Government should define the tolerability of risk for nuclear
Define tolerability of risk
The Government should take responsibility for defining the Tolerability of Risk for the nuclear sector. In doing this, the Government should consider the modern state of the nuclear sector, and the societal demand for its outputs across energy, decommissioning and defence. This should be clearly communicated to regulators and periodically reviewed.
The Government should make a direction to the ONR under section 92 of the Energy Act 2013 and to the EA section 40 of the Environment Act 1995 so that, in exercising their functions, risks at or below broadly acceptable levels are deemed to be ALARP and ALARA unless there are strong and compelling reasons to the contrary.
This direction and definition should form the basis of the revision of the guidance in recommendation 7.
Government Response: Expert advisory panel on Tolerability of Risk
The Government will convene an expert advisory panel to examine the Tolerability of Risk (ToR) framework as applied to the nuclear sector. The panel will report by June 2026, aligning with the original target date. Notably, the Government has stated that the panel will not review the ToR framework itself or the Linear No-Threshold (LNT) model, which may limit the scope of reform compared to the Taskforce's ambition for Government to take direct responsibility for defining tolerability levels.
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