nuclear-news

UK hands over its nuclear safety conditions to Trump’s administration?

It is both ironic and worrying to read that the
government is proposing to blindly accept assessments by US safety
regulators in its panic to build new nuclear reactors (“Deal with US to
fast-track mini nuclear reactors”, news, Sep 15).

The public voted in
2016 to leave the European Union in order to increase sovereignty over
important decisions for this country, and to enable government decisions to
be made more accountably and closer to home. The irony is that less than
ten years later the government has decided to hand over crucial nuclear
safety decisions to the Trump administration.

The worry is that the US
Nuclear Regulatory Commission has conflicting roles as both a regulator and
a sales organisation promoting US nuclear technology. Its approval process
has been described as rubber-stamping, and it has widely been criticised
for the influence that the nuclear industry has in its decisions.

The organisation is facing cuts in its workforce from the Trump government, and the president will be appointing new commissioners to the NRC who share his own views on safety and environmental protections. It is hard to comprehend how this proposal will maintain safety standards or encourage communities that suddenly face having a new nuclear reactor built in their locality to welcome such development. The move is purely a leg-up for the US nuclear industry, and has nothing to do with the interests of the British public.

 The Times 16th Sept 2025. https://www.thetimes.com/comment/letters-to-editor/article/times-letters-public-disapproval-trump-state-visit-7rs33trdn

September 20, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA