Guidance and supporting documents
This page brings together radioactive substances documents which support the operation and decommissioning of nuclear and non-nuclear industry sites. It also provides a single place to access guidance published jointly with other agencies such as the Office for Nuclear Regulation, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales. You will also find information relating to our environmental monitoring programme on this page.
General guidance
- Scope of radioactive substances legislation in Scotland (Scottish Government website)
- Satisfying the optimisation requirement and the role of best practicable means
- Review of the application of 'best practicable means' within a regulatory framework for the management of radioactive wastes
- Management of end-of-life smoke detectors
- Principles on surrendering permits and registrations under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018
The following is joint guidance with other UK organisations:
Guidance for non-nuclear industry
Guidance for nuclear industry
The following are published jointly with the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales.
- Management of radioactive waste from decommissioning of nuclear sites: guidance on requirements for release from radioactive substances regulation (the GRR)
- Non-technical summary of the GRR
- GRR technical Q and A
The following are published jointly with the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales:
- Basic principles of radioactive waste management – an introduction to the management of higher activity radioactive waste on nuclear licenced sites (ONR website)
- Joint guidance on the management of higher activity radioactive waste on nuclear licenced sites (ONR website)
- Regulatory expectations for successful land quality management at nuclear licensed sites
Regulatory position statements
- Security requirements for radioactive sealed sources
- The scope of SEPA’s regulation of radioactive substances in the offshore area
- Updated regulatory position statement on the management of higher activity radioactive waste on nuclear licensed sites (ONR website).
Habit surveys
See our habit survey page.
Monitoring and assessment
- Guidance on monitoring for heterogeneous Radium-226 sources resulting from historic luminising or waste disposal sites
- Principles for the assessment of prospective public doses arising from authorised discharges of radioactive waste to the environment (revised October 2019)
- Standardised reporting of radioactive discharges from nuclear sites in Scotland – radiological monitoring technical guidance note 1
- Environmental radiological monitoring in Scotland – Radiological Monitoring Technical Guidance Note 2 (revised October 2019)
- Inspection of RWM’s disposability assessment process for the management of HAW in Scotland (ONR website)
Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE) reports
See our RIFE report page.
Reports available on request
Requests for the following reports should be emailed to our Radioactive Substances team.
- Strategy for the assessment of the potential impact of Sellafield radioactive particles on Southwest Scotland
- Tritium in Scottish landfill sites
- Assessment of radioactive discharges to sewer by the non-nuclear industry in Scotland
Dounreay reports
Dounreay reports are available on request only. Please email our Radioactive Substances team for more information.
- An evaluation of the sensitivity of the Groundhog Evolution Beach Monitoring System
- Radiometric analysis of radioactive particles
- Review of the procedures currently used for the monitoring of Sandside Bay
- Simulation of human stomach and intestine leaching of Dounreay hot particles
- Dounreay household dust report
- Dounreay Particles Advisory Group 1st report
- Dounreay Particles Advisory Group 2nd report
- Dounreay Particles Advisory Group 3rd report
- Dounreay Particles Advisory Group 4th report - full
- Public health implications of fragments of irradiated fuel – module 2a
- Health implications of Dounreay fuel fragments: estimates of doses and risks
- Public health implications of fragments of irradiated fuel – module 2b
- Public health implications of fragments of irradiated fuel – module 3
- Public health implications of fragments of irradiated fuel – module 4
- Health implications of fragments of irradiated fuel at the beach at Sandside Bay – module 6