Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018

Overview of the Act

Reproduced verbatim from the Explanatory Notes published with the Act on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Explanatory Notes are prepared by the responsible government department and are not part of the Act.

The Nuclear Safeguards Act creates the legal framework for a domestic nuclear safeguards regime to operate in the United Kingdom. This regime will replace the current legal framework provided principally by the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Atomic Energy Community ("Euratom"). Nuclear safeguards arrangements enable the United Kingdom to meet international nuclear safeguards standards and engage in certain international civil nuclear activities, including trade and research and development.

Nuclear safeguards primarily involve reporting and verification processes by which the United Kingdom demonstrates to the international community that civil nuclear material is not diverted into military or weapons programmes. Nuclear safeguards procedures can include accountancy and reporting on civil nuclear material holdings and development plans, verification (including inspections of nuclear facilities by international inspectors), containment measures and surveillance (including cameras in selected facilities). Nuclear safeguards are distinct from nuclear safety (the prevention of nuclear accidents) and nuclear security (physical protection measures), which are the subject of independent regulatory provisions and have separate purposes under the Energy Act 2013 ("the 2013 Act")1.