsibility for civil emergency planning rests with the Home Secretary (for England and Wales) and the Scottish Executive.
  8. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has oversight of nuclear emergency planning in Northern Ireland.
  9. In the event of a nuclear emergency or other incident, a lead Department would co-ordinate the Government's response. The lead Department would generally be the one whose Ministers account to Parliament for regulating the cause of the incident, or the DEFRA in the case of an overseas emergency.

    Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials
  10. The Secretary of State for the Department of Transport accounts to Parliament for the safe transport of nuclear materials in Great Britain. The relevant regulators are the same as those for transport safety more generally:
    • road - the Department of Transport;
    • rail - Health and Safety Executive (HSE);
    • sea - Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA);
    • air - Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
  11. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is accountable for the safe transport of radioactive materials by road and rail in Northern Ireland.

    Safe Storage, Use, Discharge and Disposal of Radioactive Materials
  12. EA regulates the discharge and disposal of radioactive material in England and Wales, as part of its wider role in environmental protection. SEPA carries out the equivalent functions in Scotland.
  13. The two Agencies also regulate the storage and use of radioactive substances and the accumulation of radioactive waste, except on licensed and defence-related nuclear sites where they are a key part of day-to-day operations and need to be regulated in that context.
  14. The Secretary of State for the the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) (for England) and the National Assembly for Wales are responsible for the regulatory framework within which the EA operates, and the Agency is accountable to them. Likewise the Scottish Executive is responsible for the regulatory framework within which the SEPA operates, and the Agency is accountable to the Executive.
  15. On licensed nuclear sites, the storage and use of radioactive materials and the accumulation of radioactive waste is regulated by HSE (see paragraph 1).
  16. In Northern Ireland, the safe storage, use, discharge and disposal of radioactive material is regulated by the Environment and Heritage Service.

    Safety of Radiation Levels in Food
  17. The Food Safety Agency (FSA) is responsible for the safety of radiation levels in food in the UK as well as for food safety more generally, and undertakes monitoring of the environment and foodstuffs to fulfil this responsibility.

    Involvement in International Work on Nuclear Safety
  18. The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has overall responsibility for UK involvement in international governmental bodies operating in the nuclear area, as part of his/her wider responsibility for civil nuclear policy. However, other departments represent the UK in their areas of expertise - e.g. HSE on nuclear safety generally, the DEFRA on radioactive waste management, and the Department of Health and the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) on protection of the public from radiation risks.
  19. The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry also has overall responsibility for UK involvement in international initiatives to help Eastern European and former Soviet Union countries improve their nuclear safety. HSE provides technical input to and manages and supports many of these initiatives.

    Safety of Defence-related Nuclear Installations
  20. Although this is a note on safety in the civil nuclear industry it seems sensible, for completeness, to include the position as it relates to defence. The Secretary of State for Defence has responsibility for the nuclear weapons and naval nuclear propulsion programmes, and so accounts to Parliament for safety at all defence-related nuclear sites. Some of them are licensed by the HSE in the same way as civil sites, but others are not, because the Crown is exempt from some of the relevant legislation.
  21. The licensed sites are regulated in the same way as civil licensed sites (see paragraph 1), except that the HSC and Executive are accountable to the Secretary of State for Defence for this work. On unlicensed defence-related nuclear sites, the Secretary of State for Defence operates a policy of voluntary compliance with the regulatory regime operated by the EA and SEPA. Standards are at least as good as those required by civil regulation where reasonably practical. Where appropriate, internal arrangements are overseen by HSE.

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