Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018
For section 72 of the Energy Act 2013 substitute—
After section 76 of that Act insert—
In section 112 of that Act (interpretation)—
“nuclear safeguards regulations” means regulations under section 76A(1); “relevant international agreement” has the meaning given by subsection (1A);
after subsection (1) insert—
A consultation requirement imposed by an amendment made by this section may be satisfied by consultation carried out before this Act was passed.
The Schedule contains minor and consequential amendments.
The Secretary of State may by regulations amend any of the following in consequence of a relevant safeguards agreement—
the Nuclear Safeguards and Electricity (Finance) Act 1978,
the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000, and
the Nuclear Safeguards (Notification) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/1255).
In subsection (1) “relevant safeguards agreement” means an agreement (whether or not ratified) relating to nuclear safeguards to which the United Kingdom and the International Atomic Energy Agency are parties.
Regulations under this section may include—
consequential, supplementary or incidental provision;
transitional, transitory or saving provision.
The power to make regulations under this section is exercisable by statutory instrument.
An instrument containing (whether alone or with other provision) regulations under this section may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
No regulations may be made under this section after the end of the period of 5 years beginning with the day on which this section comes into force.
The Secretary of State must, in respect of each reporting period, prepare a report containing information about nuclear safeguards.
Information about nuclear safeguards includes information about—
international arrangements relating to nuclear safeguards to which the United Kingdom is (or is proposed to be) a party, and
the establishment in the United Kingdom of arrangements relating to nuclear safeguards.
A report under this section may include other information on future arrangements with Euratom, which may include information relating to nuclear research and development and the import and export of qualifying nuclear material.
A report under this section must be laid before Parliament after the end of the reporting period to which it relates.
There are four successive reporting periods, each of which is a period of 3 months.
The first reporting period is the period of 3 months beginning with the day on which this Act is passed.
The Secretary of State must make a relevant request to the European Council if neither of conditions 1 and 2 is met at the beginning of the period of 28 days ending with exit day.
Condition 1 is that all of the principal international agreements have been signed.
Condition 2 is that—
one or more of the principal international agreements have not been signed, but
in respect of each agreement that has not been signed, arrangements for the corresponding Euratom arrangements to have effect in relation to the United Kingdom after exit day—
have been made, or
will, in the Secretary of State's opinion, have been made before exit day.
A “relevant request” is a request, in relation to each principal international agreement that has not been signed and in respect of which subsection (3)(b) does not apply, for the corresponding Euratom arrangements to continue to have effect in relation to the United Kingdom after exit day until—
the principal international agreement comes into force, or
arrangements have been made for the corresponding Euratom arrangements to have effect in relation to the United Kingdom until further notice.
The “principal international agreements” are—
agreements relating to nuclear safeguards to which only the United Kingdom and the International Atomic Energy Agency are parties;
agreements relating to nuclear safeguards to which the United Kingdom is a party with, respectively, the governments of Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States of America (and for this purpose “agreement” includes an agreement or other arrangement that modifies or supplements an existing agreement).
A reference in this section to “the corresponding Euratom arrangements” is a reference—
in the case of an agreement referred to in subsection (5)(a), to whichever of the Safeguards Agreement and the Additional Protocol corresponds to the agreement;
in the case of an agreement referred to in subsection (5)(b), to whichever of the agreements to which Euratom is a party with the government of Australia, Canada, Japan or the United States of America corresponds to the agreement (and for this purpose the reference to an agreement to which Euratom is a party includes any agreement or other arrangement that modifies or supplements the agreement).
In this section—
“exit day” has the same meaning as in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (and references to before or after exit day are to be read accordingly);
Part 3 of the Energy Act 2013 (nuclear regulation) is amended as follows.
In section 74 (nuclear regulations) —
in subsection (1), omit paragraph (c),
in subsection (9), omit “any paragraph of”, and
in subsection (10), omit paragraphs (b) and (c).
In section 81 (proposals about orders and regulations), in subsection (1)(a)—
after sub-paragraph (i) insert—;
after sub-paragraph (iii) insert—.
In section 82 (enforcement of relevant statutory provisions), in subsection (2)(a), for the words from “of” to the end substitute “ of this Part, nuclear regulations and nuclear safeguards regulations; ”.
In section 84 (investigations), in subsection (3)(b), after sub-paragraph (i) (but before the “or”) insert—.
Omit section 93.
In section 102 (general duty of employers at work in relation to requirements imposed on others)—
in subsection (1), for “relevant provision” substitute “ of the relevant statutory provisions ”, and
in subsection (5), omit paragraph (b) and the “and” preceding it.
In section 104 (duty not to charge employees for certain things)—
in subsection (1), for “relevant provision” substitute “ of the relevant statutory provisions ”, and
in subsection (3), omit paragraph (b) and the “and” preceding it.
Section 113 (subordinate legislation) is amended as follows. In subsection (2) (regulations subject to affirmative procedure)— In subsection (3), after “regulations”, in each place it occurs, insert “ or nuclear safeguards regulations ”.
In section 118 (review of Part 3), in subsection (1), for “5 years” substitute “ 7 years ”.
Schedule 8 (ONR inspectors) is amended as follows. In paragraph 3 (improvement notices), in sub-paragraph (5), for paragraph (a) (but not the “or” at the end) substitute—. In paragraph 4 (prohibition notices), in the definition of “applicable provision” in sub-paragraph (5), after “paragraph 3” insert “ but does not include nuclear safeguards regulations or a provision of the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000 ”.
In Schedule 9 (disclosure of information), in paragraph 20, for “any of the safeguards obligations” substitute “ a relevant international agreement ”.
“exit day” has the same meaning as in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (and references to before or after exit day are to be read accordingly);
“the Safeguards Agreement” and “the Additional Protocol” have the same meaning as in the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000;
“signed”, in relation to a principal international agreement, means signed by both parties to the agreement.
“signed”, in relation to a principal international agreement, means signed by both parties to the agreement.
This Act extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, subject to the rest of this section.
An amendment made by this Act has the same extent within the United Kingdom as the provision amended.
Where regulations under section 2 amend or repeal any provision of— the power under section 12(4) of the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000 may be exercised so as to extend the amendment or repeal (with or without modifications) to any of the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man or any British overseas territory.
the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000, or
the Nuclear Safeguards and Electricity (Finance) Act 1978,
Sections 3 and 5, this section and section 7 come into force on the day on which this Act is passed.
The other provisions of this Act come into force on such day as the Secretary of State may by regulations made by statutory instrument appoint.
Regulations under subsection (2) may—
appoint different days for different purposes;
include transitional, transitory or saving provision.
The power of the Secretary of State under subsection (2) to appoint a day includes a power to appoint a time on that day if the Secretary of State considers it appropriate to do so.
This Act may be cited as the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018.
Section 1
In section 12(4) of the Nuclear Safeguards Act 2000 (power to extend to the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man etc), for “colony” substitute “ British overseas territory ”.