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Office for Nuclear Regulation
An agency of HSE

Nuclear safeguards

Nuclear safeguards are measures to verify that States comply with their international obligations not to use nuclear materials (plutonium, uranium and thorium) from their civil nuclear programmes to manufacture nuclear weapons. Global recognition of the need for such verification is reflected in the requirements of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) for the application of safeguards by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Also, the Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (the Euratom Treaty) includes requirements for the application of safeguards by the European Commission. The primary safeguards ‘regulators’ are, therefore, the international safeguards inspectorates of the IAEA and Euratom. 

The UK Safeguards Office (UKSO), which is part of the Nuclear Directorate of the HSE, oversees the application of nuclear safeguards in the UK to ensure that the UK complies with its international nuclear safeguards obligations.  In particular it:

  • works with nuclear operators and others in the UK subject to safeguards requirements, and the international safeguards inspectorates of Euratom and the IAEA, to ensure that there is efficient and proportionate safeguards implementation in the UK, and provides the UK Government with informed independent assessment of safeguards application and compliance in the UK;
  • fulfils the international and domestic safeguards-related reporting obligations that are the direct responsibility of the UK Government (as opposed to nuclear operators in the UK);
  • provides advice and support to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and other Government Departments on safeguards implementation in the UK, the effectiveness of regulation and associated policy development; and
  • maintains an involvement in international safeguards-related organisations such as the European Safeguards Research and Development Association (ESARDA) and the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM).

Responsibility for UKSO and the safeguards function summarised above was transferred from the then Department of trade and Industry (DTI) to the Nuclear Directorate of HSE in April 2007. Details of the transfer are set out in an agreement between HSE and the Secretary of State for trade and Industry and an accompanying Memorandum of Understanding.

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Updated 20.09.10