Prior to the break-up and privatisation of the electricity generation industry in the 1980s and 1990s, the operators of nuclear installations were primarily government-owned organisations. More recently, the UK government has given the go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear power stations to be built. Potential sites have been identified across England and Wales. However, the devolved Scottish government has no current plans for new nuclear power stations. A divergence in approaches to waste management between Scotland and the remainder of the UK has also been confirmed (Defra et al, 2008; Scottish Government, 2011). Northern Ireland currently has no nuclear power stations and no identified sites for potential new build, although there is no policy restricting the development of nuclear power in Northern Ireland.

RAW management in Scotland is considered in Chapter 17, but there is considerable overlap with England and Wales, and for much of the earlier history of nuclear developments, a UK-wide policy was applied.

As the older stations and other facilities have closed, a significant liability has accumulated, much of which has been retained in the public sector as privatisation of facilities reaching the end of their working lives was not practicable. The current status of reactors in England and Wales is sum­marised in Table 16.2.

A number of research and development reactors also produced some power for the grid, including two Winfrith reactors, two Dounreay fast reac­tors, and the prototype Windscale advanced gas-cooled reactor.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) was established in 2005 to take on the role of addressing the nuclear legacy from these older sites in a planned and focused manner. The NDA is responsible for the largest current decommissioning and waste management liabilities in the UK, overseeing the continued operation, decommissioning and site clean­up at 19 sites across the UK. Following further restructuring of the UK civil nuclear industry in 2007, seven site licence companies (owned by sepa­rate parent body organisations) were established to work in partnership with the NDA to carry out decommissioning and commercial operations (Fig. 16.2 ).

Other significant producers of radioactive waste in the UK, as owner operators of nuclear licensed facilities, are currently EDF Energy, the Min­istry of Defence, GE Healthcare Ltd and Urenco UK Ltd. EDF Energy currently operates advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) power stations at seven sites across the UK in addition to one pressurised water reactor (PWR) at Sizewell B. The NDA has an additional responsibility to scrutinise EDF Energy’s site decommissioning plans (NDA, 2011).

The UK strategy has been developed to present an integrated approach to the management of RAW and the decommissioning process. All nuclear installations in the UK have been regulated through the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Nuclear Installations Inspectorate using a site licensing system that applies conditions to operations carried out at the site. The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is the new regulator for the civil nuclear industry in the United Kingdom. Created on 1 April 2011, the ONR was formed from the merger of the Health and Safety Executive’s Nuclear Directorate (the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, Office for Civil Nuclear Security, and the UK Safeguards Office) and the Department for Trans­port’s Radioactive Materials Transport Team. The change follows the rec­ommendations of a review conducted on behalf of the Government in 2008 (Nuclear Regulatory Review, 2008; HSE and ONR, 2011). The ONR was initially created as a non-statutory body and an agency of the HSE; however, the government has announced its intention to put the ONR on a statutory basis once the appropriate legislation has been passed. When fully opera­tional as a statutory corporation, ONR will be an autonomous organisation, legally separated from, but still supported by, the HSE.

The disposal of RAW has been legislated under the Radioactive Sub­stances Act 1960 (RSA60) and subsequently the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 (RSA93) before being incorporated into Schedule 23 of the Envi­ronmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (EPR10) within England and Wales (RSA93 was retained in Scotland and Northern Ireland). EPR10 was amended in 2011 by the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations (2011) to include revised exemption provisions and corresponding amendments were made to RSA93 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Environment Agency is the regula­tor with the responsibility for regulating the disposal of RAW in England and Wales. Responsibility for regulating RAW disposal in Scotland lies with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern Ireland.