Government rips up rules to fire-up nuclear power
Source: gov.uk (2025-02-06)

More nuclear power plants will be approved across England and Wales as the Prime Minister slashes red tape to get Britain building - as part of his Plan for Change.

- Prime Minister puts Britain back in the global race for nuclear energy.
- Changes will allow for Small Modular Reactors for the first time.
- Latest step in Government’s determination to grow the economy and deliver cleaner, more affordable energy.
More nuclear power plants will be approved across England and Wales as the Prime Minister slashes red tape to get Britain building - as part of his Plan for Change.

Reforms to planning rules will clear a path for smaller, and easier to build nuclear reactors – known as Small Modular Reactors –to be built for the first time ever in the UK. This will create thousands of new highly skilled jobs while delivering clean, secure and more affordable energy for working people.

This is the latest refusal to accept the status quo, with the government ripping up archaic rules and saying no to the NIMBYs, to prioritise growth. It comes after recent changes to planning laws, the scrapping of the 3-strike rule for judicial reviews on infrastructure projects, and application of common-sense to environmental rules.

For too long the country has been mired by delay and obstruction, with a system too happy to label decisions as too difficult, or too long term. The UK was the first country in the world to develop a nuclear reactor, but the last time a nuclear power station was built was back in 1995. None have been built since, leaving the UK lagging behind in a global race to harness cleaner, more affordable energy.

The industry pioneered in Britain has been suffocated by regulations and this saw investment collapse, leaving only one nuclear power plant – Hinkley Point C – under construction. And this was after years of delay caused by unnecessary rules – meaning companies produced a 30,000-page environmental assessment to get planning permission.

Meanwhile, China is constructing 29 reactors, and the EU has 12 at planning stage, giving these places a huge advantage in the global race to harness new technologies, create jobs and deliver cleaner, cheaper, independent energy.

Investors want to get on and build reliable, cheap nuclear power, which will in turn support critical modern infrastructure, such as supercomputers to power the UK’s ambitions - but they have been held back.

Today’s plan will shake up the planning rules to make it easier to build nuclear across the country – delivering jobs, cheaper bills in the long term, and more money in people’s back pockets. This will be achieved by:

Including mini-nuclear power stations in planning rules for the first time – so firms can start building them in the places that need them.

Scrapping the set list of 8-sites – which means nuclear sites could be built anywhere across England and Wales.

Removing the expiry date on nuclear planning rules – so projects don’t get timed out and industry can plan for the long term.

Setting up a Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce – that will spearhead improvements to the regulations to help more companies build here. This will report directly to the PM.

This is the Government delivering on a manifesto commitment to galvanise nuclear to help the UK achieve energy security and clean power, while securing thousands of good, clean jobs.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

This country hasn’t built a nuclear power station in decades. we’ve been let down, and left behind.

Our energy security has been hostage to Putin for too long, with British prices skyrocketing at his whims.

I’m putting an end to it – changing the rules to back the builders of this nation, and saying no to the blockers who have strangled our chances of cheaper energy, growth and jobs for far too long.

My government was elected to deliver change. I’ll take the radical decisions needed to wrestle Britain from its status quo slumber, to turbocharge our plan for change.

Currently, nuclear development is restricted to eight sites - as part of archaic planning rules that haven’t been looked at since 2011. With the reforms unveiled today, the refreshed planning framework will help streamline the process to encourage investment and enable developers to identify the best sites for their projects, supporting development at a wider range of locations.

Developers will be encouraged to bring forward sites as soon as possible at the pre-application stage in the planning process, speeding up overall timelines.

It will include new nuclear technologies such as small and advanced modular reactors for the first time, providing flexibility to co-locate them with energy intensive industrial sites such as AI data centres.

These technologies are cheaper and quicker to build than traditional nuclear power plants and require smaller sites, meaning they can be built in a greater variety of locations.

There will also continue to be robust criteria for nuclear reactor locations, including restrictions near densely populated areas and military activity, alongside community engagement and high environmental standards.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:

Build, build, build - that is what Britain’s clean energy mission is all about.

The British people have been left vulnerable to global energy markets for too long - and the only way out is to build our way to a new era of clean electricity.

Nuclear power creating thousands of skilled jobs. That is what this government will deliver.

Alongside reforms to the siting process, a specialist taskforce will lead on making sure nuclear regulation incentivises investment, to deliver new projects more quickly and cost efficiently, while upholding high safety and security standards.

Britain is currently considered one of the world’s most expensive countries in which to build nuclear power. The taskforce will speed up the approval of new reactor designs and streamline how developers engage with regulators.

Nuclear regulation will cover both civil and defence nuclear to help unlock economic growth in the sector.

The taskforce will better align the UK with international partners so reactor designs approved abroad could be green lit more quickly, minimising expensive changes. It will also examine how to reduce duplication and simplify processes where there are multiple regulators covering overlapping issues, as well as ensuring regulatory decisions are both safe and proportionate.

The work will help the issues faced by projects such as Hinkley Point C, where three European regulators reached different assessments on the reactor design, leading to delays and increased costs.

The UK’s rigorous safety standards and record will continue to be upheld. Nuclear plants are designed with multiple layers of safety measures including making them robust enough to withstand a direct aircraft impact.

This is part of the government push to drive growth – building on the Prime Minister’s announcement to overhaul the legal challenges to major infrastructure projects including nuclear – with Sizewell C having suffered increased legal costs and uncertainty as a result of local activists taking them to court.

In a volatile world, where oil and gas prices are driven by tyrants like Putin, the drive for new nuclear is an integral part of the government’s plans to replace the UK’s dependence on fossil fuel markets with clean homegrown energy, to make the UK energy independent and protect consumers with clean, homegrown power.

Since July, the government has committed to driving forward new nuclear including further funding for Sizewell C at the Autumn Budget 2024.

Great British Nuclear also continues to progress the small modular reactor competition, with contract negotiations currently underway.

Gary Smith, GMB General Secretary, said:

GMB has long said there can be no net zero without new nuclear. > > For too long, the failure to deliver new nuclear has weakened our energy security and undermined economic growth. > Sizewell C stands ready and waiting for the green light to power up our country’s future. > > Now we need to see spades in the ground without delay.

Alistair Black, Senior Director, UK at X-energy said:

Opening up new siting opportunities for a fleet of advanced reactors will help unlock tens of billions of pounds of investment and growth across the country, bringing clean secure electricity and heat for industry.

We welcome this step today, and the intent to streamline assessment processes whilst ensuring robust regulatory standards continue to be met. We look forward to reviewing this in detail and responding to the consultation.

Simone Rossi, CEO of EDF in the UK, said:

As a major operator, investor and developer, EDF welcomes the proposals designed to speed up new nuclear projects in the UK and unlock economic growth.

Nuclear is essential to a secure, low carbon energy system and is the ideal partner to renewables. There is a great opportunity to build new infrastructure across England and Wales, to replace aging stations and take advantage of available skills, existing grid connections and supportive communities.

“The opportunity will only be fully realised with the necessary reforms to planning and regulation, alongside continuing to build on the critical work at Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C to further develop skills and supply chains.”

Darren Hardman, CEO, Microsoft UK, said:

We welcome the government’s plans to accelerate the building of safe, modern nuclear as part of the energy mix. Economic growth will require increased energy supply for the UK, but we must not lose sight of our ambitions for a fully decarbonised grid.

Chair of Great British Nuclear Simon Bowen said:

Nuclear energy is a powerful tool for growing the UK’s economy. By expanding the range of sites where safe, secure, reliable, and clean nuclear energy plants can be built, there is huge potential to positively transform areas facing economic uncertainty.

Today’s announcement also signals exciting opportunities to co-locate nuclear energy generation on data centre sites and to decarbonise industrial processes.

Nuclear is one of the safest and cleanest forms of energy generation. The new independent nuclear regulation taskforce will help unlock growth and investment by providing clarity and certainty while ensuring regulations are fit for purpose.

Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said:

This is the Prime Minister’s strongest signal yet that new nuclear is critical to the growth and clean power mission. A more streamlined planning system will give certainty to investors, the supply chain and communities, and will enable us to get on with building new nuclear plants on more sites and at pace for a cleaner, more secure power system.

We need to make Britain the best possible place to build new nuclear, both large-scale and SMRs, which means avoiding unnecessary stumbling blocks and ensuring regulations are proportionate to our urgent need for low carbon power, energy security and good jobs.

Jonathan Geldart, Director General of the Institute of Directors, said:

The government is right to identify nuclear power as a crucial contributor to the UK’s future electricity needs. This development shows the right desire to overcome the significant challenges involved in building back nuclear at scale, in terms of planning obstacles and project delivery. Despite these challenges, today’s announcement marks a significant move forward.

Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect said:

The government’s ambition to drive forward a new generation of nuclear power after decades of delay is exactly what Britain needs.

Nuclear is not only essential for hitting our Net Zero goals and maintaining energy security, it also creates thousands of good, well-paid jobs in areas of the country where they are sorely needed.

Speeding up the approval of new sites and new reactors is an important step towards enabling investment in new nuclear. The government’s support for Sizewell C is also a welcome vote of confidence in the sector and bringing this project to a Final Investment Decision will provide a strong foundation for its future growth.

The success of Britain’s world class nuclear sector is built on a robust regulatory process, and we welcome a review of this framework to ensure it is supporting investment while still providing assurance that high safety standards are being maintained.

Cathal O’Rourke, Laing O’Rourke’s Group Chief Executive Officer said:

This announcement is a significant step forward for the UK’s nuclear industry. The clarity provided by these new planning rules, the focus on streamlining the regulatory process, and the emphasis on standardising reactor designs is precisely the sort of clear, unequivocal direction the industry needs.

Having played a central role in delivering nuclear capacity at Hinkley Point C, we understand the complexities of these projects firsthand and these new measures, particularly around regulatory reform and streamlined planning, will be invaluable in ensuring future projects, like Sizewell C, can be delivered more efficiently and cost-effectively.

In particular, standardisation and an industrialised approach will be key to driving down costs and accelerating construction timelines, ensuring we can deploy new nuclear capacity efficiently and at pace by adopting a “copy, improve, repeat” approach to design and implementation. This type of approach would also improve worker welfare conditions on site from a physical and wellbeing perspective.

This clear signal from government will unlock investment, create jobs nationwide for shared prosperity, including an ability to plan for long-term investment in apprenticeships, and ensure the UK can benefit from clean, locally supplied nuclear power for generations to come.

Chris Conboy, Managing Director, Nuclear EMEA at AtkinsRéalis said:

We welcome plans to accelerate new nuclear developments. Speeding up lengthy planning processes would help to bring forward new projects faster, strengthening the UK’s world-class nuclear supply chain and creating jobs and skills across the country.

Nuclear will be the cornerstone of a reliable net zero energy system. We need both large and small nuclear technologies to realise our AI ambitions, bolster our energy security, and enable the sustainable development of towns, cities and industries across the UK: building the right technology in the right locations is vital to power the UK’s growth agenda and meet our net zero goals.

David Omand, former Director of GCHQ said:

It is very welcome to see this government pushing forward on their commitment to national security by making the UK more energy secure and speeding up nuclear power to boost growth across the country. Nuclear is critical to national security, and taking this kind of action is a mark of the seriousness with which Keir Starmer takes the challenges of modern geopolitics. I fully support this push to knock down barriers to safe, modern nuclear as part of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

Kim Darroch, former National Security Adviser said:

As a former National Security Adviser, I think driving for as much homegrown clean power as possible in this age of global turbulence should be among our top national security objectives. So I welcome the Prime Minister’s intervention to accelerate the regeneration of our nuclear power industry.

Julian David OBE, CEO, techUK said:

If we want the UK economy to keep growing, we must invest in our energy infrastructure. We are pleased to see the Government announce new plans to reform planning rules to expand new energy generation. This move will boost the economy, create new jobs, and ensure the UK is not reliant on external agents for its own energy supply.

Andrew Murdoch, Managing Director, UK at newcleo said:

Today’s news is hugely welcome. For far too many years, overly prescriptive and stringent planning criteria have thwarted the nuclear industry from growing.

This new more pragmatic approach on siting will help to unlock the huge potential of small and advanced modular reactors. In particular, the strong support from the Prime Minister himself and the Secretary of State is a welcome catalyst for inward investment in new nuclear development projects – it will help to secure long-term jobs in regions across the country whilst delivering the clean, secure and affordable energy that the people and the businesses of the UK need.

Notes to editors

Read and respond to the National Policy Statement for nuclear energy generation consultation (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/draft-national-policy-statement-for-nuclear-energy-generation-en-7) by 3 April 2025.