The argument that a facility is safe, the permission to operate and the proof that both still hold.
Licensees, developers and defence duty holders commission this work when a submission has to be accepted and then defended. NCL’s safety case authors, verifiers and former regulators have worked on both sides of that table, from gigawatt new build to naval bases and legacy plant.
What the practice covers
Safety cases and safety assessmentStructuring the argument and testing whether the evidence holdsLicensing and permittingSite licensing, environmental permitting and regulatory strategyRegulatory transformation and consentingHow things are consented across civil and defenceSecurity, safeguards and emergency preparednessSecurity planning, threat assessment, safeguards and emergency arrangementsHuman factors and human reliabilitySafety-critical task analysis, human reliability and interface designIndependent assurance and readinessPeer review and challenge with no stake in the answer
Safety cases and safety assessment
Structuring the argument and testing whether the evidence holds
Safety cases written, verified and defended for new reactors, operating plant, defence facilities and legacy waste plant. Deterministic and probabilistic assessment, hazard identification and categorisation, ALARP and BAT demonstration, and the safety case implications of modification.
ExampleMore than a decade of continuous safety case, licence condition compliance and peer review support on the first UK new build in a generation. The assessment-entry submission for a novel reactor design, authored at short notice.
Licensing and permitting
Site licensing, environmental permitting and regulatory strategy
Nuclear site licence applications, environmental permits and the regulatory strategy that sits behind both, with ONR, the Environment Agency, SEPA and their overseas counterparts. NCL’s people have made licensing decisions from the regulator’s side and defended them from the licensee’s.
ExampleFour years embedded in a new build developer’s legal team supporting the site licence application, environmental permits and regulator liaison.
Regulatory transformation and consenting
How things are consented across civil and defence
Development consent, environmental assessment and the reform of regulatory arrangements, for infrastructure programmes and for regulators themselves. Delivered with alliance partner Collaborative Environmental Advisers where consenting is the centre of the work.
ExamplePlanning and site selection assurance for the first UK new build since the 1980s, and advice to the government department on the regulator’s mandate.
Security, safeguards and emergency preparedness
Security planning, threat assessment, safeguards and emergency arrangements
Security cases and site security plans, threat assessment, safeguards, and the emergency preparedness that REPPIR and licence conditions require, with alliance partner Global Nuclear Security Partners embedding specialists into NCL work.
ExampleTen years of human factors and safety case assessment support to an overseas energy safety regulator, including site audit and incident investigation.
Human factors and human reliability
Safety-critical task analysis, human reliability and interface design
Human factors integration for new design, legacy reinstatement and operating plant: task analysis, human reliability assessment, control room and interface design, and the issues registers that carry findings into the safety case.
ExampleHuman factors direction for the reinstatement of a 1980s legacy plant with unknown contents, and a full integration cycle for a crane control upgrade on an operating PWR.
Independent assurance and readiness
Peer review and challenge with no stake in the answer
Peer review of safety cases, programmes and organisations by people who have made the same case or run the same programme; readiness assessment before a regulatory submission, an operational start or an investment decision; and standing membership of review groups.
ExampleMembership of a national waste management organisation’s international safety assessment review group. A top-down review of a waste repository’s environmental safety case ahead of submission.
Case studyA decade on the first UK new build in 25 yearsNCL supplied safety case, regulatory, commissioning process and licence condition compliance support to a £44bn EPR new build programme for more than ten years, alongside technical leadership of its £100m digital transformation.
Leading the practice
Practice director To be announced
A service director is accountable for the standard of every deliverable in this practice and for the people who produce them. The consulting partner who takes an assignment stays with the client for the life of the work, and draws on this practice and the others around it as the assignment requires.
Waste, decommissioning and legacyRelated practiceDigital deliveryRelated practiceNuclear project developmentRelated practice