Energy Act 2004

Implementation of strategies and plans

15 Duty to decommission and clean up installations and sites

(1) This section applies where the NDA has a responsibility for securing the decommissioning of an installation or the cleaning-up of a site.

(2) It shall be the duty of the NDA to take all such steps as it considers appropriate—

(a) for securing the implementation in the case of that installation or site of the NDA’s approved strategy for decommissioning and cleaning-up;

(b) for the achievement of the objectives set out in that strategy that are applicable to that installation or site; and

(c) for giving effect in each financial year to its approved plan for that year, so far as it relates to the decommissioning of that installation or the cleaning-up of that site.

(3) In the case of a designated site which is a contaminated site, that duty has effect subject to such general and specific directions relating to the manner in which the NDA is to discharge its responsibilities in relation to that site as may be given to it—

(a) in the case of a site in Scotland, by the Secretary of State and the Scottish Ministers, acting jointly; and

(b) in any other case, by the Secretary of State.

(4) The NDA must comply with all such directions.

16 Duties to operate installations and to provide treatment etc.

(1) This section applies where the NDA has a responsibility for securing—

(a) the operation of a nuclear installation;

(b) the operation of a facility for treating, storing, transporting or disposing of hazardous material;

(c) the operation of any other facility;

(d) the treatment, storage, transportation or disposal, in designated circumstances, of hazardous material; or

(e) the management of any land not comprised in a site designated as a site to be cleaned up.

(2) That responsibility is an obligation to secure that—

(a) the installation or facility is operated,

(b) the hazardous material is treated, stored, transported or disposed of, or

(c) the land is managed,

in accordance with general and specific directions.

(3) The power to give directions under subsection (2) is exercisable—

(a) in relation to any matter connected with responsibilities of the NDA falling within section 6(2), by the Secretary of State and the Scottish Ministers, acting jointly; and

(b) in relation to any other matter, by the Secretary of State.

(4) In discharging that responsibility the NDA must also act—

(a) in accordance with the NDA’s approved strategy for the operation of designated installations and designated facilities; and

(b) in each financial year, in accordance with the NDA’s approved plan for that year.

17 Duty to use installations etc. for purposes of NDA

(1) This section applies—

(a) in the case of every designated nuclear installation and every designated installation comprised in an NDA facility;

(b) in the case of every designated site which is a principal nuclear site; and

(c) in the case of every designated facility situated in or on a principal nuclear site.

(2) The person with control of the installation, site or facility must secure that neither the installation, site or facility nor any interest or right in relation to it is used or disposed of except for purposes which—

(a) facilitate the discharge of the NDA’s responsibilities in relation to designated installations, designated sites and designated facilities; and

(b) secure that there is no contravention, in relation to the discharge of those responsibilities, of any obligations imposed by or under any enactment on the person with control of the installation, site or facility.

(3) Subsection (2) does not prevent the use or disposal of an installation, site or facility where the NDA has consented to that use or disposal.

(4) Where the NDA has an interest in the installation, site or facility, the person with control of it shall have the right, as against the NDA, to use it for the purposes authorised by subsection (2) and to put it to any use to which the NDA has consented.

(5) Except—

(a) where the NDA otherwise directs, or

(b) where the person with control of the installation, site or facility is, has been or will be subject to charges by the NDA in respect of the discharge of its responsibilities in relation to that installation, site or facility,

that person must account for, and pay, to the NDA all sums and other benefits received by him in respect of the use or disposal by him of an interest or right in relation to the installation, site or facility.

(6) A reference in this section to facilitating the discharge of the NDA’s responsibilities in relation to an installation, site or facility includes a reference to doing anything which is required or authorised by or for the purposes of—

(a) an agreement between the NDA and the person with control of the installation, site or facility; or

(b) an agreement between the NDA and a body corporate of which that person is a subsidiary.

(7) Nothing in subsection (5) prohibits the inclusion in such an agreement of provision for sums and benefits mentioned in that subsection to be accounted for and paid to the NDA in a case falling within paragraph (b) of that subsection.

(8) A reference in this section to an interest or right in relation to an installation or site includes a reference to any interest or right in relation to—

(a) anything located in or on the installation or site;

(b) a facility operated from the installation or site;

(c) a process carried on in or on the installation or site; or

(d) information or documents relating to the installation or site or to anything mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c).

(9) References in this section to the disposal of an interest in a site include references to—

(a) the granting of an estate or interest in the site, or of a licence to use it; or

(b) entering into an agreement to grant such an estate, interest or licence;

and references to sums received in respect of such a disposal include references to sums that are paid periodically (by way of rent or otherwise) by a tenant or licensee or by a party to such an agreement.

18 Directions by NDA to the person with control

(1) This section applies in every case where one of the following is designated—

(a) a nuclear installation or an installation comprised in an NDA facility;

(b) a principal nuclear site; or

(c) a facility situated in or on a principal nuclear site.

(2) It shall be the duty of the person with control of the installation, site or facility—

(a) to prepare such plans for the decommissioning or operation of the installation, for the cleaning-up or management of the site or for the operation of the facility as the NDA may direct;

(b) to prepare such plans for the cleaning-up of any related sites as the NDA may direct;

(c) to submit his plans to the NDA for approval;

(d) to comply with all such further directions falling within subsection (3) as the NDA may give him from time to time with respect to the installation, site or facility; and

(e) to comply with such directions as the NDA may give him for the purpose of securing or facilitating the discharge by the NDA of such of its responsibilities by virtue of section 3(1)(e) or 4(1), (2) or (4) or any direction under section 16(2) as—

(i) were conferred on it by reference to the site, installation or facility; or

(ii) fall to be discharged in relation to it, or to anything in or on it.

(3) The directions that may be given by the NDA are—

(a) directions (in the case of an installation or site) requiring the carrying out, pending the preparation and approval of plans required by the NDA, of specified decommissioning or cleaning-up work in or on the installation or site or related sites;

(b) directions requiring the installation, site or facility to be operated or managed, pending the preparation and approval of such plans, in the specified manner;

(c) directions to modify in the specified manner, and to resubmit, a plan submitted to the NDA for approval, or approved by it, under this section;

(d) directions (in the case of an installation or site) requiring the carrying out, pending the preparation and approval of modifications of a plan, of specified decommissioning or cleaning-up work in or on the installation or site or related sites;

(e) directions requiring the implementation of a plan that the NDA has approved;

(f) directions requiring specified transactions to be entered into, and other specified steps to be taken, for the purposes of or in connection with the implementation of such a plan;

(g) directions requiring the provision to the NDA of all the information that it requires in order—

(i) to discharge its responsibilities in relation to the installation, site or facility and in relation to related sites; or

(ii) to enter into an agreement for the purpose of discharging those responsibilities.

(4) It shall be the duty of the person holding the majority of the voting rights in a company with control of the installation, site or facility to comply with such directions as may be given to it by the NDA for the purpose of securing that the company with control of the installation, site or facility complies with its obligations under this section.

(5) Directions must not be given by the NDA under this section except for the purpose—

(a) of giving effect to its plan under section 13 for a particular financial year; or

(b) of otherwise giving effect to its strategy under section 11 or achieving the objectives set out in that strategy.

(6) A person required to prepare plans for the purposes of this section must comply with the directions of the NDA as to—

(a) the persons with whom, and

(b) the manner in which,

he must consult before preparing the plans, or before submitting them to the NDA for approval.

(7) A direction under this section cannot authorise a contravention in relation to an installation, site or facility of any obligation to which the person with control of it is subject by or under an enactment.

(8) In this section “related site”, in relation to a designated installation, designated site or designated facility, means a site the designation of which specifies, in accordance with section 19, that it is to be treated, by reference to that installation, site or facility, as a related site for the purposes of this section.

19 Designation as a related site for the purposes of s. 18

(1) A direction designating a contaminated site—

(a) may specify that the site is to be treated for the purposes of section 18 as a related site; and

(b) if it does so, must specify the installation, site or facility by reference to which the Secretary of State is satisfied as mentioned in subsection (2)(a).

(2) A direction must not specify that a site is to be treated as a related site unless—

(a) the Secretary of State is satisfied that it has become contaminated (whether radioactively or chemically) as a result of nuclear activities in or on a particular installation, site or facility;

(b) that installation, site or facility was at the time of the contamination, or subsequently became, a nuclear installation, a principal nuclear site or an NDA facility;

(c) the installation, site or facility is also designated (whether by that direction or as a consequence of a previous direction); and

(d) the person with control of that installation, site or facility—

(i) is a Crown appointee, the UKAEA, a publicly owned company or the NDA itself; or

(ii) has consented to the specification of the installation, site or facility for the purposes of subsection (1)(b).

(3) On the giving by the Secretary of State of a direction specifying that a site is to be treated as a related site, he must send a copy of the direction to every person with control of an installation, site or facility by reference to which it is to be so treated.

(4) For the purposes of this section something is contaminated as a result of nuclear activities in or on a particular installation, site or facility if the contamination (whenever occurring), or any of it, is the direct or indirect result of one or more of the following—

(a) activities carried on in or on that installation, site or facility;

(b) the storage or disposal of any matter or substance in or on that installation, site or facility;

(c) an incident occurring in or on that installation, site or facility;

(d) the discharge of anything from that installation, site or facility;

(e) the transportation of hazardous material to or from that installation, site or facility;

(f) an incident affecting hazardous material being transported to or from that installation, site or facility.

20 Duty to comply with directions under s. 18

(1) The duty of a person to whom a direction is given under section 18 to comply with that direction is a duty owed to the NDA, and to no one else.

(2) That duty is to be enforceable by the NDA in civil proceedings—

(a) for an injunction or interdict;

(b) for specific performance of a statutory duty under section 45 of the Court of Session Act 1988 (c. 36); or

(c) for any other appropriate remedy or relief.

(3) That duty is subject to the obligation of the NDA to discharge its financial responsibilities under section 21.

(4) A person with control of an installation, site or facility is not to be subject to that duty to the extent that he is relieved of it by the provisions of an agreement—

(a) between the NDA and that person; or

(b) between the NDA and a body corporate of which that person is a subsidiary.

(5) The Secretary of State may by order provide, in the case of an installation, site or facility the person with control of which is a Crown appointee, that the Crown appointee is not to be subject, to the extent specified in the order, to the duty to comply with directions under section 18.

(6) An order for the purposes of subsection (5) is subject to the negative resolution procedure.