- Date released
- 4 April 2023
- Request number
- 202303056
- Release of information under
- Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)
Information requested
- As a result of this accident, can the ONR tell us whether they anticipate any revisions in the guidance provided by the regulator to those operators that are licensed to transport nuclear materials in the UK?
- Can they provide us with an outline of the current regulations that govern this activity in the UK (a written summary is fine) and the penalties that can imposed for fail to adhere to them?
- And can they provide a summary of the number of incidents of lost radioactive materials in the UK in each of the last five years? Reassure us that all of these materials have been recovered? And tell us what penalties or fines have been imposed by the ONR on such operators.
Information released
I confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we hold the information in relation to your request. Please see below for a response to each of your questions in turn.
Question 1
ONR is the Competent Authority and Enforcing Authority for civil transport of UN Class 7 (radioactive) dangerous goods into or within Great Britain (GB) by road, rail, or inland waterway. I confirm that we do not anticipate any revisions in the guidance provided by us to dutyholders as a result of the operational experience from Western Australia.
We find the current legislation, reporting process and enforcement policy to be highly robust and proportionate. More information on the transport of radioactive material can be found at the following link:
Question 2
In the unlikely event of a loss or theft of radioactive material during transport, we would undertake a thorough investigation. Were we to judge that dutyholder arrangements or actions were inadequate, we would consider enforcement action in line with ONR’s enforcement policy statement.
The Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (L121 - Work with ionising radiation: Approved Code of Practice and guidance) requires dutyholders to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to employees and other persons.
Our transport Competent Authority undertakes routine inspections of dutyholders to ensure that suitable and sufficient radiation risk assessments have been made and implemented with respect to transporting radioactive material. A suitable and sufficient radiation risk assessment must consider foreseeable accidents during transport including loss or theft of radioactive material.
Where a dutyholder’s risk assessment shows that a radiation accident is reasonably foreseeable, that dutyholder must prepare a contingency plan designed to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the restriction of exposure to ionising radiation and the health and safety of persons who may be affected by the accident.
In addition, The Carriage of Dangerous Goods (Amendment) Regulations 2019 places further requirements for dutyholders to consider the need to prepare emergency plans where the estimated dose levels from the potential emergency meet certain thresholds. Emergency plans place specific requirements on dutyholders to consider actions in the event of loss or theft of radioactive materials.
We have an incident reporting process (Notify ONR) that requires dutyholders to report incidents. Dutyholders must include reporting arrangements as part of its accident contingency plans and emergency plans described above. It follows, that if radioactive material is lost or stolen, the dutyholder is required to implement its plan to protect workers and other persons and notify us of that loss or theft.
More information on the transport legislation can be found at the following link:
Question 3
I confirm we hold the information in relation to question 3 of your request. It is important to note that some of this information is already reasonably accessible in the Chief Nuclear Inspector’s (CNI) annual reports on Great Britain’s nuclear industry via our website (links on page 4 below) therefore we have applied s.21(1) of the FOI Act, which applies to information accessible to applicant by other means. However, for your ease we have provided a summary of the information held within the reports and some additional information in a table below.
| Financial year | Total | Description | CNI report page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 5 | Three involved attempted thefts of vehicles with packages containing radioactive material onboard. It is not believed that these events were related to the presence of radioactive packages within the vehicles. At all times the packages remained safe and secure. The other two incidents related to lost packages which were subsequently recovered. We have established that there was no harm to workers and the public as a consequence. | 92 |
| 2020/21 | 2 | Two instances of theft of radioactive sources in transit. One of these involved the transport of a 500ml sample bottle that contained corrosive products, hydrocarbons, and low concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive materials such as those typically found in rock samples which are typically exempt from transport regulations due to the low levels of radioactivity. The second incident relates to an attempted theft of a vehicle that was parked. No individual gained access to the inside of the vehicle and the attempted theft of the vehicle was prevented by the sounding of the vehicle alarm. | 137 |
| 2019/20 | 0 | N/A | 87 |
| 2018/19 | 2 | One instance which involved the theft of a cardboard box containing radioactive medicines. The package was not recovered, and the matter was referred to the Police. ONR considers any potential consequences to the public to be minimal due to the low dose rates of the medicine. However, as with any medicine, if an individual were to consume the medicine without proper medical oversight, there could be consequences for that individual. The second incident also involved the theft of a small amount of radioactive material intended for industrial purposes from a vehicle. The material was subsequently discovered by the local council after it was dumped (fly tipped). The material was safely recovered shortly after. | N/A |
Exemptions applied
s.21
PIT (Public Interest Test) if applicable
N/A