The Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003 (NISR 2003) came into force on 22 March 2003, following consultation with the civil nuclear industry. The Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS), part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), is the security regulator for the civil nuclear industry and enforces these regulations.
The regulations were designed to provide a clear, unified regime for setting requirements for nuclear security, and for assessing compliance with this. One of the main aims was to offer a single, comprehensive legislative basis for regulation, rather than to introduce new requirements.
The main changes they introduced were the direct regulation of the transport of nuclear material (which was previously regulated indirectly through obligations on the nuclear operators) and the inclusion of a very small number of small-scale licensed nuclear facilities and other locations which hold nuclear material (these previously fell outside formal security regulation).
One of the original commitments (within paragraph 10 of the Regulatory Impact Assessment) was to formally review the new regulatory framework three years after its introduction. This review closed on 1 December 2006. Most of the respondents were content with the regulations, and recognised their positive effects. They felt the main benefits were:
- the provision of a clear security framework
- everyone has to meet the same standards
- a clearer understanding of responsibilities
- a way of proving that appropriate security measures have been taken
- a single reference point for security issues
- an improved process for assessing the proposed standard of security for Category I and II nuclear material during transportation.
Some respondents also suggested possible improvements, which, as part of a separate consultation, were subsequently addressed by the 2006 amendment to the regulations. For example, one respondent suggested that the NISR could provide a better definition of ‘sensitive nuclear information’. And another suggested that the regulations should cover other interested parties, such as the NDA.
The majority of issues raised by respondents related to specific companies and organisation, and not to the whole industry. Overall, there was nothing in the feedback to suggest a need for immediate and significant changes to the regulations.
Related documents