Leaders from across the UK nuclear industry have come together to set out how the sector will drive a fundamental change in culture, in response to an open letter from the Chancellor calling for a sector-wide reset.
The joint response, sent on behalf of the newly formed Nuclear Industry CEO Forum, builds on individual replies already issued by organisations including the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), and marks the first time industry and regulators have come together to respond collectively to the Chancellor's call for reform.
The Chancellor's letter, issued in response to the Nuclear Regulatory Review 2025, asked regulators and industry leaders to treat organisational culture as a strategic priority, and to report back on how they are addressing behaviours such as excessive risk aversion, proceduralism and a reluctance to challenge established ways of working.
In its joint reply, the CEO Forum notes how the UK is entering the largest expansion and renewal of its nuclear sector in decades, and that the industry’s current approaches to regulation and delivery need to evolve further to keep pace with the country's needs.
Without urgent, system-wide reform, they warn, ‘the UK risks an energy security gap, diminished defence capability, escalating costs and the loss of a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity.’
Changes already underway across the sector include:
- moving from resource-intensive periodic reviews to continuous assurance,
- the safe application of digital technologies and AI to improve decision-making
- streamlining engineering and safety processes to remove duplication
- strengthening early collaboration between industry and regulators to resolve technical issues, reduce uncertainty and support innovation without compromising standards.
To sustain this momentum, the sector has established the Nuclear Industry CEO Forum, led by the ONR, which will develop and share case studies of effective culture change, capture lessons learned, and build confidence in new ways of working.
Leaders said they would hold themselves personally accountable for the transformation, fostering an environment where people are supported to challenge established practice and make proportionate decisions.
Mike Finnerty, ONR's Chief Executive and Chief Nuclear Inspector, said:
"A thriving nuclear sector relies on industry, government and regulators working together with trust and shared purpose, and this joint response shows that collaboration in action.
"This forum gives us a shared platform to learn from each other, build confidence in new ways of working, and hold ourselves collectively accountable for the pace and scale of change, while maintaining a safe and secure industry."
Letter to Rt. Hon John Healey MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer
12 November 2026
Dear Chancellor
Implementing the Nuclear Regulatory Review 2025
The UK is entering the largest expansion and renewal of its nuclear sector in decades, but current regulatory and delivery approaches are too slow and fragmented to meet national needs. Unless pace, coordination and proportionality improve rapidly while maintaining safety, security and sustainability standards, the country risks an energy security gap, diminished defence capability, escalating costs, delayed hazard reduction and the loss of a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity. Urgent, system-wide reform is therefore required.
As a collective of nuclear industry leaders, we welcome the opportunity to engage with you on the findings and recommendations of the Nuclear Regulatory Review. Alongside our individual organisational responses, we are coming together as a sector to take responsibility for the changes within our control and to work with Government and regulators on the wider reforms needed across the system. We are also sharing the actions already underway across the sector to drive the culture change needed to support the Government's ambitions for nuclear. We agree that culture is the fundamental building block that will shape the future success of the industry.
Our central proposition is straightforward: high standards and effective delivery are not competing objectives. The objective is not lower standards, but a system that achieves the required safety, security and environmental outcomes more predictably, proportionately, and efficiently.
Our response to the Nuclear Regulatory Review presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity not only to modernise the way the sector works together, but also to catalyse a step change in the effectiveness, confidence and long-term sustainability of the UK nuclear industry.
Central to this transformation is a commitment to fostering a culture that is empowered, collaborative, innovative and focused on delivering outcomes. By creating an environment where people are encouraged to make informed decisions, challenge established ways of working and share learning across organisational boundaries, we can unlock the full potential of the sector while maintaining the required standards of safety, security and environmental protection.
Strong organisational cultures, underpinned by trust, openness and continuous learning, will help the industry improve performance, strengthen investor confidence and deliver the UK's nuclear ambitions at the scale and pace required.
Our commitments as an industry
We are not waiting for a starting gun. Across our organisations, and as a sector, we have already begun driving the change needed to realise the ambitions set out in the Nuclear Regulatory Review, and we are committed to sustaining and accelerating that momentum. Examples already being delivered across the sector include:
- Adopting more proportionate, risk-informed approaches that focus effort on activities delivering the greatest safety, security and environmental benefit, rather than applying the same level of scrutiny to all activities regardless of risk.
- Modernising safety and assurance arrangements by moving from large, resource-intensive periodic reviews towards continuous approaches that identify issues sooner, enable earlier interventions and reduce unnecessary burden.
- Applying innovation and digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, to support more efficient maintenance planning, engineering decision-making and prioritisation of resources, while retaining appropriate human oversight and accountability.
- Streamlining engineering, safety and environmental processes by removing duplication, consolidating assessments and ensuring review and approval arrangements are proportionate to the significance of the activity being undertaken.
- Developing new approaches to safety case production that avoid repeatedly recreating common arguments, allowing effort to be focused on understanding and managing the most significant risks.
- Adapting established regulatory and assurance processes to support the deployment of new technologies and evolving designs, while maintaining robust standards and clear accountability.
- Creating environments where technical experts, operators and project teams are empowered to exercise professional judgement, seek advice early and make informed decisions closer to delivery within clear governance frameworks.
- Strengthening collaboration and early engagement between industry and regulators, enabling complex technical issues to be worked through constructively, uncertainties to be reduced earlier and innovative solutions to be developed without compromising standards.
- Challenging long-established assumptions and practices where evidence, operating experience and technological advances support more effective ways of achieving equivalent or better outcomes.
- Improving supply-chain effectiveness through greater focus on outcomes, capability and learning, enabling organisations to deliver safely, securely and sustainably at greater pace while maintaining high standards.
These examples demonstrate that maintaining the standards of safety, security and environmental protection is fully compatible with improving pace, reducing unnecessary complexity, embracing innovation and delivering the outcomes the nation needs.
CEO leadership and accountability
We have also established a Nuclear Industry CEO Forum to provide visible leadership, drive accountability and champion the reform required across the sector.
The Forum will:
- Develop and share case studies that showcase positive examples of culture change, innovation and effective decision-making.
- Capture and promote lessons learned and best practice.
- Build confidence in new approaches and encourage wider adoption of successful ways of working.
- Create momentum for lasting and meaningful reform across the industry.
As leaders, we will hold ourselves personally accountable for delivering this transformation. We will foster an environment in which people feel empowered and supported to challenge established ways of working, bring forward bold and innovative ideas, and make informed decisions that are proportionate to the challenges being addressed. We will actively encourage learning, openness and collaboration, recognising that these behaviours are essential to creating a more agile and effective sector.
Through this reform, we will demonstrate that the UK nuclear renaissance not only strengthens national and energy security but also supports sustainable economic growth, creating high-value employment, developing critical skills, strengthening supply chains and delivering lasting benefits to communities across the UK, helping to achieve growth in every postcode.
Together, we are committed to building a nuclear sector that is safe, secure, sustainable, trusted, collaborative, agile and innovative, and fully equipped to deliver for future generations.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Finnerty
Chief Executive and Chief Nuclear Inspector
On behalf of The UK Nuclear Industry CEO Forum
Nuclear Industry CEO Forum - Co-signatories
- AWE Nuclear Security Technologies
- Babcock International Group including Cavendish Nuclear
- BAE Systems Submarines
- Great British Energy - Nuclear
- NNB Genco (HPC)
- Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
- Nuclear Restoration Services
- Rolls Royce SMR
- Rolls Royce Submarines
- Sellafield Limited
- Sizewell C Limited
- UK National Nuclear Laboratory