UK regulator completes site-based climate change inspections

Monday, 2 December 2024

The Chief Nuclear Inspector's (CNI's) themed inspections were introduced by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) in 2017 and are designed to examine regulatory matters that are strategic or broader in nature than its more routine regulatory inspection activities. They also raise awareness of important issues and highlight ONR's regulatory activities and expectations to a wider audience, in addition to the nuclear industry.

Last year, the ONR asked site operators to complete a self-assessment questionnaire on their arrangements and resilience in relation to climate change effects. This stage aimed to understand the approach currently adopted by licensees for consideration of climate change in safety cases, including climate change projections used to define the design basis for external hazards affected by climate change.

In early-March, the ONR selected five sites - Heysham 2, Sizewell B, Sellafield, Dounreay and the Atomic Weapons Establishment (Aldermaston and Burghfield) - to be taken forward to the inspection stage.

Those inspections - which looked for evidence that recent climate change projections were being included in relevant safety cases and hazard definitions - have now been completed.

Other agencies including the Environment Agency, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator joined ONR on some of the inspections at the five sites in England and Scotland.

The findings from the self-assessment questionnaires and the site-based inspections are now being collated ahead of a final industry engagement day scheduled for February at ONR's Bootle headquarters.

A full summary report will be published next year outlining all results and conclusions from the CNI themed inspection.

"These are not compliance inspections and no ratings will be provided against licence conditions," ONR noted. "But ONR will form an overarching judgement on whether its regulatory expectations in relation to climate change have either been met, partially met, or not met."

"This inspection was commissioned in recognition of the growing challenges that climate change is likely to present," said ONR Nuclear Safety Inspector Alexandra Edey. "To ensure activities remain safe and secure, we expect licensees to take account, in safety cases, of the reasonably foreseeable impacts of climate change during the lifetime of facilities.

"We're pleased to have reached this significant point in the themed inspection and look forward to bringing together all our findings to present a comprehensive and informed picture to the industry of where it is positioned in terms of current resilience to climate change."