4.3.1 Development of the rules

In November 1957 the Nuclear Safety Rules Sub­committee was formed with the terms of reference ‘to formulate rules for the radiological protection of persons employed on CEGB premises’.

The first meeting of the subcommittee was held in 1958 and since that time there have been several changes to the rules, although the underlying princi­ples of the first rules still remain valid today.

In recent years the subcommittee was renamed the Nuclear Safety Rules Advisory Committee. The Chairman is the Director of Health and Safety and the membership comprises the Electricity Council’s Chief Safety Officer, Senior Regional Representatives, the Nuclear Safety Officer of the Health and Safety De­partment, the CEGB’s Medical Adviser, various Power Station Managers, the Senior Research Health Physi­cist of Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories and a representa­tive of the Electrical Power Engineers Association. A technical secretary is provided by the Nuclear Safety Branch of Health and Safety Department^

Originally there were two formal sets of rules, the Safety Rules (Radiological) and the Safety Rules Ion­ising Radiations for Non-Destructive Testing but, with the introduction of the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985, these were, in effect, combined.

The preparation of the first rules was made all the more difficult by the absence of any significant legislation. The Factories Act legislation (the Sealed Sources and Unsealed Radioactive Substances Regu­lations), only existed in draft form and the Nuclear Installations Act of 1959 and the Radioactive Sub­stances Act of 1960 did not exist. None of the current series of ICRP recommendations existed, although ICRP Publication 1 was introduced later on in 1958.

In spite of all this, some Codes of Practice were in existence and there was also the practical experience of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.