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Centralisation of incident reporting arrangements

Revised arrangements are in place from today for licensees and other dutyholders to report incidents to the Office for Nuclear Regulation. 

Following a review of the new incident reporting arrangements and associated guidance introduced on 1 January 2012, nuclear safety, transport and safeguards incidents will now be reported to a central notification address within ONR.  Arrangements for the reporting of security incidents remain unchanged.

Two documents, Guidance for Notifying and Reporting Incidents and Events to ONR (ONR-OPEX-GD-00) and ONR Incident Notification Form (INF1), have been amended accordingly.

Licensees and other dutyholders need to be aware of some of the key changes to the guidance:

  • The addition of an ONR category for transport safety incidents - TS09:  The discovery of radioactive material in a shipment believed to be non-radioactive.
  • Plain language should be used wherever possible on INF1 notifications to aid understanding.
  • Follow Up Reports shall be provided by licensees and other dutyholders within 60 days of submission of an INF1 notification.  If a Follow Up Report cannot be sent to ONR within this timescale, the licensee/dutyholder shall inform ONR as soon as practicable to discuss alternative arrangements.  For events where only an AN01 category has been assigned, ie. an event likely to attract, or that has attracted, significant national media or public attention but has not affected nuclear safety, transport, security or safeguards, a Follow Up Report will not generally be required. 
  • Each notifiable incident should carry only one ONR category (with the exception of AN01).  Where the incident could fall under one of several ONR categories, the category with the greatest significance, and thus the shortest reporting time-scale should be selected.  
  • Inclusion of Ministerial Reporting Criteria relating to safety and radiological incidents only.  Work is ongoing to develop ministerial reporting criteria for transport, safeguards and security incidents. 

For further advice or guidance on the changes please contact us