Using ionising radiation

Apply to notify, register or get consent

1. Who must apply
2. What to apply for
3. How to apply
4. Fees and payment
5. Report a change
6. Contact us

2. What to apply for

For work you do with ionising radiation you may need to apply to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to:

• notify
• register
• get consent

You might have to notify or hold registrations and consents at the same time. This depends on the work you do.

You won’t need to renew your notification, registration or consent unless there’s a significant change to the information you give when you apply.

We strongly advise you to consult with your radiation protection adviser (RPA) before you apply.

HSE has the power to revoke registrations or consents where appropriate. You can find out when we’ll consider revocation in our detailed guidance document. 

Notify or register

You’ll only need to notify or register ionising radiation work with HSE once, no matter how many:

• sites you have that carry out work which must be notified or registered
• categories of work you do that must be notified or registered

Working with a radiation generator

You must register work with a radiation generator unless it’s used for a practice that requires consent or work that’s exempted. In the vast majority of cases an X-ray device is a radiation generator.

Working in an atmosphere containing radon

You must notify HSE if you work in a radon atmosphere above an annual average concentration of 300Bq m^-3.

If you have had multiple assessments, use the highest figure.

Guidance on radon.

Working with artificial or naturally occurring radionuclides which are processed or not processed

Find out if you need to notify or register a work practice.

Consent

You must apply for consent if you do any of the following high-risk work with ionising radiation:

• deliberate administration of radioactive substances for specific medical or veterinary purposes
• uranium mining
• deliberate addition of radioactive substances into products
• operation of an accelerator (except an electron microscope)
• industrial irradiation
• industrial radiography
• work with a high activity sealed source
• long-term storage or disposal of radioactive waste
• discharge of significant amounts of radioactive effluent

Find definitions of the above work descriptions in our detailed guidance document.

If you carry out more than one of these work practices you must apply for a separate consent for each one.

If you do the same type of work across multiple sites you only need one consent.

More information

For more detailed information on notification, registration and consent, refer to regulations 5, 6 and 7 in the draft Approved Code of Practice and guidance.

You can also find further guidance and examples in our detailed guidance document.