An independent taskforce commissioned by the UK government has warned of the nation’s “unnecessarily slow, inefficient, and costly” approach to nuclear power (and weaponry).
It has called for someone to hit the big red button – not for a launch, but for a radical “once-in-a-generation reset” to the regulations it claims are holding the nation back.
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“For too long, big British infrastructure projects have been held back by needless bureaucracy,” claimed Miatta Fahnbulleh, the minister for energy consumers in a statement. “It’s time for a new approach to getting nuclear projects off the ground more quickly, and at a lower cost. We look forward to working with the expert taskforce to modernise outdated regulations so we can unlock growth, jobs and energy security for the British people.”
The taskforce, announced in February and under the leadership of former Office of Fair Trading chief John Fingleton, published its first interim report (PDF) this week. It’s little short of scathing – with Fingleton calling the current approach to nuclear regulation in the UK “not fit for purpose,” following a call for evidence addressed to regulators, operators, industry, academia, and others involved in civil and nuclear regulation which closed in May.
“Nuclear energy is safe and reliable and can contribute to net zero goals. It is also vital to the UK’s strategic deterrent,” Fingleton continued of the report’s findings, which controversially conflate civilian nuclear power needs with military applicationsm including the Trident nuclear missile programme – which it says is being made more costly due to the government’s current regulatory approach.
“However, over recent decades, nuclear regulation has become more complex and costly without always delivering commensurate safety and environmental benefits. With a view to recommending a once-in-a-generation reset, we now invite views from interested parties on what solutions will better enable the UK to achieve the huge benefits nuclear power offers.”
The report comes as the government unlocks a hefty £14.2 billion ($19.2 billion) investment in Sizewell C, a nuclear power plant to be built on the Suffolk coast – pledging that 70 percent of contracts would go to companies in the UK supply chain, despite the project being under the auspice of French firm EDF.
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“We need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance,” energy secretary Ed Milliband said at the time of the investment’s announcement, “because that is the only way to protect family finances, take back control of our energy, and tackle the climate crisis.”
No mention was made at the time of the need to feed the increasing power demands of large language models and other AI services.
This week’s interim report is to be followed by a more detailed report in the autumn, the government has confirmed. This will include recommendations on “tackling a culture of risk aversion,” inconsistencies and duplication between multiple overlapping regulatory bodies, an “outdated planning framework” which “doesn’t support innovative technologies such as small and advanced modular reactors,” and the potential for greater international standardisation between regulators. ®