Commentary on Sections Part 3: Nuclear Regulation Chapter 1: The ONR’s purposes Section 72: Nuclear safeguards purposes
363.This section sets out the ONR’s purposes relating to nuclear safeguards. There are two purposes here: firstly, ensuring compliance by the United Kingdom with its safeguards obligations and enabling or facilitating Ministers of the Crown in fulfilling their safeguards obligations, and secondly, developing future safeguards obligations.
364.Nuclear safeguards are measures to verify that States comply with their (predominantly international) obligations not to use nuclear materials from their civil nuclear programmes to manufacture nuclear weapons. The obligations to take these measures arise from international law, for example under the Euratom Treaty and other international agreements or undertakings and from domestic agreements or undertakings. The current key obligations on the United Kingdom Government, which are contained in the Euratom Treaty and agreements relating to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, are to be found in section 93(2). These primarily constitute “the safeguards obligations” for the purpose of the section. “Primarily” because the ONR will also be responsible for such further obligations as may be notified to the ONR by the Secretary of State under section 93(2)(d).