UK Government plans to overhaul nuclear system
It aims to speed up building, strengthen national and energy security, and cut costs.
This follows an independent Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce report that the industry is being held back by an 'overly complex' and 'bureaucratic' system that favours process over safe outcomes.
The government is implementing the review's recommendations, with all reforms due by the end of 2027. It says these could help speed up other types of infrastructure, such as whether reforms to judicial reviews could apply to other major planning regimes.
The government claims the plan is a move towards smarter regulation that is proportionate, focused on real risk, rooted in evidence, and designed to effectively protect nature and biodiversity.
As part of its clean energy superpower mission and Industrial Strategy, the government claims to be 'delivering a golden age of nuclear'. As part of this, it is greenlighting Sizewell C on the Suffolk coast - supporting 17,000 jobs nationwide at peak construction, progressing Hinkley Point C in Somerset, backing the UK’s first small modular reactors at Wylfa in North Wales, and paving the way for further projects across the country with international partners.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband says, 'As the current Middle East conflict shows, we need to go further and faster to build the clean energy we need to get off volatile fossil fuel markets and deliver energy security for our country.
'A crucial part of this is ensuring that we speed up the building of infrastructure in a way that reduces costs as well as delivering better outcomes for nature.'
