These Regulations prescribe the sites and transport for which lower liability limits apply under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (“the Act”). The liability regime imposed by the Act on operators of nuclear sites and disposal sites taking nuclear waste sets the standard liability limit at €1200 million, but allows a lower limit to be set for sites and transport prescribed under section 16(1) of the Act. These Regulations do not apply to excepted matter, which is the subject of separate regulation, the Nuclear Installations (Excepted Matter) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/920).

All but one of the categories prescribed by these Regulations are new and result from the extension of the liability regime by prospective amendments to the Act made by the Nuclear Installations (Liability for Damage) Order 2016 (S.I. 2016/562).

Regulation 3 prescribes low risk nuclear sites, which are broadly the same sites as those prescribed by the Nuclear Installations (Prescribed Sites) Regulations 1983 (S.I. 1983/919) which these Regulations revoke. The liability limit for these sites is €70 million (see section 16(1)(a) of the Act). These are sites licensed under the Act which are used for (i) small nuclear reactors or (ii) storage of radioactive material (within the radioactivity limits set out in Schedule 1); and in both cases subject to restrictions (set out in Schedule 2) on the quantity of fissile material at the site.

Regulation 4 prescribes low risk disposal sites, for which the liability limit is €70 million (see section 16(1)(b) of the Act). These are disposal sites taking only low level waste as defined in regulation 2.

Regulation 5 prescribes intermediate risk nuclear sites, for which the liability limit is €160 million (see section 16(1)(c) of the Act). These are sites used for purposes for which the risk is higher than for low risk sites, but which do not justify the standard liability limit.

Regulation 6 prescribes low risk transport, for which the liability limit is €80 million (see section 16(1)(d) and (e) of the Act). These are situations where nuclear matter transported from a licensed site or a disposal site meets prescribed conditions, namely that the matter is in packages that do not exceed radioactivity levels set by reference to values used in the IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials 2012.

Regulation 7 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and publish a report within five years after they come into force and within every five years after that. Following a review it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the Regulations should remain as they are, or be revoked or be amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Regulations or to amend them.

These Regulations come into force when the prospective amendments to the Act come into force.

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector has been prepared in relation to low risk disposal sites and low risk transport, in conjunction with the Nuclear Installations (Liability for Damage) Order 2016. That assessment is available from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy at 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET and is published with the Explanatory Memorandum to these Regulations and to the Order respectively on www.legislation.gov.uk. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument in relation to intermediate sites as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.