Letters to the Editor (The Times 20 August 2026)
Sir, we write to express our grave concern about the government’s recent transfer of the sponsorship of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) from the Department of Work and Pensions to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). The independence of the nuclear safety regulator from the government department responsible for promotion of the nuclear industry is the cornerstone of effective nuclear safety regulation that has served the people of the UK well for more than 50 years. The DESNZ sponsorship of ONR creates an unnecessary risk of regulatory influence and ultimately regulatory capture and raises serious questions as to whether the effective separation of nuclear energy promotion and regulation, required by Article 8.2 of the IAEA Convention on Nuclear Safety, can be maintained. We should not forget that lack of this separation was a major contributor to the accident at Fukushima.
Nuclear power is too important to the UK for its safety to be put at risk in this way. This change was made under the Starmer administration; Andy Burnham has a chance to reconsider this transfer and, for all our sakes and the UK’s reputation as a leading nuclear nation, reverse this decision.
Professor Laurence Williams, Dr Sam Harbison, Dr Mike Weightman, all former HM chief inspectors nuclear installations; Professor Allison Macfarlane, former chair, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Professor William Lee, former MoD chief scientific adviser (nuclear); Professor Sir Peter Knight, former chair, Defence Scientific Advisory Council; Professor Mike Fitzpatrick, honorary professor, Nuclear Futures Institute, Bangor University; Professor Roy Awbery, Triskelion Strategy; Professor David Armstrong, Oxford University
