First meeting of nuclear industry heads of innovation

As part of our continued work to support innovation across the UK nuclear sector, we convened the first meeting of industry heads of innovation at our Merseyside offices on 24 September 2025, in collaboration with the Environment Agency.

Attendees represented the breadth of the industry from civil and defence new build, to operational facilities, decommissioning and clean up.

The aim of the meeting was to share our strategic vision on innovation, conduct joint horizon scanning across the nuclear sector, and identify potential areas for collaboration.

The meeting, which was chaired by Paolo Picca, our Innovation Lead, also gave attendees the opportunity to discuss innovative ideas and provide constructive feedback to the regulators.

Attendees from the UK nuclear industry provided positive feedback on our approach to regulating innovation in nuclear, alongside constructive advice to support consolidation of this approach. The session created an opportunity for dutyholders to better understand how to engage with ONR on innovation "products", including discussions on proactive ways to present problems and opportunities.

ONR and EA welcomed the clarity provided by industry on their innovation priorities, which will help target regulatory effort in areas where the industry sees greater benefits. Both regulators value the opportunities that further engagement on innovation can provide towards de-risking dutyholders' proposals for innovative solutions.

As culture emerged as a key enabler across various organisations to support innovation in nuclear, participants discussed opportunities for joint efforts to support a positive change in mindset on innovation. The nuclear industry will consider progressing some of the topics that emerged from the breakout rooms by developing problem and opportunity statements before engaging with ONR and EA.

Colin Tait, our Deputy Director of Regulation for Capability, Standards and Technical Assurance, said:

"New innovative technologies and practices offer substantial opportunities for the nuclear sector – not only enhancing safety and security, but also fostering sustainable growth. This meeting provided an invaluable platform for ONR and Environment Agency colleagues to better understand the industry's innovation priorities and identify key areas for meaningful collaboration."

Matthew Bamber, Head of Regulatory Affairs at Great British Energy - Nuclear, said:

"We really value the proactive and collaborative approach ONR is taking to innovation. GBE-N is keen to engage alongside industry partners to help drive forward innovation in the delivery of new nuclear."

Rav Chunilal, Head of Robotics & Artificial Intelligence at Sellafield, said:

"It was a privilege to attend the ONR’s Head of Innovation meeting. It was great to see ONR proactively bring together a diverse group of subject matter experts from across organisations in the sector. The energy in the room showed just how much potential there is when industry and regulator come together to share ideas and push forward on innovation and new technologies. It’s exciting for the future of the UK nuclear sector as it continues to evolve with safety, efficiency, and forward-thinking at its core."

Jake Surman, Nuclear Innovation Lead at the Environment Agency, said:

"This event built on ONR and the Environment Agency's joint work to act as modern, enabling regulators, helping to support safe, secure and sustainable nuclear innovation and growth across the sector."

Greg Brown, Head of Productivity & Efficiency at Sizewell C, said:

"The ONR innovation forum provided a great opportunity to learn from the innovation maturity of the attending organisations. It confirmed the regulators (ONR and EA) are open to exploring innovation with us and communicated the innovation products (Innovation Bulleting, TryLab, Innovation Café, Horizon Scanning and Regulatory Sandboxing) available to facilitate this. SZC looks forward to collaborating with the regulator to explore future innovations."

Daniel Mathers, Executive Director at the Nuclear Innovation and Research Office, said:

“It is positive to see the UK nuclear regulators exploring key areas of research, development and innovation with representatives from industrial, laboratory, academic and supply chain organisations to further deployment. The convening power of UK regulators is key to ensure the right people are collaborating to progress this, for example through: international forums to develop guidance; informing in-depth regulatory studies; participating in expert panels; and ‘sandboxing’ activities to cut through challenges to the development and deployment of innovative technologies.”