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•General Provisions on Nuclear Power Plant Safety, NP 306.2.141-2008.

In addition to those laws and regulations, the following additional regulatory documents are utilised during the LTO process:

•General Requirements for NPP Long-Term Operation resulting from Periodic Safety Review, NP 306.2.099-2004;

•Requirements for Periodic Safety Review of NPPs. NP 306.2.214-2017; and

•General Requirements for Ageing Management of Components and Structures and LongTerm Operation of NPP Units, NP 306.2.210-2017.

Responsible government bodies

The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU), the national nuclear regulatory body, is responsible for reviewing the LTO application and also for issuing the amended licence.

Application and review timing

Three years prior to the end of a reactor’s design lifetime, the applicant must apply for LTO. The results of the initial review of the application and accompanying documents shall be provided to the applicant within 30 working days of the receipt of the application.

Through a state expert review of nuclear and radiation safety of the PSR report (PSRR), the SNRIU’s technical support organisation (TSO), the State Scientific and Technical Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SSTC for NRS), reviews the application for completeness and accuracy of the information provided in the submitted documents. This review must not exceed two years from the day the application is received. If necessary, however, the SNRIU may decide to set another deadline, which must not exceed three years (Law of Ukraine on Authorising Activity in the Field of Nuclear Energy Use, Article 12). Usually, the SNRIU completes its review two weeks in advance of the due date.

Scope of review

Safety

The scope of the safety review is the same as that performed during the initial authorisation process. When an applicant determines that it wishes to apply for LTO, the following documents must be submitted to the SNRIU:

•an NPP Licensing Plan for LTO Beyond Design Lifetime, which includes reporting documents that justify safe LTO and an application for licence amendments;

•a Programme of NPP Unit Preparation for LTO;

•a PSRR;

•an Ageing Management Programme (AMP).

According to the General Requirements for Ageing Management of Components and Structures and Long-Term Operation of NPP Units, NP 306.2.210-2017, the following operational and technical measures are part of the LTO NPP unit preparation programme:

•assessment of technical conditions (TCA) of systems, structures and components (SSCs), including a plant-specific safety analysis and time-limited ageing analysis (TLAA);

•lifetime extension of the SSCs or their replacement;

•ageing management review of structures and components;

•safety improvements (including improvements associated with post-Fukushima Daiichi measures);

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•where appropriate, a summary description of monitoring and management programmes; and

•where appropriate, a non-technical summary supported by visual materials (maps, graphs, etc.).

In addition, the applicant must also submit a report on public hearings, with results of transboundary consultations.

The applicant’s EIA report is submitted to the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine (MENRU) for review. The result of the EIA report review is the “EIA conclusion”, which includes the results of the analysis of the EIA report, information received from the public during public hearings and the results of the transboundary consultations. The EIA conclusion is then submitted to the SNRIU to make the ultimate LTO decision.

New safety requirements

New safety requirements can be imposed upon the applicant during the authorisation process for LTO. The adoption of new nuclear and radiation safety regulations, rules or standards, or modifications and supplements to them, must not, however, cancel or reduce the existing authorisation’s term of validity.

Transboundary notification

The LTO process includes a requirement for transboundary notification and consultation, which is defined by the Law of Ukraine on Environmental Impact Assessment (Article 14). The decision to carry out a transboundary EIA is made by MENRU in accordance with the procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the basis of available information provided in the applicant’s EIA report or through the request of a foreign state.

If MENRU decides to carry out a transboundary EIA, MENRU must officially notify the potentially affected state(s) within three working days from the date of the decision. The notification shall contain information about the planned activity, including available information on its possible transboundary impact, the possible decision and the procedure for assessing the transboundary environmental impact of the planned activity. The notification shall specify the deadline for the affected state(s) to indicate whether they intend to participate in the transboundary EIA, which must not be less than 30 days from the receipt of such notification by the affected state.

The applicant provides for the preparation and translation of the draft notification, the EIA report and any other required documentation, which is determined on a case-by-case basis. MENRU carries out the consultations with the affected state(s) and, together with the affected state(s), ensures that the public hearing on the planned activities and EIA report are carried out with public representatives of these countries. The results of the transboundary EIA are approved by MENRU and are an integral part of the conclusion on the EIA.

Public participation

Public participation is allowed during the authorisation process for extended operation. Both the decision-making authority and the applicant have a legal duty to solicit public participation during the LTO process. This duty is found in the following laws and resolutions:

•Law of Ukraine on the Use of Nuclear Energy and Radiation Safety (8 February 1995, No. 39/95-VR);

•Law of Ukraine on Access to Public Information, No. 2939-VI of 13.01.2011;

•Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On Approval of the Procedure to Hold Public Hearings in Nuclear Energy Use and Radiation Safety”, No. 122 of 18.07.1998; and

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There is a specific procedure to challenge such decisions, but this is not a procedure unique to nuclear power. This is an administrative procedure and it is provided in the following laws and codes:

•Law of Ukraine on the Use of Nuclear Energy and Radiation Safety;

•Law of Ukraine on Central Executive Bodies;

•Law of Ukraine On Environmental Impact Assessment; and

•Code of Administrative Legal Proceedings of Ukraine.

A legal challenge may be raised by any legal person or individual. There is no pre-determined geographic component to establishing standing in such proceedings. Instead, the standing determination is made on a case-by-case basis.

The subject of a legal challenge can be an LTO authorisation decision made by SNRIU, the results of the PSRR state expert review made by SSTC for NRS or an EIA conclusion made by MENRU. The defendant is the decision-making authority whose authorisation decision is challenged. The licence holder may also participate in such proceedings. The challenge must be based on a claim that the decision is against the law.

A challenge must first be raised before the local administrative court where the issuing authority is located within three months of the publication of the applicable decision. An appeal can be raised before the appellate administrative courts, pursuant to the Code of Administrative Legal Proceedings (CALP) of Ukraine. Pursuant to Article 23 of the CALP, a final appeal can be raised before the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

UNITED KINGDOM

Nuclear sites are also regulated under other licences, permits and authorisations issued by regulators, such as a generation licence issued by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM), the economic regulator, under the Electricity Act 1989. These documents include conditions and requirements that must be complied with throughout the life cycle of the site. The national nuclear regulatory body, the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has issued a list of Standard Licence Conditions attached to Nuclear Site Licences.1

Responsible government bodies

The government body responsible for assessing the decennial PSRs, which are required for the continued operation of a nuclear power reactor throughout its lifetime, is the ONR.

Other government bodies are responsible for environmental and urban planning-related aspects of such operation, namely the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales or the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency – depending on the location of the concerned reactor

– and the relevant local planning authorities.

Application and review timing

All operating nuclear power reactors in the United Kingdom are required to undertake a decennial PSR, in accordance with the Standard Licence Conditions attached to Nuclear Site Licences, and in particular Licence Condition (LC) 15. The timing of PSRs is the licensee’s prerogative, subject to the general requirement that the period between two PSRs should be no more than ten years. The licensee may produce a PSR considerably before the due date. Prior to undertaking the work related to a PSR, it is advisable for a licensee to engage in preliminary discussions with ONR.2 Following the submission of a PSR by the licensee, the ONR is expected to provide its collated findings within a reasonable period, typically no more than nine months.

In addition, all nuclear power reactors are subject to periodic shutdown requirements for the purposes of examination, maintenance, inspection and testing, in accordance with LC 30. For the fleet of AGRs, the maximum operating period between such shutdowns is 36 months, while this period has typically been 18 months for the single LWR operating in the country. This process includes the requirement to request the ONR’s consent prior to starting up the nuclear power reactor following each periodic shutdown.

Scope of review

Safety

The scope of the PSR is described by the ONR Nuclear Safety Technical Assessment Guide on PSR (NS-TAST-GD-050 Revision 6), in accordance with the ONR Safety Assessment Principles (SAPs) and the relevant legislation, notably the Nuclear Installations Act 1965.

In particular, in considering ageing, degradation and obsolescence processes (hereafter referred to as “ageing”), the PSR should determine whether:

•a systematic and effective ageing management programme is in place;

•adequate arrangements have been made to fulfil required safety functions during future plant operation; and

•there are any features that would limit plant life.

1.The list of the Standard Licence Conditions attached to Nuclear Site Licences is available at: www.onr.org.uk/documents/licence-condition-handbook.pdf.

2.More information is detailed in the ONR Guide on Periodic Safety Reviews, available at: www.onr.org.uk/operational/tech_asst_guides/ns-tast-gd-050.pdf.

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In addition, any change to plans for nuclear sites requiring an increase in discharge limits would normally be subject to a submission from the United Kingdom to the European Commission under Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty.4

Public participation

There is no legal requirement for either ONR or the licence holder to provide for public participation as part of the PSR process. Therefore, any public involvement mechanism is established at the discretion of the licence holder. In practice, the licence holder for the operating nuclear power reactors carries out engagement with stakeholders, including the public interest groups and regulators, for example though Site Stakeholder Groups.

The relevant environmental agencies (i.e. the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales or the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency) do provide for public participation during the initial environmental permitting for new nuclear sites, including an obligation to consult on applications. In the event of a subsequent application from an operator, or a decision by the environment agencies to vary an existing environmental permit, those agencies may consult on applications and proposed decisions, depending on the scope of the proposed change to an environmental permit, in accordance with the Environment Act 1995 (c. 25) and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. However, as stated previously, there may not be any need to vary an environmental permit to allow for the operation of a nuclear power reactor past its initial designed life. The duty to provide for public participation as part of the environmental permitting process rests solely on the environment agencies and does not extend to the operator of a nuclear power reactor.

In addition, should there be any requirement for a material change to an underlying planning permission, a consent issued under the Electricity Act 1989 or a development consent order issued under the Planning Act 2008, then the relevant authorities (the Secretary of State or local planning authority) would be required to provide for public consultation.

Access to information

Any individual has the right to solicit information from the public authority in charge of decision making under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c.36), as amended, and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (No. 3391), the latter of which implements the EU legislation and the Aarhus Convention.5 This requirement would apply to the ONR, environmental authorities and local planning authorities, as part of their respective decision-making power.

In addition, the ONR publishes information on its website in relation to regulatory decisions, such as Project Assessment Reports, and notes from Site Stakeholder Groups, where there is no commercial confidentiality and/or security risk. Similarly, the environment agencies also publish their decision documents and carry out environmental monitoring in the vicinity of nuclear sites, the results of which are published in the annual “Radiation in Food and the Environment (RIFE) Report”.6

While the general duty to provide information to the public on request under the freedom of information and access to environmental information legislation does not concern the operators of nuclear power reactors, such operators are required to carry out environmental monitoring of the nuclear sites and publish their results pursuant to the Environmental Act 1995 and Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

4.Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (1957), 298 UNTS 167, entered into force

1 January 1958 (Euratom Treaty) (consolidated version Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) C 203 (7 June 2016)).

5.Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (1998), 2161 UNTS 450, entered into force 30 October 2001 (Aarhus Convention).

6.The annual RIFE Reports are available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/radioactivity-in-food- and-the-environment-rife-reports-2004-to-2016.