Welcome to ONR news

Hello everyone.

Welcome to the latest edition of ONR News, keeping you updated about our work as the UK’s nuclear regulator for safety, security and safeguards.

It’s been a busy start to 2026, as we finalise our new strategy, setting out how we will continue to ensure the safety of workers and the public, while navigating the complexities of a rapidly evolving industry.

Our focus on targeted and timely regulation will support the sector’s growth and innovation, allowing us to adapt and flex so that we are ready to work at pace and embrace changes within the industry.

Thank you to those who responded to our consultation. We are aiming to publish the final strategy document in the spring.

While the government’s ambitions mean nuclear new build remains a key focus, we maintain our vigilance across the whole lifecycle of sites through to decommissioning and the dismantling.

It's been fantastic to see recent milestone moments, with Hinkley Point B being declared nuclear fuel free and Hunterston B reducing its holdings of dangerous substances, now placing it outside of the COMAH regime, demonstrating the industry’s ongoing commitment to minimising hazards at their source.

Nuclear safety remains our core mission. Since our last newsletter, there has been significant enforcement activity, with court cases initiated following incidents at Hinkley Point C and Dungeness B, which we will see through to conclusion.

In this edition, we're also pleased to outline our contribution to the Ways of Working industry document, which was published within the government's Strategic Steer, following the release of the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce review.

The Ways of Working document re-examines the regulatory framework and considers decision-making around tolerability of risk - exploring how the sector can work more efficiently together. It is one strand of the significant work we are doing ahead of the government’s formal response to the Taskforce, expected in the coming weeks.

We continue working closely with government, industry and fellow regulators on implementing any agreed recommendations; we hope to bring you more on that soon.

As always, if you have any comments about ONR, or any of the topics included in this newsletter, please get in touch via contact@onr.gov.uk.

Best wishes

Jane Loughran

Interim Director of Strategy and Corporate Affairs

Government, regulators and industry unite on new efficient regulatory principles

We've contributed to a new Ways of Working industry guide to better apply fundamental concepts underpinning UK nuclear safety and environmental regulation - removing any unnecessary burden while maintaining rigorous safety standards.

ONR encourages vendors to engage early in new government Advanced Nuclear Framework

We're urging vendors to take advantage of our early regulatory guidance process to accelerate the safe deployment of new technologies as part of the government's recently-announced Advanced Nuclear Framework.

Regulating a major defuelling milestone at Hinkley Point B

We've overseen a major milestone at Hinkley Point B Nuclear Power Station, which has now been declared nuclear fuel free - the second of the UK’s seven advanced gas-cooled reactor stations to reach this landmark.

Dangerous substances downgrading at Hunterston B

Our inspections have recorded a significant decommissioning milestone at Hunterston B with its reduction of its holdings of dangerous substances.

Our People: Owen Booler, Nuclear Safety Inspector

Owen Booler is a nuclear safety inspector, regulating the work of EDF to ensure its graphite reactors continue to operate safely. He says: "My work matters to public safety."

Pressurised hydraulic incident at Hartlepool

We've issued an improvement notice to EDF following an incident at Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station when two employees came into contact with pressurised hydraulic oil.

On 9 November 2025, two EDF technicians were carrying out maintenance work when a joint on a system was disconnected that contained hydraulic oil under pressure which was then released.

Both employees attended hospital as a precautionary measure. There was no risk to nuclear safety, the public or the environment.

Small gender pay gap increase

Our gender pay gap has slightly increased by 1.6%, a new annual report shows.

Analysis has concluded that our gender pay gap increased from 24.4% to 26.0% during the last 12 months, with this small increase mainly due to changes at a senior level within the organisation. The gap primarily reflects workforce demographics and legacy industry trends, and is not an equal pay issue.

This is the first increase for three years, and Peter Thompson, our Director of Human Resources said: "The challenges we face with the nature of our workforce and talent pools we predominantly recruit from are not unique to our organisation and we remain firmly committed to making progress and addressing them effectively."

Our cyber inspector becomes World Institute for Nuclear Security Academy ambassador

One of our cyber security and information assurance inspectors has been selected as a World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS) Academy Ambassador.

Sheridan Morris will use his 20 years of experience in security risk management, spanning law enforcement, national security, and safeguarding critical national infrastructure to promote WINS to our colleagues and the wider UK nuclear sector.

He said: "Responsibility for security lies with the dutyholder, but regulators need to create positive relationships to ensure dutyholders report issues to fulfil their legal obligations."

Committee on Radioactive Waste Management gets regulation briefing

We welcomed members of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) to our Merseyside offices for a two-day workshop focused on the safe and secure long-term storage of higher activity radioactive waste.

Working alongside colleagues from the Environment Agency and SEPA, we briefed CoRWM on its regulatory oversight of Sellafield and the 13 Nuclear Restoration Services sites. Discussions covered regulatory requirements on these sites, licensee performance, and enforcement activity.

Dr Derek Lacey, Deputy Chair of CoRWM, said: "This workshop was organised in response to our request for comprehensive and detailed briefings on regulation of the UK’s decommissioning sites to inform our current study of interim storage of higher activity waste."

Fire enforcement notices served on Hinkley Point C contractors

We've served fire enforcement notices on five organisations after identifying significant fire safety shortfalls at the Hinkley Point C construction site in Somerset.

Mechanical, Electrical and Heating (MEH), Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) work is overseen by the MEH alliance - Altrad Babcock Ltd, Altrad services Ltd, Balfour Beatty Kilpatrick Ltd, Cavendish nuclear and NG Baily Ltd - who have been issued with notices.

Inspectors identified several significant shortfalls including the absence of a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, inadequate means of escape resulting in insufficient emergency exits being available for the numbers of people working in the building, and a significant accumulation of combustible materials within a staircase designated for use as an emergency exit route.

Our mission is to protect society by securing safe nuclear operations

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