The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is holding an industry engagement day for its forthcoming Chief Nuclear Inspector's (CNI) themed inspection on climate change.
ONR considers it essential that all nuclear licensed sites remain safe and secure from the effects of climate change.
This year, ONR is asking site operators to complete a self-assessment questionnaire on their arrangements and resilience in relation to climate change effects.
Next year, site-based regulatory inspections will be conducted by ONR at selected sites on a targeted and proportionate basis.
The sites selected for inspection will be informed by the responses within the initial self-assessment questionnaires.
Once the site-based regulatory inspections are completed, the CNI themed inspection report on climate change will be published, detailing the conclusions and findings.
In recent months, letters were sent out to the industry inviting licensees to the themed inspection engagement day at Redgrave Court, Bootle, on Tuesday, 16 May.
As part of the half-day session, ONR inspectors will set out their expectations for the CNI themed inspection and the licensee self-assessment questionnaire and invite feedback and questions from industry representatives as part of an open and inclusive dialogue.
The licensee self-assessment stage of the CNI themed inspection aims to understand the approach currently adopted by licensees for consideration of climate change in safety cases.
This should include climate change projections used to define the design basis for external hazards affected by climate change.
The assessment will also help to inform ONR of licensees’ long-term planning for climate change.
The Chief Nuclear Inspector’s themed inspections were introduced in 2017 and are designed to examine regulatory matters that are strategic or broader in nature than ONR’s more routine regulatory inspection activities.
They also raise awareness of important issues and highlight ONR’s regulatory activities and expectations to a wider audience, in addition to the nuclear industry.
In November, last year, we published the findings of our last CNI themed inspection focused on the UK’s nuclear industry's management of ageing facilities.
That 47-page report looked at how the sector manages ageing plants and facilities to ensure the necessary standards of safety and security are maintained.
The summary report for this forthcoming climate change inspection and subsequent report will identify good practices and make recommendations for ONR and licensees.
If you have questions about the themed inspection engagement day in May, or require another invitation sent to you, please get in touch with us by emailing CNIClimateChange@onr.gov.uk