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Containment area meaning

Published by a LexisNexis Energy expert
What does Containment area mean?
Containment area describes a physically bounded part of a site where engineered and administrative barriers confine radioactive materials (or other hazardous agents) to prevent release to the environment. In practice it refers to zones created and maintained through design, construction and operation—typically within a containment building or suite of rooms—with controlled access, ventilation/filtration, monitoring and decontamination arrangements. The expression is descriptive rather than generally defined in UK or Irish legislation. Related regulatory concepts include “containment building/structure”, “controlled area” under the Ionising Radiations Regulations 2017 (GB), “secondary containment” (bunds and sumps) under environmental permitting, and “containment levels” for biological agents. Legal relevance arises in nuclear site licensing (ONR), safety cases, construction and EPC contracts, decommissioning plans, and environmental permitting. In practice, permits and licences (EPR in England and Wales; SEPA’s authorisation regime in Scotland; DAERA/NIEA in Northern Ireland; EPA authorisations in Ireland) will specify the extent of containment areas, performance standards (e.g. pressure boundaries, HEPA filtration), inspection and maintenance, and arrangements for wastes and effluents. Usage is broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, although Ireland has no nuclear power stations. The core idea is segregation and multi‑barrier defence to protect workers and the environment.
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View the related Flowcharts about Containment area

FLOWCHARTS
UK GDPR personal data breach management workflow for legal practitioners: assessment, containment and recovery, ICO and data subject notification, record-keeping, stakeholder communications, and post-incident prevention

This flowchart shows how to handle a data protection incident (including a cyber security incident) in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). It mirrors the UK GDPR’s rules on reporting and recording personal data breaches, alongside the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance on breach management. It charts the end-to-end breach lifecycle, offering direction and links to the relevant precedents for each step of the process. See Precedents: Personal data breach plan, Data breach report form—internal and Data breach assessment and action plan, which steer you through every stage of this workflow. Note 1—assemble data breach team The initial action is to bring together your data breach team. Decide who in the organisation is best positioned to respond promptly to the incident and who should support the ensuing enquiry. This typically calls for contributions from specialists across the business, including IT, HR and compliance/legal, and may, in some instances, involve engagement with external stakeholders and suppliers. The Precedent: Personal data breach plan urges you to...

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NEWS
UK Supreme Court in R (Hicks): preventative arrest without charge to prevent a breach of the peace upheld under ECHR Article 5(1)(c), implications for protest policing and data

Original news R (on the application of Hicks and others) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis [2017] UKSC 9, [2017] All ER (D) 129 (Feb) The Supreme Court dismissed the appeals brought by four individuals arrested and detained during a royal wedding and subsequently released without charge, ruling that preventative detention followed by swift release fell within the exception to the prohibition on deprivation of liberty set out in Article 5(1)(c) of the European Convention on Human Rights in this context. What are the practical implications of the decision for lawyers and their clients? This ruling may indeed also prompt greater reliance on mass arrests rather than containment in the setting of public protest activity overall in practice. Similarly, that shift carries further consequences for data collection, as a formal arrest ordinarily results in the recording of the arrestees’ names and usually the taking of their photograph, as well as potentially other personal data too. What was the background to the case? The backdrop...

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NEWS
UK and EU environmental law and ESG weekly update—UK ETS, adaptation, CCS, flood funding, packaging EPR/WEEE, biodiversity finance, devolved measures—16 October 2025

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy efficiency and buildings Energy efficiency of products Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information Environmental taxes ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change DESNZ publishes 2024 UK ETS performance report The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has released the 2024 performance report for the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS), now in its fourth year of operation. The publication offers a high-level snapshot of UK ETS infrastructure, participant data for installations and aviation, and information on market oversight and compliance. It also outlines how the carbon market operated, including the supply and free allocation of UK Allowances (UKAs), auction outcomes, and implementation of the Cost...

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PRACTICE NOTES
Ireland: EU GDPR Personal Data Breach Management, Risk Assessment and Notification - Practical Guide Based on DPC and EDPB Guidance

Data security sits at the heart of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR). The sixth data protection principle—integrity and confidentiality—requires you to adopt suitable technical and organisational measures so that personal data is processed with appropriate security, including: protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing accidental loss, destruction, or damage This Practice Note reflects Data Protection Commission (DPC) guidance on personal data breaches under the EU GDPR, and also draws on guidance from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). Data security requirements Article 32 puts practical detail behind the GDPR’s integrity and confidentiality principle. You must implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to achieve a level of security proportionate to the risk, taking into account: the nature, scope, context, and purpose of processing the risk of varying likelihood and severity for the rights and freedoms of data subjects Where appropriate, your security measures should include: the pseudonymisation and encryption of...

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PRACTICE NOTES
UK GDPR Personal Data Breaches: Security Measures, Incident Response and Containment, Risk Assessment, ICO 72-hour Reporting, Data Subject Notification, Processor Obligations, Cross-border Issues, and Post-incident Review

Data security sits at the heart of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The sixth data protection principle — integrity and confidentiality — obliges you to implement suitable technical and organisational steps so that personal data is handled with appropriate safeguards and security when processed, including: protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing accidental loss, destruction or damage This Practice Note draws on ICO guidance regarding personal data breaches under the UK GDPR. It also incorporates further practical pointers and information drawn from ICO guidance on managing data security breaches issued under the previous data protection regime; that guidance has now been withdrawn. The Practice Note additionally aligns with materials from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). According to the ICO, although the UK has left the EU, these guidelines continue to be relevant. Data security requirements Article 32 expands upon the GDPR’s integrity and confidentiality principle by setting out further detail...

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PRACTICE NOTES
Above-ground oil storage in England and Wales: scope, exemptions, secondary containment requirements and enforcement across Oil Storage Regulations, EPR, WRA, Environmental Damage, DSEAR and COMAH

The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001, SI 2001/2954, and the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Oil Storage) (Wales) Regulations 2016, SI 2016/359—together the Oil Storage Regulations—are intended to prevent contamination of land and water. Threshold for storage capacity The Oil Storage Regulations apply to organisations and individuals with custody or control of an oil storage container at business premises and public sector buildings where the capacity is 201 litres or more. The English Regulations also capture domestic premises or barges in England that hold any oil storage containers of 3,501 litres or above. Oil storage containers The Oil Storage Regulations generally cover the storage of oil, subject to exemptions that differ between England and Wales. See table below — Exempt oil storage containers. Oil Storage Regulations Guidance issued by the Environment Agency (EA) and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), applying in England and Wales, provides examples of storage containers within scope: oil drums and fixed tanks...

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PRECEDENTS
UK Data Breach Response Template and Checklist: Assessment, Containment, ICO/UK GDPR Reporting, Data Subject Notification and Prevention

1 Data breach team The initial action is to convene a team to handle and respond to the breach. Data breach team lead [ insert the name or description of the person who will lead the data breach team, eg DPO ] [ Data protection officer (DPO) ] [ [ insert name ] ] Head of legal [ insert name ] Head of compliance [ insert name ] Head of IT [ insert name ] [ insert any other, eg head of HR if the breach involves employee data ] [ insert name ] 2 Background information Refer to the Data breach report form, if appropriate...

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PRECEDENTS
UK GDPR data breach rapid response checklist for lawyers: team assembly, containment and recovery, assessment, insurers/police, and 72 hour ICO and data subject notifications

1. Data breach team Limiting harm is the immediate priority after a security incident. You will require a dedicated group to oversee the data breach. What should you do? ☐ Form a data breach team, including your data protection officer (DPO) and/or data protection manager (DPM) (if you have one), head of legal/compliance, head of IT, and head of HR (if employee data is affected). ☐ Nominate a person to lead the team (ideally not your head of IT). 2. Preliminary notifications Your first reaction might be to inform affected individuals and regulators, but you need sufficient detail before deciding if that is required or appropriate. The deadline for notifying the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) is 72 hours from becoming aware of the breach, and the UK GDPR Recitals indicate you should notify the ICO first before contacting data subjects. In the first 24 hours, prioritise containment and recovery. What should you...

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PRECEDENTS
Template letter: notifying insurer of data breach (UK), with incident details, containment, ICO/data subject notifications and estimated claim costs

[ Insert the insurer’s name and address ] [ Insert date ] Dear [ insert organisation name ], Notification under policy number [ insert policy number ] [ We acknowledge that, under our policy terms, we must inform you if a data security incident occurs. ] On [ insert date ], we discovered that [ briefly outline what took place, ie how and when the breach happened ]. [ We have completed an assessment of this event, and the attachment to this letter sets out our findings. OR We are carrying out a comprehensive review of this event and expect to finalise it by [ date ]. The attachment to this letter includes all pertinent details available to us at this time. ] [ We are also liaising closely with [ internal and external ] cyber security specialists, [ any relevant sector body or regulator ], [ major financial institutions ] [ and the police ] to determine the circumstances, contain the incident and recover the...

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