ONR

The UK's nuclear sector is changing at pace. Nuclear is playing an increasingly central role in delivering economic growth, energy security and national resilience and the demands on ONR as a regulator have never been greater. Our Corporate Plan for 2026/27 sets out how we will meet those demands. It translates our new strategy, ONR Together, into specific, measurable commitments for the year ahead, giving a clear line of sight from our mission to delivery.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation's (ONR) Annual Report and Accounts for 2025/26 reflects a year of continued strong regulatory delivery, organisational development, and commitment to our new mission of ensuring safe nuclear for a secure and sustainable future. Overseeing sustained improvements at sites subject to enhanced and significantly enhanced regulatory attention. Continuing our work to influence timely hazard and risk reduction at Sellafield.

A spokesperson for the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said: "We regulate in an enabling manner, working constructively with EDF on their plans to extend the life of their nuclear plants by reviewing technical and safety case considerations while ensuring it achieves the required standards of safety and security in the most practical way.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) yesterday took part in the first meeting of the Nuclear Regulatory Implementation Panel (NRIP) - a significant milestone in the UK's programme to reform and modernise nuclear regulation. NRIP was established following the government's acceptance of all 47 recommendations made by the independent Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce, led by John Fingleton.

As the Nuclear Industry Safety Culture Inventory (NISCI) marks its first anniversary,the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR)is encouraging organisations across the industry to consider how the tool can support stronger safety culture and better governance.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation, along with the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), has started a three step Generic Design Assessment (GDA) for TerraPower LLC’s Natrium reactor design. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero made the request to the regulators following its readiness review of the TerraPower entry application.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has approved the installation of the Unit 2 Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) at Hinkley Point C (HPC) in a much quicker time through its flexible permissioning approach. The RPV is one of the most critical components in a nuclear power station, serving as the high-strength steel container that houses the reactor core, nuclear fuel and coolant.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) played a key role at the International Radiological Protection (IRPA) European Congress, which attracted more than 1,100 delegates and professionals from across the world. The event in Liverpool, hosted by the UK Society for Radiological Protection (SRP), was the largest radiological protection gathering in Europe this year.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation has issued an improvement notice to Sellafield Ltd following an incident that occurred during a maintenance outage in April 2025. During the works, contractors operating under the supervision of Sellafield Ltd were replacing steel ropes on an overhead crane when they became loose and fell to the ground. While no workers were injured and there was no radiological risk, the incident had the potential to cause more serious harm to workers.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation, Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales have today published two new policies and approaches setting out how they will collectively simplify and speed up the process of assessing new nuclear reactor designs in Great Britain. The UK government has given clear direction through the Prime Minister’s strategic steer and its acceptance of the principles of the Nuclear Regulatory Review to accelerate new nuclear deployment.