Legalize / United Kingdom / Statutory-Instrument

The Nuclear Safeguards (Notification) Regulations 2004

Type Statutory-Instrument

Publication 2004-05-01

State In force

Department King's Printer of Acts of Parliament

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API PDF

Made: 1st May 2004

Laid before Parliament: 4th May 2004

Coming into force: 5th May 2004

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on her by section 3(1) of the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000 , hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Nuclear Safeguards (Notification) Regulations 2004, and shall come into force on 5th May 2004.

Interpretation

2

In these Regulations:

“Annex II” means Annex II to the Additional Protocol ;

“electronic communications network” has the same meaning as in section 32 of the Communications Act 2003 ;

“high enriched uranium” means uranium containing 20 per cent or more of the isotope uranium-235;

“non-nuclear-weapon State” means a State other than China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America;

“nuclear fuel cycle-related research and development activities” means research and development activities which are specifically related to any process or system development aspect of—the enrichment of nuclear material,the reprocessing of nuclear fuel, orthe processing of intermediate or high level waste containing plutonium, high enriched uranium, or uranium-233but does not include activities related to theoretical or basic scientific research or to research and development on industrial radioisotope applications, medical, hydrological or agricultural applications, health or environmental effects or improved maintenance;

“nuclear material” means any source material (other than ore or ore residue) or any special fissionable material;

“the ONR” means the Office for Nuclear Regulation;

“processing of intermediate or high level waste” does not include—repackaging of the waste for storage or disposal,conditioning of the waste not involving the separation of elements, for storage or disposal;

“source material” means uranium containing the mixture of isotopes occurring in nature, uranium depleted in the isotope 235, thorium, and any of the foregoing in the form of metal, alloy, chemical compound or concentrate;

“special fissionable material” means plutonium-239, uranium-233, uranium containing the isotopes 235 or 233 or both in an amount such that the abundance ratio of the sum of these isotopes to the isotope 238 is greater than the ratio of the isotope 235 to the isotope 238 occurring in nature, and any material containing one or more of the foregoing.

Persons required to notify the Secretary of State

3

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4

(1) Subject to regulation 5, a person shall notify the ONR on or before 15th January in each year if at any time during the previous calendar year he has carried out in the United Kingdom any of the activities specified in paragraph 1 of the Schedule.

(2) Subject to regulation 5, a person shall notify the ONR on or before 15th January in each year if at any time during the previous calendar year he has carried out in the United Kingdom any nuclear fuel cycle-related research and development activities which were:

(a) carried out in co-operation with, or otherwise relevant to, a non-nuclear-weapon State; and

(b) not funded, specifically authorised or controlled by, or carried out on behalf of, Her Majesty's Government.

Persons not required to notify the Secretary of State

5

(1) The ONR may serve on a person a written notice setting out particulars which the ONR already has in relation to that person.

(2) A person on whom a notice has been served under paragraph (1) is not required to notify the ONR under regulation ... 4 if the particulars set out in the notice are accurate at the time the notice is received by that person and are all the particulars which that person would be required to provide under these Regulations but for this paragraph.

(3) A person who by virtue of paragraph (2) is not required to notify the ONR under regulation ...4 shall, within 14 days of any change in any of the particulars which were set out in the notice served on him under paragraph (1), give to the ONR notice of the new particulars.

(4) Section 10 of the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000 applies in relation to the service by the ONR of notices under paragraph (1).

Form of notification to the Secretary of State

6

(1) A person who is required to notify the ONR under regulation ... 4 shall do so by giving a notice to the ONR containing particulars of his name, his proper address (within the meaning of section 10(3) of the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000), each activity, referred to in the regulation in question, which he has carried out during the relevant period and the address of each place at or from which he has carried out each such activity.

(2) A person who has given particulars to the ONR pursuant to paragraph (1) shall, within 14 days of any change in any of those particulars, give to the ONR notice of the new particulars.

(3) Any notice to be given by a person under paragraph (1) or (2), or under regulation 5(3), shall be in writing and sent by post or delivered to the Office for Nuclear Regulation at the address given on its website as its postal address, or sent by means of an electronic communications network to the address given on the Office’s website as its address for electronic communications.

SCHEDULE

PART I — ACTIVITIES REFERRED TO IN REGULATION 4(1)

1

The activities referred to in regulations 3(1) and 4(1) are:

(i) the manufacture of centrifuge rotor tubes or the assembly of gas centrifuges;

(ii) the manufacture of diffusion barriers;

(iii) the manufacture or assembly of laser-based systems;

(iv) the manufacture or assembly of electromagnetic isotope separators;

(v) the manufacture or assembly of columns or extraction equipment;

(vi) the manufacture of aerodynamic separation nozzles or vortex tubes;

(vii) the manufacture or assembly of uranium plasma generation systems;

(viii) the manufacture of zirconium tubes;

(ix) the manufacture or upgrading of heavy water or deuterium;

(x) the manufacture of nuclear grade graphite;

(xi) the manufacture of flasks for irradiated fuel;

(xii) the manufacture of reactor control rods;

(xiii) the manufacture of criticality safe tanks and vessels;

(xiv) the manufacture of irradiated fuel element chopping machines;

(xv) the construction of hot cells.

2

In paragraph 1:

“centrifuge rotor tubes” means thin-walled cylinders as described in entry 5.1.1(b);

“gas centrifuges” means centrifuges as described in the Introductory Note to entry 5.1;

“diffusion barriers” means thin, porous filters as described in entry 5.3.1(a);

“laser-based systems” means systems incorporating those items described in entry 5.7;

“electromagnetic isotope separators” means those items referred to in entry 5.9.1 containing ion sources as described in entry 5.9.1(a);

“columns or extraction equipment” means those items as described in entries 5.6.1, 5.6.2, 5.6.3, 5.6.5, 5.6.6, 5.6.7 and 5.6.8;

“aerodynamic separation nozzles or vortex tubes” means separation nozzles and vortex tubes as described respectively in entries 5.5.1 and 5.5.2;

“uranium plasma generation systems” means systems for the generation of uranium plasma as described in entry 5.8.3;

“zirconium tubes” means tubes as described in entry 1.6;

“heavy water or deuterium” means deuterium, heavy water (deuterium oxide) and any other deuterium compound in which the ratio of deuterium to hydrogen atoms exceeds 1:5000;

“nuclear grade graphite” means graphite having a purity level better than 5 parts per million boron equivalent and with a density greater than 1.50g/cm³;

“flask for irradiated fuel” means a vessel for the transportation and/or storage of irradiated fuel which provides chemical, thermal and radiological protection, and dissipates decay heat during handling, transportation and storage;

“reactor control rods” means rods as described in entry 1.4;

“criticality safe tanks and vessels” means those items as described in entries 3.2 and 3.4;

“irradiated fuel element chopping machines” means equipment as described in entry 3.1;

“hot cells” means a cell or interconnected cells totalling at least 6m³ in volume with shielding equal to or greater than the equivalent of 0.5m of concrete, with a density of 3.2g/cm³ or greater, outfitted with equipment for remote operations.

3

The numbered entries referred to in paragraph 2 are the entries so numbered in Annex II, which entries are set out (with other entries referred to in them) in Part II of this Schedule.

PART II — EXTRACTS FROM ANNEX II TO THE ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL

REACTORS AND EQUIPMENT THEREFOR

Complete nuclear reactors

1.1

Nuclear reactors capable of operation so as to maintain a controlled self-sustaining fission chain reaction, excluding zero energy reactors, the latter being defined as reactors with a designed maximum rate of production of plutonium not exceeding 100 grams per year.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

It is not intended to exclude reactors which could reasonably be capable of modification to produce significantly more than 100 grams of plutonium per year. Reactors designed for sustained operation at significant power levels, regardless of their capacity for plutonium production, are not considered as “zero energy reactors”.

…

Reactor control rods

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Zirconium tubes

PLANTS FOR THE REPROCESSING OF IRRADIATED FUEL ELEMENTS, AND EQUIPMENT ESPECIALLY DESIGNED OR PREPARED THEREFOR

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

These processes, including the complete systems for plutonium conversion and plutonium metal production, may be identified by the measures taken to avoid criticality (e.g. by geometry), radiation exposure (e.g. by shielding), and toxicity hazards (e.g. by containment).

Items of equipment that are considered to fall within the meaning of the phrase “and equipment especially designed or prepared” for the reprocessing of irradiated fuel elements include:

Irradiated fuel element chopping machines

3.1

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Dissolvers

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Chemical holding or storage vessels

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

PLANTS FOR THE SEPARATION OF ISOTOPES OF URANIUM AND EQUIPMENT, OTHER THAN ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS, ESPECIALLY DESIGNED OR PREPARED THEREFOR

5

…

Gas centrifuges and assemblies and components especially designed or prepared for use in gas centrifuges

5.1

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Rotating components

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Gaseous diffusion barriers

Separation nozzles

Vortex tubes

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Liquid-liquid exchange columns (Chemical exchange)

Liquid-liquid centrifugal contactors (Chemical exchange)

Uranium reduction systems and equipment (Chemical exchange)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Uranium oxidation systems (Chemical exchange)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Fast-reacting ion exchange resins/adsorbents (Ion exchange)

Ion exchange columns (Ion exchange)

Ion exchange reflux systems (Ion exchange)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Especially designed or prepared systems, equipment and components for use in laser-based enrichment plants

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Uranium vaporization systems (AVLIS)

Liquid uranium metal handling systems (AVLIS)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Uranium metal “product” and “tails” collector assemblies (AVLIS)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Separator module housings (AVLIS)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Supersonic expansion nozzles (MLIS)

Uranium pentafluoride product collectors (MLIS)

UF6/carrier gas compressors (MLIS)

Rotary shaft seals (MLIS)

Fluorination systems (MLIS)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

UF6 mass spectrometers/ion sources (MLIS)

Feed systems/product and tails withdrawal systems (MLIS)

UF6/carrier gas separation systems (MLIS)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Laser systems (AVLIS, MLIS and CRISLA)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Uranium plasma generation systems

Electromagnetic isotope separators

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Signed

Nigel Griffiths, — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Small Business and Enterprise, — Department of Trade and Industry — 2004-05-01

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2000 c. 5.

[^f00002]: Cm 4282.

[^f00003]: 2003 c. 21.

Persons not required to notify the Secretary of State

Form of notification to the Secretary of State

1

The activities referred to in regulation 4(1) are:

(i) the manufacture of centrifuge rotor tubes or the assembly of gas centrifuges;

(ii) the manufacture of diffusion barriers;

(iii) the manufacture or assembly of laser-based systems;

(iv) the manufacture or assembly of electromagnetic isotope separators;

(v) the manufacture or assembly of columns or extraction equipment;

(vi) the manufacture of aerodynamic separation nozzles or vortex tubes;

(vii) the manufacture or assembly of uranium plasma generation systems;

(viii) the manufacture of zirconium tubes;

(ix) the manufacture or upgrading of heavy water or deuterium;

(x) the manufacture of nuclear grade graphite;

(xi) the manufacture of flasks for irradiated fuel;

(xii) the manufacture of reactor control rods;

(xiii) the manufacture of criticality safe tanks and vessels;

(xiv) the manufacture of irradiated fuel element chopping machines;

(xv) the construction of hot cells.

3

The numbered entries referred to in paragraph 2 are the entries so numbered in Annex II, which entries are set out (with other entries referred to in them) in Part II of this Schedule.

1

EXPLANATORY NOTE

A “nuclear reactor” basically includes the items within or attached directly to the reactor vessel, the equipment which controls the level of power in the core, and the components which normally contain or come in direct contact with or control the primary coolant of the reactor core.

...

Reactor control rods

1

Rods especially designed or prepared for the control of the reaction rate in a nuclear reactor as defined in paragraph 1.1. above.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This item includes, in addition to the neutron absorbing part, the support or suspension structures therefor if supplied separately.

...

Zirconium tubes

1

Zirconium metal and alloys in the form of tubes or assemblies of tubes, and in quantities exceeding 500 kg in any period of 12 months, especially designed or prepared for use in a reactor as defined in paragraph 1.1. above, and in which the relation of hafnium to zirconium is less than 1:500 parts by weight.

PLANTS FOR THE REPROCESSING OF IRRADIATED FUEL ELEMENTS, AND EQUIPMENT ESPECIALLY DESIGNED OR PREPARED THEREFOR

3

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Reprocessing irradiated nuclear fuel separates plutonium and uranium from intensely radioactive fission products and other transuranic elements. Different technical processes can accomplish this separation. However, over the years Purex has become the most commonly used and accepted process. Purex involves the dissolution of irradiated nuclear fuel in nitric acid, followed by separation of the uranium, plutonium, and fission products by solvent extraction using a mixture of tributyl phosphate in an organic diluent.

Purex facilities have process functions similar to each other, including: irradiated fuel element chopping, fuel dissolution, solvent extraction, and process liquor storage. There may also be equipment for thermal denitration of uranium nitrate, conversion of plutonium nitrate to oxide or metal, and treatment of fission product waste liquor to a form suitable for long term storage or disposal. However, the specific type and configuration of the equipment performing these functions may differ between Purex facilities for several reasons, including the type and quantity of irradiated nuclear fuel to be reprocessed and the intended disposition of the recovered materials, and the safety and maintenance philosophy incorporated into the design of the facility.

A “plant for the reprocessing of irradiated fuel elements” includes the equipment and components which normally come in direct contact with and directly control the irradiated fuel and the major nuclear material and fission product processing streams.

Items of equipment that are considered to fall within the meaning of the phrase “and equipment especially designed or prepared” for the reprocessing of irradiated fuel elements include:

Irradiated fuel element chopping machines

3

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

This equipment breaches the cladding of the fuel to expose the irradiated nuclear material to dissolution. Especially designed metal cutting shears are the most commonly employed, although advanced equipment, such as lasers, may be used.

Reading this document does not replace reading the official text published on legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies arising from the conversion of the original CLML XML to this format.