NIA presses government to implement all 47 nuclear regulatory reforms as sector marks 70 years

The Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) has called on the government to fully implement the Nuclear Regulatory Review, using the 70th anniversary of Calder Hall on 17 October to argue that new nuclear can only be delivered at pace if regulation is reformed.

Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said the UK's chance to become a world leader in nuclear again "can only be achieved by the UK Government fully implementing the Nuclear Regulatory Review". He said the reforms would allow the industry to update outdated regulations to cut costs and delivery timelines.

The trade body, which represents more than 340 companies in the UK nuclear supply chain, said civil nuclear employment had reached a record 102,606 jobs. It pointed to Hinkley Point C, government investment in Sizewell C and the small modular reactor (SMR) project at Wylfa on Anglesey, which the NIA calls Gwyndod, as the basis for a new period of growth.

"We must not look back in 70 years and regret missing this opportunity," Greatrex said.

The regulatory review

The Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce published its final report on 24 November 2025 with 47 recommendations to speed up delivery of new nuclear projects, according to the NIA's response at the time. The government said the report's proposals included merging the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator into the Office for Nuclear Regulation. The taskforce also said the reforms could save tens of billions of pounds from the £150bn projected cost of decommissioning legacy nuclear activities.

The government has already gone some way towards meeting the NIA's demand. In its response, Building Our Nuclear Nation, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the Chancellor had accepted the principle of all 47 recommendations and committed to implementing everything by the end of 2027, subject to legislative timelines.

The same document said final plans for the regulator merger would be brought forward by autumn 2026. The NIA's anniversary release did not say which of the recommendations it considers outstanding.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP said nuclear power had helped keep the lights on for millions of Britons since Queen Elizabeth II opened Calder Hall. He said the UK was driving forward the next generation of nuclear through Sizewell C and Hinkley Point C, delivering clean, secure and homegrown energy while creating thousands of skilled jobs.

The pipeline

The Energy Secretary signed the final investment decision for Sizewell C on 22 July 2025. The government said it took an initial 44.9% stake, making it the single biggest equity shareholder, alongside La Caisse with 20%, Centrica with 15% and Amber Infrastructure with an initial 7.6%. The government said the station would support 10,000 directly employed jobs at peak construction and 1,500 apprenticeships, and provide power for the equivalent of six million homes. The NIA's Jobs Map gives a wider figure of around 17,000 direct and indirect jobs at peak.

Wylfa was confirmed on 13 November 2025 as the site for the UK's first SMR. The government said the programme is backed by £2.5bn of funding, with the project expected to deliver up to 1.5GW to the grid and support up to 3,000 jobs at peak construction.

Where the jobs are

The NIA published its 2026 Jobs Map on 15 September 2026, recording an increase of 4,433 jobs since 2025. It attributed the growth primarily to construction at Hinkley Point C, which it said supports 26,000 jobs across England, Scotland and Wales, with about 13,000 people on site. Sizewell C jobs rose 62.6% over the past year, the NIA said.

Region	Nuclear jobs in 2026
South West	34,084
North West	30,445
Scotland	5,583

The South West has grown 163.6% since 2021, from 12,934 jobs, while the North West has risen 26.7% over the past five years, taking employment there to 30,445 in 2026. Scottish jobs rose 13.4% from 4,922, according to the Jobs Map. The NIA said almost 28.6% of direct civil nuclear employment in England is in the most deprived 25% of local authorities.

The anniversary figures

The NIA said the UK fleet had generated 3,224 terawatt-hours of electricity over seven decades and avoided an estimated 2.4 billion tonnes of carbon emissions, calculated against the direct emissions of combined cycle gas turbines. Nuclear supplied about 25% of UK electricity at its late-1990s peak but, with ten stations retired without replacement, its share has fallen to 12.3%, the trade body said.

The NIA cited EDF analysis that the current fleet contributed £123bn (2024 prices) in gross value added between 1976 and 2024, and an Oxford Economics report putting the sector's GVA multiplier at 2.6. The civil nuclear workforce directly added about £8bn to UK GDP in 2024, it said.

The government's next published milestone is its final plan for the regulator merger, due by autumn 2026, ahead of the end-2027 target for implementing all 47 recommendations.