We calculate and issue charges on a year-to-date basis for the following regulatory purposes:
- Safety
- Civil nuclear security
- Safeguards
- Transport of radioactive materials
We issue industry a breakdown of charges and a corresponding invoice on a monthly or quarterly basis (dependent on the agreement in place) by email. Payment is then required within 30 days of the invoice date. If a member of industry is in a credit position, then an invoice will not be issued and the credit balance will be carried forward to offset against future charges.
All charges are calculated in accordance with HM Treasury’s ‘Managing Public Money’. Information on our charges for each of our regulatory purposes, including the associated legislation that allows us to recover their respective costs can be found below.
Our charges are made up of our operational costs and other passthrough costs (where applicable). Further information on these costs can also be found below.
Any queries in relation to our charges should be directed to our email address and a member of the team will provide assistance: ONR.Cost.Recovery@onr.gov.uk.
Charges for our regulatory purposes
Safety charges
We recover our safety regulatory expenses from industry under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965 (Section 24(A)), The Health and Safety and Nuclear (Fees) Regulations 2022 (Regulation 16) and the Energy Act 2013.
Under The Health and Safety and Nuclear (Fees) Regulations 2022, we charge industry a fee for the work we undertake to provide nuclear safety regulation.
This involves the recovery of our operational costs, any passthrough costs and other costs incurred in carrying out regulatory activities, including Generic Design Assessment and pre-licensing advice, as well as enforcement of the relevant statutory provisions for activities on GB nuclear sites.
Civil nuclear security charges
We recover our civil nuclear security regulatory expenses from industry under The Nuclear Industries Security (Fees) Regulations 2005 made under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 and were subsequently referenced as prescribed regulations under the Energy Act 2013.
Under the Energy Act 2013 and The Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003, ONR is responsible for regulating the security of:
- civil nuclear premises
- category I/II and Category III quantities of nuclear material during transport
- Sensitive Nuclear Information (SNI), uranium enrichment equipment and software
We do this through undertaking a range of intervention activity (for example inspection, assessment and enforcement) across the disciplines of physical, personnel, information and cyber security and transport security to seek assurance of legal compliance.
Where we carry out specified functions in connection with putting into effect The Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003, under the fees regulations we charge industry a fee for the work we undertake to provide nuclear security regulation in respect of:
- nuclear premises, by the responsible person
- nuclear transports, by the approved carrier
- persons subject to regulation 22, the person who has possession or control of SNI, uranium enrichment or uranium enrichment software
This involves the recovery of our operational costs and passthrough costs incurred in carrying out physical, personnel, information and cyber security and transport security regulatory intervention activities.
Safeguards charges
We recover our safeguards regulatory expenses from industry under the Energy Act 2013, The Nuclear Safeguards Regulations 2019 and The Nuclear Safeguards (Fees) Regulations 2021.
As the UK’s independent nuclear safeguards regulator with responsibility for operating the UK State System of Accounting for and Control of nuclear material (SSAC), we carry out various functions to regulate members of industry that operating qualifying nuclear facilities who are subject to safeguards requirements.
Under The Nuclear Safeguards (Fees) Regulations 2021, we charge industry a fee for the work we undertake to provide nuclear safeguards regulation.
This involves the recovery of our operational costs and passthrough costs incurred in carrying out regulatory activities, including inspection, assessment, nuclear material accountancy and other safeguards activities.
Transport of radioactive materials charges
We are the competent authority for the transport of radioactive material (Class 7 dangerous goods) by road, rail and inland waterways within Great Britain. This role is overseen within ONR by the Transport Competent Authority team with the support of suitably qualified inspectors.
ONR carries out the following activities related to the transport of radioactive material:
- Package approval/validation and shipping approval
- Inspection and enforcement
- Transport Incident notifications
- Consignment/Shipment notification
Under Regulation 27 of The Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009, we charge industry a fee for the work we undertake to provide transport permissioning regulation. This involves the recovery of our operational cost and passthrough costs incurred in carrying out regulatory activities.
ONR costs
Operational costs
This comprises of expenses incurred in fulfilling our regulatory functions, and includes items such as:
- payroll for regulatory resource
- travel and subsistence
- training and other staff related costs
- overhead costs including (but not limited to) accommodation, IT, corporate centre support costs including staff costs
Our operating costs are apportioned to industry on the basis of direct work recording.
Passthrough costs
These are costs for services which are directly attributable to a particular dutyholder or group of dutyholders, and are charged directly ‘at cost’ to the recipient of the service. Examples of these are:
- Technical support contracts*
- Research contracts*
- Legal costs
* Technical support contracts and research contracts enable us to buy-in technical and scientific support from private consultancies, universities and others in order to fulfil our regulatory purposes. Contracts can be wholly passed through to a dutyholder or apportioned across a group of dutyholders based on direct work recording.