Middle East conflict ‘yet another reminder’ of need to turbocharge drive for new renewables and nuclear
Britain’s government is pushing ahead with ambitious nuclear planning and regulatory reforms, aiming to overhaul regulations in a bid to deliver a “golden age” of nuclear and boost UK energy sovereignty.
The government said it intends to act on recommendations published last year by the independent Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce.
A statement said nuclear projects will be built faster and cheaper, boosting national and energy security and protecting households from volatile global fossil fuel markets as part of a long-overdue overhaul of nuclear regulation.
The government said the current conflict in the Middle East is yet another reminder that the only route to energy security and sovereignty for the UK is to end dependence on fossil fuel markets and accelerate the transition to clean homegrown power, including turbocharging the drive for new renewables and nuclear.
The country’s nuclear industry welcomed the plans. Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the London-based Nuclear Industry Association, said: “This ambitious programme of nuclear regulatory reform is the most important thing we can do to cut deployment times and costs, and rebuild the backbone of our energy security.
“Legislating to give the regulator the ability to consider the vital interests of the nation – national security, energy security, net zero – in regulatory decisions, is essential to build at the pace we need, as is updating the 50-year old frameworks for proportional regulation and for the siting of nuclear power stations.”
“Implementing these recommendations will be a big task for government and industry, and we will work constructively together to get it done.
The government outlined its plans to speed up nuclear delivery after the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce found an “overly complex” and “bureaucratic” system that favoured process over safe outcomes has held back the industry. The government said it is delivering reforms in a way that produces a win-win for building critical infrastructure while protecting nature and the environment.
The government is implementing the review’s recommendations, with all reforms expected to be completed by the end of 2027. These reforms could help speed up other types of infrastructure, such as looking at whether reforms to judicial reviews could apply to other major planning regimes.
“The core of the plan is a move towards smarter regulation: proportionate, focused on real risk, rooted in evidence, and designed to effectively protect nature and biodiversity,” the government said.
“This plan will support safe, cost effective, and rapid delivery across the entire civil and defence nuclear enterprise. The plan is expected to reduce the cost and timeframe of delivering new civil and defence nuclear projects, without compromising safety and environmental protections.”
Final Report Called For ‘Radical Reset’
The Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce was announced by prime minister Keir Starmer in February 2025. Led by John Fingleton, former chief executive officer of the Office of Fair Trading, the taskforce’s objective was to speed up the approval of new reactor designs and streamline how developers engage with regulators.
In its final report, published in November, the taskforce said a “radical reset” was needed and outlined 47 recommendations for the government to speed up building new nuclear projects at a lower cost and on time.
It said the UK has become the most expensive country in the world to build a nuclear power station because of overly complex and misunderstood environmental, safety and bureaucratic processes.
The government has approved the construction of two EPR units at Sizewell C on the Suffolk coast in southeast England. Two EPR plants are being built at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, southwest England, and there are plans for the UK’s first small modular reactors (SMRs) at Wylfa in North Wales and further projects across the country.
The government said recently it has chosen Wylfa, on the island of Anglesey off the Welsh coast, to host Britain’s first SMRs, designed by Rolls-Royce SMR.
It also announced that Great British Energy-Nuclear (GBE-N), the body overseeing new nuclear in the UK, has been tasked with identifying suitable sites that could potentially host new large-scale reactors.
Since 2000, the UK has seen permanent reactor shutdowns at Hinkley Point A, Bradwell, Calder Hall, Hunterston, Oldbury, Sizewell, Chapelcross, Dungeness and Wylfa, leaving nine units in commercial operation and only Hinkley Point C’s two EPRs under construction and plans confirmed for the further two EPRs at Sizewell C.
