Reforming nuclear regulation
Innovation News Network, 2nd September 2026
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) explains how it is responding to government recommendations to reform the UK nuclear regulatory framework, and what this means in practice,……………………
The independent Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce, commissioned by the Prime Minister, published its final report in November 2025, setting out 47 recommendations for reform of the nuclear regulatory framework. The government accepted all 47 in its implementation plan, Building Our Nuclear Nation, published in March 2026. ………………
The Taskforce’s central finding was that the UK’s nuclear regulatory framework had become more process-heavy than the actual risks warranted. Safety cases had grown in volume and complexity, regulatory interactions across multiple bodies were sometimes duplicated rather than coordinated. A tendency towards caution had taken hold.……………….
The Taskforce’s recommendation to establish a commission is the long-term solution to this issue. Until legislation can enact the commission, ONR has been designated as the interim lead regulator for the nuclear fission sector, with formal arrangements in place across what we have described as the ’super six’ regulatory bodies. We convened the inaugural Lead Nuclear Regulator Group meeting in early 2026, agreeing terms of reference and identifying priority projects for coordinated action. We are now focused on demonstrating the practical benefits of this approach through delivery on real projects…………………….
ONR Together will transform how we work, outlining the modernisation of processes, leveraging modern technology, and empowering us to make timely and proportionate decisions…………………
Bringing defence and civil nuclear regulation closer together
The government has committed to merging the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator into ONR……………….
International harmonisation
We are investing significantly in further strengthening our international collaboration – one of the areas with the greatest potential for practical benefit to the UK’s nuclear programme.
We are already working with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on collaborative design assessments, including for the BWRX-300 reactor. …………………………….
Building capacity for what lies ahead
All this reform work sits alongside a very significant expansion in the UK’s nuclear programme – Sizewell C, the Wylfa SMR project, Hinkley Point C, The Dreadnought submarine programme, the ongoing decommissioning of legacy nuclear sites……………………………………………………….. https://www.innovationnewsnetwork.com/reforming-nuclear-regulation/73452/
‘Drunk’ pilot crashes ‘stolen’ Cessna plane near nuclear power plant
A pilot has been arrested on suspicion of stealing a light aircraft before
landing it in the middle of a sunflower field near a nuclear power plant.
Authorities in Hungary deployed two supersonic fighter jets after a man
took off in an allegedly stolen Cessna from Kalocsa airfield. He proceeded
to fly the jet into restricted airspace around the Paks nuclear power plant
before conducting ‘manoeuvres’ over the facility, according to local
reports. After being detected by military radar, Gripen fighters were
dispatched to follow the aircraft, which made an emergency landing in a
sunflower field in Tolan county, around 84 miles south of capital Budapest.
Metro 31st Aug 2026, https://metro.co.uk/2026/08/31/drunk-pilot-crashes-stolen-cessna-plane-near-nuclear-power-plant-29499150/
Ukrainian nuclear power plant without external power for over a week
This is the 27th time since Russia invaded Ukraine that the Zaporizhzhia plant has had to rely on emergency diesel supplies.
By Al Jazeera Staff and AP, 29 Aug 2026
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in southeastern Ukraine has been without off-site power for more than a week, the world’s nuclear energy watchdog has warned.
The plant, which Russia has occupied since 2022, is currently relying on emergency diesel generators, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Saturday.
The plant needs power to keep its six non-operating reactors cool and has only a 10-day diesel supply on site, the IAEA said in a statement.
“The availability of diesel fuel is of paramount importance whenever a nuclear power plant loses off-site power,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has not had a delivery from an off-site storage facility in about six months but was supplied with diesel on Thursday and Friday from another off-site location, the IAEA said.
The Vienna-based agency is now trying to negotiate a local ceasefire to allow repairs to electrical lines.
Zaporizhzhia is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. It has not generated electricity since September 2022, over six months after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February that year, but the plant’s reactors must be kept cool to prevent a meltdown of the fuel inside.
“This is the 27th blackout at the plant since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion,” Ukraine’s deputy head of military law enforcement, Gyunduz Mamedov, wrote on X on Saturday.
The IAEA has had a permanent presence at the site since September 2022, after Russia took control of the Ukrainian facility in March that year.
Britain ‘must brace for more Iranian cyber attacks’
Former US security chief expects UK infrastructure to be targeted again, following unprecedented breach of power plant
Rozina Sabur, National Security Editor, Telegraph, 29 August 2026
nfrastructure could face further attacks from Iran, a former US cyber chief has warned.
The Telegraph revealed last week that hackers affiliated with Tehran shut down a British power plant for four days in an unprecedented cyber attack.
And Britain, the US and other Western allies should “expect attacks like this to continue” as Tehran ramps up its cyber warfare, according to Jen Easterly, the former director of the US cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency (CISA).
In an interview with The Telegraph, Ms Easterly said companies that failed to heed alerts from the Five Eyes intelligence network in particular would be seen as “low-hanging fruit”. Five Eyes is an alliance between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US……………………
With Tehran under growing diplomatic and economic pressure amid its confrontation with the US and Israel, the regime has dramatically stepped up its cyber attacks on the West.
Intelligence officials describe Iran as a capable adversary in the online domain, with its cyber apparatus working in concert with its wartime aims.
In the incident revealed by The Telegraph last week, hackers affiliated with the Iranian regime succeeded in closing down an energy facility in the UK…………
The shutdown is understood to have occurred at the same time as a series of attacks on US water infrastructure last month, which affected multiple states……………………………………. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/29/britain-must-brace-for-more-iranian-cyber-attacks/
Hospitals to stock anti-nuclear pills near AUKUS base
Carla Hildebrandt, August 26, 2026 —https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/the-plan-to-stock-anti-nuclear-pills-at-hospitals-in-perth-s-southern-aukus-suburbs-20260825-p60re6.html
Hospitals in Perth’s southern suburbs could distribute iodine tablets to the community in the “extremely low” chance of a radiation spill, as WA prepares for the arrival of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS partnership.
It comes as the first US and UK submarine rotations are due to begin next year through Garden Island’s naval base, HMAS Stirling, under Submarine Rotational Force-West (SRF-West).
The plans emerged earlier this year after Legalise Cannabis WA MP Dr Brian Walker questioned the health minister in parliament about the government’s emergency preparedness ahead of the incoming visits.
During question time, Walker asked whether the state government would supply the anti-nuclear pills to locals, “as a treatment against radiation poisoning in the event of a nuclear leak or spill”.
An emergency guide released by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, which leads the national response to a nuclear emergency, describes taking potassium iodide – or KI pills – as a “short-term” measure that blocks radioactive iodine from being absorbed by the thyroid.
The health minister wrote a response to parliament stating the WA Department of Health “has established plans and exercised processes to pre-position and distribute supplies of stable iodine to local hospitals, as required, based on needs and relevant circumstances”, but did not reveal which hospitals would hold the tablets or how many would be available.
Walker said the state government lacked “a clear emergency plan” for communities like Rockingham, Cockburn and Kwinana.
He pointed to France, where iodine tablets have been distributed to communities near nuclear facilities, but warned the pills were only one part of preparing for a potential emergency,
UK seeks to tighten security of supply chains after Iran-linked cyber attacks
The UK government is seeking to change the law so that it can block
companies from buying products from high-risk suppliers, in a move that
comes shortly after news that a hacking group had shut down a small energy
facility.
Ministers could demand companies in critical sectors such as
energy, healthcare and telecoms take extra security measures such as
implementing a phased removal of certain vendors or be banned from
acquiring technology from them under proposals announced on Monday.
The vulnerability of key UK infrastructure was highlighted by Sunday’s
revelation that hackers thought to be linked to Iran had forced a small gas
plant offline. The National Cyber Security Centre has also warned that
companies must do more to guard against cyber attacks. The government’s
plans were introduced via amendments to the Cyber Security and Resilience
Bill and are subject to parliamentary approval. They will seek to safeguard
the supply chains of companies, which are often used as a “soft
underbelly” by hackers seeking to target larger groups.
FT 24th Aug 2026,
https://www.ft.com/content/3d46e4cb-4dee-4f49-adc1-0bb0f63d4c49
U.S. nuclear campuses could power a renaissance. Except for one problem.
Lack of oversight and safety restrictions could make future nuclear
projects dangerous. Trust is hard to earn and easy to lose — especially
in a field like nuclear energy. The Trump administration is in danger of
learning that the hard way.
In late July, the Energy Department signed
tentative agreements with five states — Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma,
Louisiana and Idaho — to explore hosting what it calls “Nuclear
Lifecycle Innovation Campuses.” Each campus would place multiple stages
of the nuclear energy process — potentially including uranium enrichment,
fuel fabrication, spent fuel reprocessing, waste disposal, and power
generation, among others — in one location. Normally, these steps are
carried out hundreds of miles apart from one another.
Washington 26th Aug 2026,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/08/26/trump-cuts-nuclear-safety-could-hurt-new-innovation-campuses/
Iranian hackers shut down UK power plant
Telegraph 22nd Aug 2026
Unprecedented cyber attack believed to be most successful of its kind
Iran shut down a British power plant for four days in an unprecedented cyber attack, The Telegraph can disclose.
It is thought to be the first time that hackers affiliated to the Iranian regime have succeeded in closing down such a facility in the UK, and is believed to be the most successful cyber attack of its kind.
The Telegraph understands that the incident took place at the same time as a series of attacks on US water infrastructure last month, which affected 12 states and caused concern in the White House.
Iran shut down a British power plant for four days in an unprecedented cyber attack, The Telegraph can disclose.
It is thought to be the first time that hackers affiliated to the Iranian regime have succeeded in closing down such a facility in the UK, and is believed to be the most successful cyber attack of its kind.
The Telegraph understands that the incident took place at the same time as a series of attacks on US water infrastructure last month, which affected 12 states and caused concern in the White House.
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British officials refused to be drawn on which power plant had been affected, citing security concerns, but it is understood that the facility was disabled for four days while staff fought to bring it back online.
It is understood that the plant affected was relatively small and that the outage had no impact on the UK’s wider power supply or energy generation.
In response, the Government briefed the chief executives of power companies and wrote to businesses with advice, direction and next steps……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/22/iranian-hackers-shut-down-uk-power-plant/
Building on shaky foundations – Whistleblower highlights serious safety and staffing concerns after Dounreay reorganisation
John O’Groat Journal, By David G Scott – david.scott@hnmedia.co.uk, 19 August 2026
Serious concerns have been raised regarding safety governance, staffing levels, and workplace culture at the Dounreay nuclear decommissioning site following a major organisational overhaul.
A former employee at the site warned that recent reorganisations have eroded independent oversight, drained vital institutional knowledge, and created what they describe as “a perfect storm for a disaster.”
At the heart of the concerns is a major site reorganisation known internally as Fit For the Future (FFF). According to the insider, the restructure resulted in the abolition of the dedicated Health and Safety Assurance Department. Historically, this department provided independent checks on project governance, ensured compliance with safety procedures, and tracked lessons learned from previous site incidents.
“The assurance department’s role is to check that people are following procedure, learning from incidents, and maintaining governance,” the source stated. “These were independent people overseeing projects to ensure nobody was cutting corners. Removing that independent oversight leaves the site dangerously exposed.”
Critics within the workforce have alleged that the costly restructuring failed to deliver improvements, claiming that leadership roles were increasingly filled by managers lacking hands-on nuclear safety expertise.
“Egos are driving the leadership team,” the whistleblower claimed. “They have been promoted into positions not because they were competent, but because they were confident. They have people running projects who aren’t experts in the field and won’t listen to the people who are.”
The site has also seen a significant drain of experienced staff through voluntary redundancy schemes including the so-called mutually agreed voluntary exit (MAVE). Decades of operational knowledge built up by long-serving local workers have been lost, leaving remaining teams stretched and reliant on less experienced personnel.
‘I would be perfectly justified in sending you to prison’: Community service for man who ran amok with fire extinguisher at Wick hospital‘I would be perfectly justified in sending you to prison’: Community service for man who ran amok with fire extinguisher at Wick hospital
“I truly believe that a good lot of the people who left under MAVE were people who spoke up about concerns,” said the former employee. “They want people in positions who will just say ‘yes sir, no sir’ – they don’t want to know something is wrong, they want you to cover it up.”
This turnover has driven a decline in the proportion of Suitably Qualified and Experienced Persons (SQEP) holding technical management and safety leadership positions across the site, they suggested. “For positions where years ago you had to have specific degrees and years of hands-on experience, they have watered those standards down across the board,” added the source.
At the same time, accusations have emerged that experienced personnel who voiced concerns about safety protocols or restructuring plans were sidelined or encouraged to leave.
Reports also highlight ongoing workplace bullying alongside a management culture that prioritises public image over addressing root-cause operational issues.
“The bullying that goes on is swept under the carpet. HR know about it, but what they do is move the victim to another area and allow the bully to continue.”
Furthermore, critics argue the scheme represents a false economy, as replacing experienced staff with newer personnel fails to yield genuine savings once additional workforce numbers and extensive training are factored in to fill the capability gap.
Highlighting the practical impact of weakened governance, the source pointed to a recent incident in the site’s laboratories which resulted in staff being exposed to a chemical leak………………………………………….
https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/building-on-shaky-foundations-whistleblower-highlights-ser-442770/
DOE Again Denies Access to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) at Nuclear Weapons Facilities; Contact Your Elected Officials
Once again, the Department of Energy and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration has denied the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board access to nuclear weapons facilities, including at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). At a time when LANL is ramping up production of plutonium pits, the triggers for nuclear weapons, the DOE is restricting access to the Board and its resident inspectors preventing them from fulfilling critical oversight and public reporting responsibilities. As a result, the public is no longer informed about potential issues of adequate protection at defense nuclear facilities.
The Board provides oversight of DOE and is independent in the execution of its mission. It is part of the Executive Branch of government.
Further, the five-member Board has been eviserated because neither the recent Democratic nor Republican administrations have filled positions on the Board. Currently there is one Board member, which means the Board cannot issue formal recommendations without a quorum – all to the detriment of the public.
The Board is governed by the Atomic Energy Act which requires that the Energy Secretary “shall fully cooperate with the Board and provide prompt and unfettered access to such facilities, personnel, and information as the Board considers necessary to carry out its responsibilities.”
Based upon a lack of jurisdiction argument, DOE falsely claims that it has the authority to deny the Board access to facilities, personnel and information among other improper denials – again, all to the detriment of the public.
Thirty six incidents reported at Hartlepool nuclear power plant since 2025
17 Aug, 2026 By Tom Pashby
EDF reported 36 site incidents between 1 January 2025 and May 2026 to the
Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) at its Hartlepool nuclear power plant,
which is under “significantly-enhanced” regulatory attention.
The figure was revealed as part of a release of documents following a Freedom
of Information Act request by NCE. Of the 36 incidents, 35 are rated as
being “without safety significance”. NCE reported in April 2025 that
the ONR placed Hartlepool into enhanced regulatory attention due to
concerns relating to “conventional health and safety, the number of site
incidents and the production of nuclear safety cases”.
In August 2025, it
was further reported that the ONR had served EDF with an improvement notice
after a worker sustained hearing damage following a steam valve release.
The Hartlepool site was then placed under an even higher level of
safety-related scrutiny by the ONR, announced on 24 March 2026, when it was
moved from “enhanced” to “significantly-enhanced” regulatory
attention.
New Civil Engineer 17th Aug 2026,
https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/thirty-six-incidents-reported-at-hartlepool-nuclear-power-plant-since-2025-17-08-2026/
‘Deliberate negligence’: Russian nuclear power company with EU operations accused of violating safety standards
Rosatom’s Egyptian plant will use the same technology as a facility the company is building in Hungary.
August 17, 2026 By Ben Makuch, https://www.politico.eu/article/rosatom-hungary-nuclear-energy-egypt-russia-el-dabaa-paks-ii-russia-safety-standards-violations/
BRUSSELS — A Russian state-controlled corporation building a nuclear power plant in Hungary is facing allegations of safety, security and engineering failures at another project in Egypt that uses the same technology, according to internal documents obtained by POLITICO.
In a confidential letter dated June 4 and addressed to a Rosatom executive, Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority describes “defects” affecting multiple reactor units and violations of “nuclear safety culture” as it builds the El Dabaa nuclear plant. The letter also cites “deliberate negligence” on the part of an official at the project.
The tranche of documents was shared through an intelligence official who was granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media, and it has never previously been made public. It includes confidential company documents that describe construction delays and engineering concerns coming from Rosatom’s own reviews of the project.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 prompted Europe to impose sweeping sanctions on the country, Rosatom has tried to convince European governments that it remains a reliable and competent supplier in the nuclear power market. But the accusations of safety breaches could add to existing concerns over the Kremlin-controlled company’s operations in the EU.
In an emailed statement to POLITICO, Rosatom said it upholds the highest levels of nuclear safety and had done so throughout the construction of El Dabaa. The company declined to comment on whether it had received the letter or the complaints from Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment about its communications with Rosatom.
“The high standard of work organisation, the quality management system and the safety culture are affirmed by the sustained attention paid to the project by the political leadership of the Russian Federation and the Arab Republic of Egypt, as well as by the leadership of the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose representatives regularly attend key project milestones,” said the company by email, adding that a recent ceremony for one of El Dabaa’s reactor units was attended by Russian, Egyptian and IAEA officials.
None of the allegations contained in the letter, presented to Rosatom by POLITICO, have been “confirmed within the contractual, technical and oversight procedures envisaged by the project,” read the company’s statement.
In a press release issued after this article was published, Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority “affirmed that the El Dabaa project is being implemented in accordance with the highest internationally recognized nuclear safety and security standards.”
“For a project of this scale and complexity, the identification of individual technical observations and non-conformities during construction, followed by appropriate corrective measures, is a normal part of the implementation process,” the statement read.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in July he expected the construction of all four El Dabaa reactors to finish by 2030, with the first reactor unit set to begin producing power by 2028. No nuclear fuel has yet been introduced to the site. Rosatom’s Egyptian plant will use the same technology at the heart of Hungary’s Paks II project, the Kremlin-backed nuclear expansion that has repeatedly raised tensions between Budapest and the European Commission.
The Commission told POLITICO it was not aware of the confidential documents and allegations they contain. “For the EU, nuclear safety is a key priority,” said a Commission spokesperson.
They added that while the Commission was following the project’s developments, “issues of nuclear safety are [the] responsibility of the EU Member State concerned.”
Initially green-lit by Hungary’s former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in 2014, the Paks II project became emblematic of Budapest’s alignment with Russian President Vladimir Putin and provided a foothold for Russian energy technology inside the EU. Work began on the project in February this year.
The Kremlin-controlled corporation also has plant projects in Turkey and China, while Germany is under fire for green-lighting a deal in July that will allow one of Rosatom’s subsidiaries to help produce nuclear fuel rods for a plant in Lower Saxony. The German government said the deal would be under strict national security controls.
The Egyptian government and its embassies in Belgium and the United States did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The allegations
Once fully operational, the El Dabaa complex will contain four Russian-designed nuclear reactor units under the supervision of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority. In the letter sent by the Egyptian authority to Rosatom, an official at the agency wrote that uncompleted reactor units have already encountered defects.
Originally sent to Rosatom in English, the letter appears to have been translated into Russian for internal circulation. POLITICO is citing a version of the letter translated back into English.
“There has been a re-emergence of serious concrete defects, including voids behind the metal cladding at Unit 4, defects in the foundation slabs of Units 1, 2 and 3, which took a year to repair, and defects in the cellular structure in the cylindrical wall of the reactor building at Unit 4,” details the letter.
The Egyptian agency then accuses Rosatom of “misleading methods” and “fictitious work” attempting to prove the plant’s construction is over halfway complete, “while a visual inspection at the site clearly shows that the main buildings of the nuclear island are still in the underground construction phase.”
Rosatom, the Egyptian authority alleges, also presides over an unprofessional workplace culture in which workers were caught in possession of “prohibited alcoholic beverages” on the work site, used “forged passes and impersonated others to gain unauthorized access,” and took several “photos and videos taken at the construction site” that ended up on social media, “which negatively affected the reputation of the project.”
The letter makes reference to a serious accident on the construction site, which resulted in a worker suffering “a severe open fracture” and then being smuggled to a private vehicle, not to an “equipped ambulance,” which the Egyptian authority claims was done “intentionally” to cover up the incident.
“Such behavior represents a serious disregard for both human well-being and professional responsibility, and constitutes a gross violation of workplace safety regulations, nuclear safety culture and reporting obligations,” said the letter.
Four additional internal Rosatom business documents reviewed by POLITICO reinforce aspects of the Egyptian authority’s concerns, detailing delays, construction-quality problems and project-management failures. One Rosatom draft audit prepared internally in 2025 warned of a “significant risk of failure to fulfill” the company’s contractual obligations and forecast that the preliminary schedule of El Dabaa’s first reactor unit could slip by 18 months, from September 2028 to March 2030.
Future in doubt
The allegations contained in the documents cast a shadow over the Paks II project in Hungary and are likely to reinforce concerns in Brussels about entrusting critical European infrastructure to a company under the Kremlin’s control.
In a lengthy commentary by the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense and security think tank, researchers warned Western countries against doing business with Rosatom, citing its deep connections to Russian intelligence and its problematic role in forcibly running the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine through military force.
For the government of Hungary’s newly elected Prime Minister Péter Magyar, the Rosatom revelations also present a new headache: Paks II remains indispensable to Hungary’s plans to decarbonize its electricity system and replace aging nuclear capacity. In an effort to reexamine Orbán-era policymaking, Magyar’s government recently opened a review into Paks II, questioning its hefty price tag and connections to Putin.
Former Hungarian Green lawmaker Benedek Jávor, who focused on Paks II and was critical of the Orbán government, cautioned other governments about working with Rosatom. He told POLITICO he now believed the allegations coming out of El Dabaa could have far-reaching consequences for Rosatom and the fate of Paks II.
“They’ve already decided to reconsider the contract, and this was already communicated during the election campaign,” he said of Magyar’s government. “[This] information from Egypt will definitely be part of the evaluation.”
Nuclear police costs rise as stress cases nearly double
UK Defence Journal, By Craig Langford, August 15, 2026
Operating expenditure at the Civil Nuclear Police Authority rose by almost £25 million during 2025-26, while reported workplace stress cases increased by 86% during a year of expansion, site closures and organisational change.
Operating expenditure at the Civil Nuclear Police Authority increased to £178.7 million during 2025-26, while reported workplace stress cases rose from 29 to 54, the UK Defence Journal understands.
Defense Industry
The figures are contained in the CNPA’s Annual Report and Accounts, covering a year in which the Civil Nuclear Constabulary expanded its armed protection role to four non-nuclear energy sites while also managing the cessation of policing at older nuclear facilities. Total operating expenditure increased from £154.1 million in 2024-25 to £178.7 million, a rise of approximately £24.6 million or 16%. The Authority says £19.7 million of additional pay costs reflected the full-year effect of previous pay awards, higher employer pension and National Insurance contributions, and the transfer of Ministry of Defence Police personnel into the CNC as responsibility for the four additional sites changed hands.
Staff costs reached £131.1 million, compared with £111.3 million a year earlier, including £99.2 million in wages and salaries, £14 million in social security costs and £17.3 million in pension costs. Despite the increase in overall expenditure, the Authority spent less than had originally been approved for the year. Pay costs were below forecast because of vacancies and fewer new officers entering training than expected, while delayed project activity and lower-than-anticipated property maintenance costs also produced underspends. The CNPA said its standard operational activities achieved a breakeven position, although the accounts recorded £6 million more expenditure than income overall, mainly because of technical accounting adjustments and non-operational costs reimbursed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/nuclear-police-costs-rise-as-stress-cases-nearly-double/
Major nuclear power station shut down by millions of invading jellyfish
The massive Gravelines nuclear power plant just 30 miles from Britain has been forced to close down in order to avoid disaster after a swarm of jellyfish got sucked into the cooling system on Monday
Joe Smith News Reporter, 11 Aug 2026, https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nuclear-plant-millions-invading-jellyfish-37540444
Western Europe’s biggest nuclear power station has been shut down after it was invaded by millions of jellyfish.
EDF’s Gravelines plant near Dunkirk, just 30 miles from Britain, was forced to shut down in order to avoid disaster on Monday as the sea creatures swarmed into the plant.
EDF revealed how the jellyfish had been filter drums at the seawater pumping stations, used to cool the giant nuclear reactors at the heart of the plant.
The company was forced to take emergency measures, with reactors two, three and four taken offline, while output from reactor one was halved.
“This situation has no impact on the safety of the facilities, the safety of our personnel, or the environment,” a statement from EDF said.
Only reactor six was operating at full power on Tuesday, with reactor five previously taken offline for scheduled works.
The jellyfish invasion comes exactly a year after another swarm of the creatures took the French nuclear site offline for two days.
An invasive species of jellyfish, called the Asian Moon Jellyfish, have been making themselves at home in the English Channel and North Sea in 2020.
The species, usually native to the Pacific, is thought to have been brought here in the ballast tanks of supertankers and dumped into the seas around France and Britain.
Nuclear plants in China, Japan and India, which also rely of seawater for cooling, have previously been thrown into chaos by the slimy sea creatures. And last year power production at Gravelines came to a standstill after the jellies caused chaos.
The plant installed cameras monitoring the seawater intake and filters after last year’s fiasco and set up a warning system to give advanced notice of swarms heading their way.
The system saw fishing boats sent out of saturday with trawler nets in an attempt to thin the numbers of the invasive jellyfish. This helped to limit the latest invasion, the engineer said.
Meanwhile vacuum trucks are sucking out the jellyfish already trapped inside the plant. The engineer said that since no new jellies are arriving the plant will hopefully be back on line soon.
Reactors shut down in Romania were of the Candu design, already notorious for high tritium release when in operation.
Susan O’Donnell. 16 Aug 26
The reactor shutdown in Romania has been reported clearly identifiying the reactors as CANDU design. They are similar or identical to the Point Lepreau reactor operating in New Brunswick and the Gentilly2 reactor in Quebec that was shut down in 2012. Two years ago the Canadian government provided a $3 billion export financing loan to build two more CANDU reactors at the same nuclear site in Romania.
That work has been ongoing with most of the funding coming back to AtkinsRealis. The Canadian government has been pointing to the new build in Romania in its ongoing efforts to sell more CANDU reactors abroad. CANDU exports are central to Canada‘s new nuclear energy strategy. It will be very interesting to see how this latest development impacts rolling out the strategy.
David Geary, – Canada has had trouble marketing CANDUs in Europe (and in the U.S) because these reactors emit way more tritium during routine operations than other reactor designs … and the E.U. has a much stricter regulatory body than Canada has in that regard.
Whereas former Soviet republics, like Romania, have more lax regulatory standards, as well as more shady / sketchy / bribery-driven business practices. .
A quote from a CleanGreenSask factsheet: ” …the E.U. allows up to 100 Bq/L of tritium in drinking water, the U.S. allows 740 Bq/L, but the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) allows up to 7,000 Bq/L ” This is but one example showing how the CNSC is clearly compromised by the Canadian CANDU reactor
1 This Month
23-25 October – on Zoom – World BEYOND War’s annual global conferenc
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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