The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is pleased to announce that it has returned two dutyholders to routine regulatory attention for security.
Due to significant and sustained security improvements at Berkeley (Nuclear Restoration Services) and National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) (Sellafield Central Laboratory), ONR has taken them out of enhanced attention following periods of increased focus.
Regulatory attention levels are set by ONR and are assigned based on the regulator's assessment of overall performance, considering a broad range of safety and security considerations and operational issues that a site is addressing.
It also reflects an overall judgement across ONR's nuclear safety, nuclear site health and safety, civil nuclear security and transport purposes.
ONR carried out inspections and interventions at Berkeley and NNL and identified a period of sustained and secure operations, with the leadership teams at both sites showing a positive approach to security management and culture.
Paul Dicks, ONR's Director of Regulation for Sellafield, Decommissioning Fuel and Waste, said: "We have worked very closely with both Berkeley and NNL through our enabling approach to ensure that the security improvements required at both sites have been delivered.
“I’m satisfied that both sites have demonstrated evidence of significant and sustained security improvements which has allowed us to return them to routine regulatory attention.”
(Berkeley)
For Berkeley, a decommissioned nuclear power station in Gloucestershire, the site has moved into routine attention after it established and delivered an approved SyAPs-aligned security plan and an action plan aimed at addressing identified security shortfalls.
ONR will monitor progress on the site during 2024/25 to gain assurance that further improvements remain on schedule.
Paul said: "We have worked very closely with Berkeley during recent years to ensure that increasingly improved security outcomes were realised.
“There has been considerable and committed work from both the regulator and the dutyholder.
"We recognise the efforts the team at Berkeley have made in meeting regulatory requirements during the past two years and security has significantly improved as a result. We welcome this positive mutual engagement."
(NNL)
For NNL, its regulatory attention level for security has decreased from enhanced to routine as the dutyholder has made improvements in cyber security leadership and governance.
NNL was moved into enhanced attention in 2023 but improvements were promptly made by the dutyholder, enabling ONR to alter its regulatory level back to routine within the 2023/24 reporting year, recently documented for the first time in October's Chief Nuclear Inspector's annual report.
NNL is a nuclear services technology provider covering the whole of the nuclear fuel cycle and operates as a tenant on the Sellafield Ltd site in Cumbria.
Paul added: "We have been reassured by the progress that NNL has made and look forward to the dutyholder continuing to enhance its cyber security capability.
"ONR will continue to regulate the performance of both sites to ensure that the improvements in security performance are sustained."