Commentary on provisions of Act Section 1: Nuclear safeguards New section 76A
Subsection (2) of section 1 inserts a new section 76A to the 2013 Act. Section 76A provides the Secretary of State with new powers to make regulations relating to nuclear safeguards.
	Subsection (1) of section 76A states that regulations may be made for the purposes of:
ensuring that qualifying nuclear material, facilities or equipment are only available for use for civil activities (whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere); or
giving effect to the provisions of a relevant international agreement (see paragraph 41 below).
	Subsection (2) of section 76A sets out examples of the obligations that may be imposed through nuclear safeguards regulations. They may, for example, make provision relating to:
	record-keeping or accounting;
	the provision or publication of information;
	inspection or monitoring;
	imports or exports;
	the design of qualifying nuclear facilities or equipment; and
	the production, processing, use, handling, storage or disposal of qualifying nuclear material or equipment.
	Subsection (3) of section 76A applies certain provisions of the existing regulation-making powers in sections 74, 75, 76 of, and Schedule 6 to, the 2013 Act, to the power under section 76A(1). These include the provisions which allow obligations imposed by the regulations to be enforced by the creation of a criminal offence or civil liability.
	Subsection (4) of section 76A provides an exemption from the nuclear safeguards regulations in relation to anything done in the United Kingdom for defence purposes. Under section 70 of the 2013 Act, "defence purposes" are the purposes of the Secretary of State with responsibility for defence. Separate and distinct regimes apply to nuclear materials required for national security.
	Subsection (5) of section 76A provides that the power to make consequential and transitional, etc., provision in section 113(7) of the 2013 Act can be exercised to modify retained EU law (which will have the meaning given in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018). This will allow laws relating to nuclear safeguards that become ineffective when Euratom arrangements no longer apply to the United Kingdom to be repealed and replaced by the new domestic regime.
	Subsection (6) of section 76A defines the meaning of "civil activities", "qualifying nuclear equipment", "qualifying nuclear facility" and "qualifying nuclear material" (as used in subsection (1)).
	Subsection (7) provides the Secretary of State with a regulation-making power to specify fissionable material for the purposes of the definition of "qualifying nuclear material" in subsection (6).
	Subsection (8) of section 76A sets out a requirement for the Secretary of State to consult the ONR and such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate, before making regulations under section 76A. By virtue of subsection (9), the requirement to consult the ONR does not apply if the regulations concerned give effect to proposals submitted by the ONR under new section 81(1)(ia) without modification (see paragraph 65(a) below).