New nuclear regulator

It was jobs for the boys on 1 April when Health and Safety Executive chair Judith Hackitt announced that Nick Baldwin, a former chief executive of electricity group Powergen, was to be the interim chair of the new Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).

The ONR was established as an agency of theHealth and Safety Executive (HSE) at the start of April. It brings together the safety and security functions of the HSE’s nuclear directorate with, from the summer of 2011, the radioactive materials transport division of the Department for Transport.

The ONR’s remit is to ensure that those authorised to carry out nuclear activities – in both the civil and defence sectors – do so in a safe way. It covers areas such as power stations to nuclear subs to radioactive waste.