nuclear-news

Nuclear regulator says sector safe and secure but calls for stronger leadership

“Industrial safety shortfalls at Sellafield Ltd, continued enhanced regulatory attention for safety at Dounreay, EDF Hartlepool site’s move into significantly enhanced regulatory attention, and the need for periodic safety review improvements at Sizewell B all point to the need for stronger and more sustained delivery,” it said.

The report dedicated more than a page to EDF’s Hartlepool nuclear power plant which remains under significantly enhanced regulatory attention regarding safety.

13 Oct, 2026 By Tom Pashby, New Civil Engineer,

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has found that improvements in the nuclear sector’s leadership have “not yet been sufficiently embedded” and cyber security “maturity” is below expected levels, but provided reassurance that the sector remains “safe and secure”.

The comments were made in its Chief Nuclear Inspector’s annual report on Great Britain’s nuclear industry, published on 8 October.

In his foreword, ONR chief executive and chief nuclear inspector Mike Finnerty said: “The sector continued to operate safely and securely, but performance remained variable, reinforcing the importance of reflection and learning in sustaining high standards and responding effectively to current and future challenges.”

He added: “We have worked closely with the Nuclear Regulatory Review Taskforce and have begun implementing its recommendations through a significant programme of activity.”

The industry demonstrated “clear capacity to improve” its outcomes regarding nuclear site health and safety (NSHS), he said, but warned that “progress is not yet consistent”.

Finnerty also said: “Maturity, resilience, and delivery discipline still need to improve.

“This is particularly evident in overall cyber security maturity, NSHS performance, organisational capability, leadership and governance, and delivery in more complex or higher-risk environments.

“Considering global geopolitical uncertainty, I believe greater attention is needed to ensure physical security at nuclear sites is treated with comparable priority to nuclear safety.”

He later cautioned that “material variability between dutyholders and areas of regulatory focus continues to require targeted attention”, and said: “Confidence remained more limited where improvements in leadership, governance, organisational resilience and specialist capability have not yet been sufficiently embedded.”

Finnerty concluded: “[M]y overall judgement is one of safe and secure operation, targeted progress and continuing variability in the depth and consistency of improvement.”

The report said he had identified cyber security and NSHS as his chief nuclear inspector (CNI) themes for 2025/2026

“The cyber security thematic inspection programme showed improving baseline capability but also confirmed that overall maturity remains below the level expected, particularly in strategy, governance, risk management, reporting, resourcing, culture and leadership”, he said.

“In NSHS, accident and incident rates remain above the long-term average for the nuclear industry, indicating that sustained improvement has been limited.

“Construction-related risk and fire safety continue to require regulatory attention.

“Taken together, these areas show incremental progress, but greater depth and consistency are still required. Therefore, I will continue to expect dutyholders to demonstrate stronger ownership and sustained improvement in these areas.”

The report highlighted concerns about the safety of construction activities at nuclear sites.

“Industrial safety performance and incident reporting require more consistent control,” it said.

NSHS performance remains a concern. Particularly construction-related risk, fire safety and control of work, with accident and incident rates above the long-term average.

“Incident reporting quality, timeliness and consistency also remain variable, including late incident reporting and inconsistent reporting thresholds.”

It also singled out specific operators and sites as needing improvements.

“Industrial safety shortfalls at Sellafield Ltd, continued enhanced regulatory attention for safety at Dounreay, EDF Hartlepool site’s move into significantly enhanced regulatory attention, and the need for periodic safety review improvements at Sizewell B all point to the need for stronger and more sustained delivery,” it said.

The report dedicated more than a page to EDF’s Hartlepool nuclear power plant which remains under significantly enhanced regulatory attention regarding safety.

“Hartlepool started the reporting period in enhanced regulatory attention for safety. We agreed with the dutyholder the areas for improvement and oversaw the site’s development and implementation of an improvement plan,” it said.

“However, during the reporting period there was a consistent increase in the number of events on site. These events primarily related to site health and safety rather than nuclear safety, but in some cases workers were harmed, and in others there was a high or medium potential for harm.”

NCE previously reported that 36 site incidents had been reported by EDF to the ONR between 1 January 2025 and May 2026.

The ONR’s report added that the regulator continues to judge that “Hartlepool remains safe to operate”………………………………….https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/nuclear-regulator-says-sector-safe-and-secure-but-calls-for-stronger-leadership-13-10-2026

October 17, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, UK