[4] Legislation to establish the ONR was included in the Energy Act 2013, and it was formally launched as an independent statutory corporation on 1 April 2014.

[5] ONR’s original mission (as detailed in the DWP/ONR Framework document) was: "To provide efficient and effective regulation of the nuclear industry, holding it to account on behalf of the public".

[7] Nick Baldwin CBE, former chief executive of Powergen (now E.ON UK) was appointed part-time interim chair of the ONR on its formation,[1] resigning as a non-executive director of Scottish and Southern Energy.

[8] On 21 February 2019, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced that Mark McAllister would succeed Baldwin as Chair of the Board.

John Jenkins, who was CEO from 2013 to 2015, resigned from his post on 28 February 2015 and was replaced by Les Philpott on 1 March 2015 as the Interim Chief Executive.

[18] In August 2014 Westinghouse resumed the AP1000 assessment, after Toshiba and ENGIE purchased NuGeneration and announced plans to develop Moorside Nuclear Power Station with 3 AP1000s.

This is carried out under a complex legal regime, in conjunction with MOD’s Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR).

[35] Since about 2013 the ONR has given the two major Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) sites enhanced regulatory attention due to "safety and compliance concerns, and the continued undertaking of operations in ageing facilities due to delays to the delivery of modern standard replacement facilities."