The Environment Agency (EA), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) regulate the management of radioactive waste on nuclear sites in England, Scotland and Wales respectively, to ensure that members of the public and the environment are protected from harm.
In 2018 we published our expectations for the clean-up of nuclear sites in a joint guidance document “Management of radioactive waste from decommissioning of nuclear sites: Guidance on Requirements for Release from Radioactive Substances Regulation; version 1.0: July 2018.” This guidance is known as the GRR.
The guidance has three main aims, which are to set out:
- the requirement for operators to produce optimised plans for the management of radioactive waste from decommissioning and clean-up of a nuclear site
- the requirements that an operator must meet, if its optimised plans involve on-site disposal of radioactive waste
- the standards that a nuclear site must meet to enable it to surrender its permit
We have produced a set of videos that provide training for people using the guidance within the regulatory bodies and the nuclear industry. The training provides a thorough technical overview of the contents of the GRR over eight modules. Module 1 (Overview) provides a summary and can be viewed without progressing to the other modules by those only needing a high level appreciation of the GRR. Module 1 can also provide a wider audience with an appreciation of what the guidance is about and how it is applied.
How to access the GRR technical training series
Staff of the EA, SEPA and NRW should access the training through their internal training platforms.
The GRR technical training series is available to interested external stakeholders through two platforms:
- The Nuclear Training Network (NTN) hosted by the National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN). https://www.nucleartrainingnetwork.com/ You will need to register as a learner on the NTN and then search for the course entitled GRR Technical Training provided by the EA. Access to the course on NTN is free of charge.
- SEPA’s channel on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/user/SEPAView Each of the eight videos was separately uploaded in March 2020.
Further information
You can find the published GRR using any of the links below.
https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/radioactive-substances/guidance-and-reports/
https://naturalresources.wales/permits-and-permissions/waste-permitting/guidance-on-requirements-for-release-from-radioactive-substances-regulation/?lang=en
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/decommissioning-of-nuclear-sites-and-release-from-regulation
If you have queries about the GRR technical training series please email your question to nuclear@environment-agency.gov.uk