How is radioactive waste management regulated in the UK?
Capenhurst site
The UK Government's radioactive waste management policy is supported by a regulatory framework that aims to ensure that all radioactive wastes are safely and appropriately managed in ways that pose no unacceptable risks to people or the environment.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulates the safety of nuclear installations in the UK. It does so through a system of licensing of nuclear sites. All nuclear installations as defined in the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (as amended) (NIA65) require a licence from HSE and every activity, including the accumulation and storage of radioactive wastes, must be undertaken in accordance with the conditions HSE attached to the licence. NIA65 does not apply to activities carried out directly by the Ministry of Defence or the armed forces. However, regulation of such operations at MoD sites is to the same standards as at nuclear sites.
The disposal of radioactive wastes from nuclear and non-nuclear sites – including the transfer of solid wastes for burial, incineration or storage elsewhere, as well as the discharge of liquid and gaseous wastes to the environment – is regulated under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 (RSA93). The regulatory bodies are the Environment Agency (EA) in England and Wales, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland, and the Environment and Heritage Service of the Department of Environment in Northern Ireland. For radioactive wastes arising on non-nuclear licenced sites, the environment agencies have regulatory responsibility for both accumulation and disposal.
Under the Energy Act 2004, the NDA has direct responsibility for the UK's civil public sector nuclear liabilities. However health and safety, security and environmental protection at the nuclear licensed sites for which the NDA is responsible are legally the responsibility of the Site Licence Companies (SLC) which hold the nuclear site licence and discharge authorisations.
The Ministry of Defence and its contractors, British Energy, Urenco, GE Healthcare and the Minor Waste Producers are responsible for the management of radioactive waste and materials arising on their own sites.
