- Date released
- 23 February 2024
- Request number
- 202401058
- Release of information under
- Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)
Information requested
How many security breaches (by site staff) were detected at the nuclear power stations around the UK?
Please can you list details of the nature of the security breaches and at which locations?
Was any action taken against staff working at the respective nuclear facilities following the breaches?
How many of the incidents involved CNC employees at Dungeness here in Kent? Please can you list details of the nature of the security breaches at Dungeness? .
Information released
We confirm that under s.1 of the FOIA, we may hold the information you have requested. However, due to the broad nature of your request, the volume of information requested, and the way in which the information is held on our systems, gathering it together is likely to take us beyond the appropriate limit set by the government. We are therefore refusing your request under s.12 of the FOIA, requests where the cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit.
During the initial stages of processing your request, we undertook a sampling exercise of one year’s records containing data on security events reported on our database. Using this figure to determine how practicable it would be to manually retrieve, review, and extract the relevant information, we calculated that it would take staff time in excess of 24 hours.
Regulation 3 of the Fees Regulations states that the appropriate limit for dealing with Freedom of Information (FOI) requests is £600, with staff time spent on permitted activities set at a flat rate of £25 per person, per hour (24 hours).
Further information
It is important to note that we only hold information on the Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003 (NISR) Reg.10(5) list of events that dutyholders are legally obliged to report to us.
Under our duty to provide advice and assistance under s.16 of the FOIA, we suggest that you may wish to narrow your request by specifying the calendar period or financial year(s) to which your request applies and specifying whether your request relates to only UK nuclear power stations in operation or also includes sites undergoing decommissioning.
Examples to help refine your request to bring it within the appropriate limit include:
- Five years of data for one category (a to h) of NISR Reg.10(5) for all sites; or
- Up to one year of data for one category (i or j) of NISR Reg.10(5) for all sites; or
- Up to one year of data for all categories (a to j) for three named sites.
Annex A contains further details of categories (a to j) of NISR Reg.10(5). A list of the sites and facilities that we regulate can be found on our website.
Should you wish to narrow your request, please contact us via the email address contact@onr.gov.uk, quoting reference: FOI202401058. Any reformulated request will be treated as a new FOI request. Please note that in accordance with s.1(3) of the FOIA we are not under any further obligation to respond until you have provided the appropriate refinement.
Exemptions applied
s.12
PIT (Public Interest Test) if applicable
N/A