The Office for Nuclear Regulation is now the UK's nuclear safeguards regulator, in charge of the domestic safeguards regime and operating the UK State System of Accountancy for, and Control of, Nuclear Materials (SSAC).
Following the end of the transition period as laid out in the Withdrawal Agreement, ONR assumed its responsibilities at 2300 Thursday 31 December 2020.
This has been a major project for ONR, setting up a new team, new systems and new processes, led by Dr Mina Golshan.
Since we were initially tasked by Government to establish a domestic safeguards regime after Brexit, we have developed a team of safeguards specialists, including inspectors and nuclear material accountants, and implemented a bespoke IT system, SIMRS (Safeguards Information Reporting and Management System).
Nuclear safeguards are measures to verify that countries comply with their international obligations not to use nuclear materials from their civil nuclear programmes to manufacture nuclear weapons.
The safeguards work remains a key priority for the organisation and sits in our Civil Nuclear Security and Safeguards Division.
More about nuclear safeguards
Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018
Nuclear Safeguards (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
Nuclear Co-operation Agreements: implementation guidance for operators
ONR guidance for Nuclear Material Accountancy, Control and Safeguards, Assessment guidance and Technical Inspection guidance