Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999

Made: 19th October 1999

Laid before Parliament: 29th October 1999

Coming into force: 19th November 1999

The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, being the designated[^f00001] Minister for the purpose of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972[^f00002] in relation to measures relating to the requirement for an assessment of the impact on the environment of projects likely to have significant effects upon the environment, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by that section and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

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These Regulations may be cited as the Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999 and shall come into force on 19th November 1999.

Definitions

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• (1) In these Regulations unless the context otherwise requires—

• “any particular person” includes any non-governmental organisation promoting environmental protection;

• “the consultation bodies” means—the local planning authority;the local highway authority;any principal council for the area in which the site where the project is to be carried out, if not the local planning authority; in England—the Environment Agency; andNatural England;in England, the Countryside Commission and the Nature Conservancy Council for England;in Wales, the Natural Resources Body for Wales;in Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency; any other body with environmental or public health responsibilities or local or regional competencies with whom the ONR considers it appropriate to consult;

• “the Directive” means Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council;

• “EEA State” means a State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area[^f00005];

• “environmental assessment” (except in the phrase “EU environmental assessment”) means an assessment carried out in accordance with an obligation under the law of any part of the United Kingdom of the effect of anything on the environment;

• “environmental impact assessment” means, in relation to a project—the preparation of an environmental statement by the licensee under regulations 5 and 6;the carrying out of any consultations under regulations 8 to 10A and 12;the ONR’s consideration of the information about the likely significant effects of the project on the environment under regulation 10B(2);the ONR reaching a conclusion about the likely significant effects of the project on the environment under regulation 10B(3); andthe ONR’s consideration of that conclusion under regulation 10C(1) when determining the application.

• “environmental statement” is to be read in accordance with regulation 5;

• “EU environmental assessment” means an assessment of the effect of anything on the environment carried out under assimilated law other than any law of any part of the United Kingdom that implemented the Directive;

• “the Habitats Directive” means Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, as last amended by Council Directive 2013/17/EU[^f00007];

• “the HSWA 1974” means the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974;

• ...

• “licensee” means a person to whom a nuclear site licence has been granted under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965[^f00007] whether or not that licence remains in force;

• “local planning authority” means, in England and Wales a local planning authority within the meaning of Part I of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990[^f00008] and in Scotland, a planning authority within the meaning of Part I of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997[^f00009];

• “the ONR” means the Office for Nuclear Regulation;

• “project” means the carrying out of any dismantling or decommissioning work on any nuclear power station or nuclear reactor to which these Regulations apply by virtue of regulation 3(1), but it does not include—the removal from a power station or reactor of fuel elements, neutron absorption cartridges or control rods carried out in accordance with normal operating procedures; orthe removal of waste from, or decontamination work on, a power station or reactor when such an activity is carried out as part of routine operations not intended to be part of final dismantling or decontamination of that station or reactor;and for the purposes of this definition dismantling or decommissioning of a nuclear power station or nuclear reactor shall not be treated as having commenced unless plant or equipment is disabled or removed for the purpose of permanently preventing the continued operation of that station or reactor.

• “the Wild Birds Directive” means Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conservation of wild birds, as amended by Council Directive 2013/17/EU;

• (2) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Regulations to—

• (a) a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule in these Regulations so numbered; and

• (b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation or Schedule in which the reference appears.

Application

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• (1) These Regulations shall apply to nuclear power stations and other nuclear reactors (except research installations for the production and conversion of fissionable and fertile materials, whose maximum power does not exceed 1 kilowatt continuous thermal load).

• (2) Without prejudice to paragraph (1), save for the purpose of regulation 13 these Regulations shall not apply to the carrying out of dismantling or decommissioning work on a nuclear power station or nuclear reactor commenced prior to the coming into force of these Regulations.

• (3) These Regulations do not apply to any project or part of a project serving national defence as its sole purpose where the Secretary of State is of the opinion that the application of these Regulations would have an adverse effect on that purpose.

• (4) The reference to these Regulations not applying to part of a project serving national defence as its sole purpose is a reference to that part of the project being disregarded in the environmental impact assessment of the project.

• (5) These Regulations do not apply to any project having the response to a civil emergency as its sole purpose where the Secretary of State is of the opinion that the application of these Regulations would have an adverse effect on that purpose.

• (6) These Regulations do not apply to any project where the Secretary of State is of the opinion that conditions A to C are met.

• (7) Condition A is that the project is an exceptional case and that the application of these Regulations would result in adversely affecting the purpose of the project.

• (8) Condition B is that the objectives of the Directive as it applied in the United Kingdom immediately before exit day will be met despite these Regulations not applying to the project.

• (9) Condition C is that the project is unlikely to have significant effects on the environment in an EEA State.

• (10) Where the Secretary of State is of the opinion referred to in paragraph (3), (5) or (6), the Secretary of State must as soon as possible after forming the opinion notify in writing the ONR and the licensee.

• (11) Where the Secretary of State is of the opinion referred to in paragraph (6), the Secretary of State must consider whether another form of assessment would be appropriate.

• (12) Notification under paragraph (10) must—

• (a) state that the Secretary of State is of the opinion referred to in paragraph (3), (5) or (6);

• (b) state that these Regulations do not apply to the project, or in a case where the Secretary of State is of the opinion referred to in paragraph (3) in respect of part of a project, explain the effect of paragraph (4);

• (c) where the Secretary of State considers that another form of assessment is appropriate in accordance with paragraph (11), give the details of that assessment and explain how the results of the assessment may be obtained.

• (13) Where the ONR is notified that the Secretary of State is of the opinion referred to in paragraph (6) in accordance with paragraph (12), the ONR must make available to the public concerned—

• (a) the information relating to the opinion referred to in paragraph (6) including the reasons for that opinion; and

• (b) the information obtained under any assessment considered appropriate in accordance with paragraph (11).

Consent for dismantling or decommissioning

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• (1) A licensee shall not commence a project unless—

• (a) he has applied to the ONR for a consent to carry out the project; and

• (b) a consent to carry out the project has been granted for the purposes of this paragraph by the ONR ....

• (2) The ONR may require the licensee to provide the application in an electronic form.

Provision of an environmental statement

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• (1) A licensee who applies for a consent under regulation 4(1)(a) shall provide to the ONR an environmental statement, being a statement which includes—

• (a) a description of the project comprising information on the site, design, size and other relevant features of the project;

• (b) a description of the likely significant effects of the project on the environment;

• (c) a description of any features of the project or measures envisaged to avoid, prevent or reduce and, if possible, offset, any likely significant adverse effects on the environment;

• (d) a description of the reasonable alternatives studied by the licensee, which are relevant to the project and its specific characteristics, and an indication of the main reasons for the option chosen, taking into account the likely significant effects of the project on the environment;

• (e) a non-technical summary of the information referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) to (d); and

• (f) any further information specified in Schedule 1 relevant to the specific characteristics of a particular project or type of project and to the environmental features likely to be affected.

• (2) The environmental statement shall—

• (a) be prepared by a competent person and state the relevant expertise and qualifications of that person;

• (b) be based on any opinion given under regulation 6 in respect of the project;

• (c) include the information reasonably required for reaching a reasoned conclusion on the significant effects of the project on the environment, taking into account current knowledge and methods of assessment;

• (d) take into account the results of any relevant environmental assessment which are reasonably available to the licensee.

• (3) The ONR may require the licensee to provide the environmental statement in an electronic form.

Pre-application opinion as to the content of the environmental statement

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• (1) Without prejudice to regulation 5, a licensee who is minded to apply for a consent to carry out a project may request the ONR to state in writing its opinion as to the scope and level of detail of the information to be provided in connection with that application.

• (2) The ONR shall, if it considers that it has not been provided with sufficient information to give an opinion on a request made under paragraph (1), notify the licensee of the matters in respect of which it requires further information and shall not be required to give an opinion under paragraph (1) until such further information has been provided.

• (3) The ONR shall not give an opinion in response to a request under paragraph (1) until it has consulted the licensee, the consultation bodies and such other bodies as appear to the ONR to be appropriate having regard to the circumstances of the case, but the ONR shall, subject to paragraph (2), respond to such request within 21 days of the end of the period allowed by the ONR for responding to such consultation.

• (3A) The ONR shall not give an opinion in response to a request under paragraph (1) unless it has taken into account the information provided by the licensee, in particular on the specific characteristics of the project, including its location and technical capacity, and its likely impact on the environment.

• (4) An opinion given for the purposes of paragraph (1) shall not prevent the ONR subsequently requiring the licensee to submit further information.

Provision of information to licensee

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The ONR and any other consultation body notified that a licensee has made or is proposing to make an application for consent under regulation 4(1)(a) shall, if requested by the licensee or may without such a request, enter into consultation with the licensee to determine whether the body has in its possession any information which the licensee or that body consider relevant to the preparation of an environmental statement and, if it has, the body shall make any such information available to the licensee.

Procedure by the Executive

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• (1) Where the ONR receives in relation to a proposed project an application for a consent pursuant to regulation 4(1)(a) it shall—

• (a) within 21 days of the date of receipt of such application notify the consultation bodies in writing of the name and address of the licensee and of the duty imposed on them by regulation 7 to make information available to the licensee; and

• (b) inform the licensee of the names and addresses of the bodies notified under sub-paragraph (a) above.

• (2) Where the ONR is provided with an environmental statement pursuant to regulation 5 it shall—

• (a) consult the consultation bodies as to the information contained in that statement and for that purpose shall within 21 days of the date of receipt of such statement provide to them the information contained in that statement;

• (b) require any body consulted under sub-paragraph (a) to respond to the ONR within such reasonable time as the ONR may specify; ...

• (c) send a copy of the environmental statement to the Secretary of State stating whether or not in the opinion of the ONR the project to which the environmental statement relates is likely to have significant effects on the environment in an EEA State; and

• (d) shall inform any particular person who they are aware is or is likely to be affected by, or has an interest in, the application, who is unlikely to become aware of it by means of a local advertisement, by sending them a notice that contains those details set out in regulation 9(2)(j) and (l).

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Publicity

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• (1) Within 7 days of providing the ONR with an environmental statement pursuant to regulation 5, the licensee must provide the ONR with—

• (a) a publicity notice (see paragraph (2)); and

• (b) a statement setting out the newspaper publication date (see paragraph (3)).

• (2) A publicity notice is a notice setting out—

• (a) the name and address of the licensee and that the licensee is the applicant in respect of a consent for a project;

• (b) the date on which the application was made;

• (c) the address or location of the site at which the proposed project is to be carried out;

• (d) the publicity period (see paragraph (4));

• (e) that a copy of the application together with a copy of the environmental statement may be inspected at all reasonable hours by members of the public during the publicity period;

• (f) an address (or addresses) in the locality of the power station or reactor at which those documents may be inspected;

• (g) an address (or addresses) (whether or not the same as that given under sub-paragraph (f) above) in the locality of the power station or reactor at which copies of the environmental statement may be obtained during the publicity period;

• (h) that during the publicity period copies may be obtained there so long as stocks last;

• (i) if a charge is to be made for a copy, the amount of the charge;

• (j) that any person wishing to make representations about the application should make them in writing to the ONR at a specified address within the publicity period;

• (k) that a copy of the publicity notice and the information referred to in regulation 9A(1) will be published on the ONR’s website in accordance with regulation 9A; and

• (l) that the project is subject to an environmental impact assessment procedure.

• (3) The newspaper publication date—

• (a) is the date on which the licensee proposes to first publish the publicity notice in a newspaper (see paragraph (6); and

• (b) must fall within the period of 7 days beginning with the date on which the publicity notice is provided to the ONR.

• (4) The publicity period is the period of not less than 30 days beginning with the newspaper publication date.

• (5) The ONR may require the licensee to provide the publicity notice in an electronic form.

• (6) On the newspaper publication date, the licensee must publish the publicity notice—

• (a) in one or more newspapers circulating in the locality in which the project is to be carried out; and

• (b) in any other newspaper named by the ONR.

• (7) The licensee must provide the ONR with a copy of the notice published under paragraph (6) within the period of 14 days beginning with the newspaper publication date.

• (8) The licensee must ensure that at the relevant address (or addresses) at all reasonable hours during the publicity period—