Table of Contents
ONR, Site Licenses and Legislation
The Office for Nuclear Regulation, ONR for short, ensures the nuclear industry in the UK is safe and secure.
The Five Purposes of ONR
Site Licenses
ONR regulates 35 licensed sites across the UK. These can be found on our UK sites page. These include operating reactors, fuel cycle facilities, waste management and decommissioning sites, defence sites, and new build construction sites.
ONR grants these licenses for corporate bodies to use sites for specific activities. The license comes with 36 standard conditions which must be followed to ensure that plants are designed, operated and decommissioned with safety at the front of people’s minds.
Compliance is checked through regular inspections and assessments of sites. ONR does this alongside the environment agencies across the UK who focus on environmental safety both on and off site.
Legislation
ONR was established in 2014 following the passing of The Energy Act in 2013. It draws its powers from that and the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 which requires sites to have a license, and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
