Nuclear regulation: input to the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce review

The Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce has been created to review the UK nuclear framework and regulation - see the Taskforce role and membership.

This call for evidence covers:

• civil and defence nuclear regulation

and where it relates to nuclear matters

• health and safety, environmental and planning regulation
• energy transmission regulation

We are interested in views on whether this captures the relevant regulatory domain and, if not, what other regulation might need to be in scope.

We would like to hear from anyone with an interest in the regulation of defence and civil nuclear:

• regulators
• operators
• industry
• academia
• developers
• investors
• wider civil society

We are particularly looking for evidence and facts to inform our work, which could include case studies, historical data, ideas and observations that make the case for change, illustrate the benefits of new approaches, or highlight lessons learned.

Call for evidence questions

1. What are the key challenges of the current regulatory system (including nuclear site licensing, regulatory justification, environment and planning to the extent relevant to nuclear development) across the nuclear plant lifecycle (for example design, build, operation, maintenance, decommissioning/disposal, waste management)?

2. What are the key benefits of the current regulatory system?

3. How proportionate is the current regulatory burden to the risks involved in nuclear activities across all hazard / risk areas (for example, conventional safety, radiation safety, nuclear safety, environment, planning)?

4. How well adapted is regulation to support the deployment of advanced and innovative nuclear technologies (such as SMRs and AMRs) and what needs to change?

5. Do you have evidence of where duty holders’ and regulatory organisations approaches to regulatory obligations, processes and good practice, including safety culture, caused undue delays or barriers to project delivery?

6. Do you have evidence of where current regulatory processes enable innovation?

7. Do you have evidence of whether the current interaction between industry and regulators at different working levels helps or hinders achieving clear, timely, and effective outcomes?

8. Are there best practices from other sectors / nations that are relevant?

9. Do you have any additional evidence to share?

We are interested in views on whether this captures the relevant regulatory domain and, if not, what other regulation might need to be in scope.

Once we have finalised the scope, we may contact those who have made submissions with more detailed requests for evidence.