Office for Nuclear Regulation

Fukushima and the UK nuclear industry

In March 2011 Japan suffered one of the worst natural disasters in its history when a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the country. This led to a serious nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi site with repercussions felt across the international community.

Mike Weightman, then Chief Inspector of nuclear installations and head of the Office for Nuclear Regulation, reported on the implications for the UK nuclear industry following a request from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.

On this webpage you will find the Fukushima reports and associated news as well as information about 'Stress Tests' carried out in the wake of events at Fukushima.

Reports

Government response to Dr Weightman's report on Fukushima

Charles Hendry, Minister of State for Energy, made a Written Ministerial Statement to the House on 1 December to announce the Governments response to Mike Weightman's final report on Fukushima.

'Stress tests'

In the wake of events at Fukushima, every nuclear power generating country in Europe agreed to carry out safety 'stress tests'. The tests, completed by licensees, involve a targeted reassessment of each stations safety margins in light of extreme natural events, such as earthquake and tsunami.

The stress test can be summarised as the licensed nuclear installations targeted reassessment of the relevant safety margins in light of the events which occurred at Fukushima: extreme natural events challenging the plant safety functions and leading to a severe accident.

National action plans - reports to ENSREG

This report is the UK's Regulators National Action Plan (NAcP) for implementation of post Fukushima lessons learned produced in response to ENSREG's Action Plan.

It provides details of the current status and, where appropriate, the planned completion time of each individual item under points for each individual item from ENSREG's compilation of recommendations and suggestions.