Nuclear Safety Directorate (NSD)
Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII)
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) is responsible for co-ordinating the programme of nuclear safety research related to UK thermal reactor sites. Under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (NIA), a site cannot have nuclear plant on it unless the user has been granted a site licence by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), administered by the HSE Nuclear Safety Directorate (NSD), which manages the responsibility on HSC's behalf. The major nuclear licensees (Nuclear Electric, Scottish Nuclear, Magnox and British Nuclear Fuels) are charged with producing and funding a program to address the major safety issues identified by HSE's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII). NSD acts for HSE and as regulators act independently of any Government Department responsible for the UK nuclear power programme. NSD sets the safety standards to be used on nuclear sites in the UK. In all, some 250 staff are employed in NSD, with almost all the Directorate's staff work in HSE's office in Bootle, Merseyside.
One effect of recent Atomic Weapons Establishment organizational changes has been the removal of various exemptions to licensing and health and safety legislation. With the removal of these exemptions, AWE plc (the operating company) has taken measures to meet required safety and environmental standards. The Atomic Weapons Establishment is implementing a comprehensive safety management system in order to comply with the Nuclear Installations Act. The Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations has granted a licence, effective from 01 July 1997, to the Atomic Weapons Establishment management contractor Hunting-BRAE Ltd. to operate the AWE sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield. The two sites will thus be brought within
the same regulatory regime as civil nuclear sites and will be regularly inspected by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate.
Sources and Resources
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/uk/agency/nsd.htm
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Updated Monday, June 02, 1997 1:12:26 PM
