The UK government has said it will encourage a new era of British nuclear energy generation.

13 May 2026 | By David Dalton
The UK government has said it will encourage a new era of British nuclear energy generation and take forward proposals in a recent review that include a comprehensive reform of the regulatory framework as “a matter of strategic national importance.”

In the King's Speech given at the state opening of parliament on 13 May, King Charles said: “My Ministers will also take forward recommendations of the Nuclear Regulatory Review and encourage a new era of British nuclear energy generation [Nuclear Regulation Bill].”

The King’s speech set out the programme of legislation that the government intends to pursue in the forthcoming parliamentary session.

In a 2025 review, an independent nuclear regulatory taskforce set up by the Labour government of Keir Starmer examined all aspects of the regulation of civil and defence nuclear.

It said the primary barrier to achieving national goals for nuclear is a systemic failure within the regulatory framework.

The review said revitalising the UK’s nuclear enterprise is a national priority for several reasons, including energy security, economic growth and national defence.

“Nuclear power is vital for meeting the UK’s 2050 Net Zero commitment and accommodating a projected doubling of electricity demand,” the review concluded. “It provides a secure, low-carbon energy source. It is a complement to renewable technologies making them more sustainable.

The review said a functional nuclear sector supports high-paying jobs and is a critical enabler for future industries, such as the expansion of AI-capable data centres, which will place significant new demands on the national grid. Lower energy prices for business and consumers will drive productivity and growth.

But the review warned that primary regulatory problems include fragmented oversight with multiple regulators, overly conservative and costly decisions that are not proportionate to the actual risk being managed, and flawed legislation that prioritises processes over outcomes, leading to time-consuming delays and suboptimal decisions.

The taskforce said government departments are often slow and indecisive in their roles as policymakers and regulators, failing to provide clear direction.

It said the near-monopolistic status of much of the nuclear industry provides weak financial incentives to reduce costs or challenge disproportionate regulatory decisions.

“These issues have cultivated a deeply ingrained culture of complacency and extreme risk aversion across the sector,” the review concluded. “This ‘status quo mindset’ perpetuates the cycle of inefficiency and is a fundamental barrier to progress and delivery.

Call For Radical, Root-Cause Solutions

“Addressing this systemic failure requires a series of radical, root-cause solutions that fundamentally reshape the regulatory landscape.”

The taskforce called on Starmer to set out immediate government priorities and expectations for how the sector should accelerate delivery.

The taskforce said structural reform is essential to counter the paralysing effects of fragmented and duplicative oversight. It recommended establishing a single, unified decision-making body, a Commission on Nuclear Regulation, to act as a final one-stop arbiter on all major nuclear regulatory decisions.

To correct the overly conservative, process-driven culture, the government, not individual regulators, must define the national standard for the tolerability of risk. The taskforce said.

Major reforms to environmental assessments are also required to shift the focus from process to outcomes.

The government has said its nuclear programme is now the most ambitious for a generation and reforms will be essential to unlock the potential of the industry.

Industry Says Long-Term Investment A Priority

It said once small modular reactors (SMRs) and Sizewell C come online in the 2030s, combined with Hinkley Point C, this will deliver more new nuclear to the grid than over the previous half century combined.

In November 2025, the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said Wylfa, on the island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn in Welsh), would be the site for the country’s first SMRs.

The London-based Nuclear Industry Association welcomed the King’s Speech. The group’s chief executive Tom Greatrex said: “The government is right to push ahead with a more proportionate regulatory framework to make nuclear projects faster and less expensive to build.

“Recent global events are a reminder that long-term investment in domestic clean power is a national priority.

“Countries around the world are moving quickly to strengthen their energy independence through new nuclear, and the UK must do the same if it wants secure, reliable electricity, lower exposure to volatile gas markets and thousands of high-skilled industrial jobs.”

Source: NucNet Nuclear News Daily / 13 May 2026