Welcome to ONR news

Hello everyone.

Welcome to the latest edition of ONR News, keeping you updated about our work as the UK’s nuclear regulator for safety, security and safeguards.

This edition features several examples of our enabling regulatory approach which supports the industry in achieving its goals while maintaining clear and prioritised safety and security outcomes.

This was shown with our collaborative work with Nuclear Restoration Services which led to our permissioning of the targeted demolition of the Sizewell A turbine hall using explosives, delivering significant efficiency savings in time and money for the site licensee.

We report on our formal consent for the installation of the Unit 1 reactor pressure vessel at Hinkley Point C which follows months of activity by a range of ONR technical experts, working constructively with the licensee, NNB GenCo.

We also highlight the progress to Step 2 of our Generic Design Assessment for the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor and our partnership work with the US and Canadian nuclear regulators.

This cooperation helps us to explore opportunities for increasingly efficient regulation, share common design experience and support ambitions towards standardised reactor designs.

Beyond Christmas, we are already looking ahead to the new year and work including the consultation on the new ONR organisational strategy for 2025-2030.

As always, if you have any comments about ONR, any of the topics included in this newsletter, or our work in general, please get in touch via contact@onr.gov.uk.

Best wishes and happy Christmas!

Rachel Grant

Director of Strategy and Corporate Affairs

GE-Hitachi’s BWRX-300 completes first step of our Generic Design Assessment

With a scope and schedule agreed for the technical assessment of the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 design, the process can now move into Step 2.

Enabling regulatory approach helps Sizewell A turbine hall demolition

We've overseen the targeted and specialist explosive demolition of the turbine hall bases at Sizewell A, with the completion of a technical and complex job in just two weeks which would have previously taken several months.

EDF lifetime extensions review - ONR position

Following EDF’s announcement that it plans to extend the lifetime of its four AGR power stations, we share how we'll continue to work constructively with the operator in support of these ambitions.

Site-based climate change inspections completed

Heysham 2, Sizewell B and Sellafield were among sites visited as part of the Chief Nuclear Inspector's themed inspection to monitor the industry's arrangements for climate change.

Major permissioning milestone reached at Hinkley Point C

Regulatory oversight was crucial ahead of us formally consenting to the Unit 1 reactor pressure vessel being installed at the Somerset site.

Berkeley and National Nuclear Laboratory sites make security improvements

We're pleased to announce the return of two dutyholders to routine regulatory attention for security.

Due to significant and sustained security improvements at Berkeley (Nuclear Restoration Services) and National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) (Sellafield Central Laboratory), we've taken them out of enhanced attention following periods of increased focus.

Regulatory attention levels are set by us and are assigned based on our assessment of overall performance, considering a broad range of safety and security considerations and operational issues that a site is addressing.

Paul Dicks, our Director of Regulation for Sellafield, Decommissioning Fuel and Waste, said: "We’ve worked very closely with both Berkeley and NNL through our enabling approach to ensure that the security improvements required at both sites have been delivered."

Urenco ChemPlants Ltd complies with improvement notice

Urenco ChemPlants Ltd has complied with our improvement notice after an acid pipework leak.

In recent months, the organisation, a tenant on the Urenco UK nuclear licensed site in Capenhurst, Cheshire, has made improvements to how they plan, organise and control future maintenance activities on its gas scrubber machinery.

This is used to treat waste gases and remove potentially harmful components before any release to the environment.

Mike Redmond, one of our principal inspectors, said: “We are content that Urenco ChemPlants Ltd has now put in place effective risk control measures to ensure that such incidents do not occur in future."

We sign Memorandum of Understanding with Dutch nuclear regulator

We were joined by the Dutch nuclear regulators on a visit to Hinkley Point C (HPC), focusing on shared expertise and best practices.

It follows the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between us and the Dutch Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS) to bolster cooperation between the two international regulators.

Joining ANVS in Somerset were members of the senior leadership team from PALLAS, a new medical isotopes reactor currently under construction in the Netherlands.

Alun Griffiths, our site inspector for HPC, said: “As HPC's construction has progressed significantly, we are well-positioned to share our knowledge and experience with projects at earlier stages of development, making this collaboration particularly meaningful."

Our backing for Nuclear Decommissioning Authority new specialised cyber facility

We support the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's launch of the Group Cyberspace Collaboration Centre to help nuclear operators and the supply chain to adopt innovative technologies and defend against cyber threats.

Cyber security attacks are a common and dynamic threat across all organisations, including the civil nuclear sector.

Warren Cain, our Superintending Inspector for Security, said: "All nuclear sites must have strong cyber security systems in place to protect important information and assets from cyber threats.

"Cyber security is a key regulatory priority for us and we welcome the NDA’s commitment to strengthen their cyber defences with this new specialist facility."

Our mission is to protect society by securing safe nuclear operations

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