Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018

Overview of the Act

1. The Nuclear Safeguards Act creates the legal framework for a domestic nuclear safeguards regime to operate in the United Kingdom. This regime will replace the current legal framework provided principally by the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Atomic Energy Community ("Euratom"). Nuclear safeguards arrangements enable the United Kingdom to meet international nuclear safeguards standards and engage in certain international civil nuclear activities, including trade and research and development.
2. Nuclear safeguards primarily involve reporting and verification processes by which the United Kingdom demonstrates to the international community that civil nuclear material is not diverted into military or weapons programmes. Nuclear safeguards procedures can include accountancy and reporting on civil nuclear material holdings and development plans, verification (including inspections of nuclear facilities by international inspectors), containment measures and surveillance (including cameras in selected facilities). Nuclear safeguards are distinct from nuclear safety (the prevention of nuclear accidents) and nuclear security (physical protection measures), which are the subject of independent regulatory provisions and have separate purposes under the Energy Act 2013 ("the 2013 Act")1.
3. The Nuclear Safeguards Act amends the 2013 Act to replace the existing nuclear safeguards purposes of the Office for Nuclear Regulation ("ONR"). The ONR is the United Kingdom’s nuclear regulator. The ONR has five purposes which define its areas of responsibility and where it is able to exercise its functions. Currently, the nuclear safeguards purposes of the ONR are defined by reference to Euratom and existing agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency ("IAEA") (which also depend on membership of Euratom). The new nuclear safeguards purposes of the ONR as provided for in this Act will require it to ensure compliance with nuclear safeguards regulations (made by the Secretary of State) and to ensure compliance of the United Kingdom with international agreements relating to nuclear safeguards.
4. The Nuclear Safeguards Act provides powers to the Secretary of State to make nuclear safeguards regulations, which will set out the detail of the domestic regime for nuclear safeguards. The regulation-making power may also be used to implement the new international agreements the United Kingdom envisages concluding (for example, with the IAEA).
5. The Nuclear Safeguards Act also provides a regulation-making power to the Secretary of State to amend certain legislation (including primary legislation, as set out below) which make reference to parts of the existing agreements on nuclear safeguards between the IAEA and the United Kingdom. These references will need to be updated when the existing agreements with the IAEA are replaced with new ones (which were signed on 7 June 2018 and, at the time of Royal Assent of the Nuclear Safeguards Act, are pending ratification).
6. In addition, the Nuclear Safeguards Act places a requirement on the Secretary of State to prepare and lay before Parliament periodic reports providing information about nuclear safeguards covering the year after the Act is passed. The Nuclear Safeguards Act also requires the Secretary of State to make a request to the European Council for corresponding Euratom arrangements to continue to have effect in relation to the United Kingdom if certain conditions are not satisfied 28 days before exit day.