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Role of the Taskforce

The Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce will examine all aspects of the regulation of civil and defence nuclear. It will explore how the regulation of safety, environmental, planning, and other relevant areas can be improved, with the aim of supporting energy security, national security, and economic growth in the UK.

The taskforce will help reinforce the importance of our Defence Nuclear Enterprise, which supports delivery of the government’s triple-lock commitment to the UK’s nuclear deterrent. It will also explore better international alignment so reactor designs approved abroad could be green lit quicker, minimising expensive changes.

Terms of Reference 

Nuclear regulation is part of a wider regulatory framework in the UK and internationally. Much work is already in hand to identify opportunities to improve the UK’s regulatory framework. The Taskforce shall build on past and current reviews (for example, the independent Defra Review and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) Regulatory Reforms).

The Taskforce will maintain our commitment to implementing relevant international agreements and standards to enhance our understanding of how the UK compares against relevant international comparators. The Taskforce aims to provide clear, actionable recommendations.

The Taskforce will focus on the following key areas:

• the suitability of the existing regulatory framework(s)
• relevant legislation and supporting guidance
• the scope and capacity of regulatory bodies
• the expectations on regulatory outcomes
• the culture and processes within the nuclear sector
• support for innovation and the deployment of new nuclear
• international harmonisation of regulatory approaches

The Taskforce will respect the devolved nature of areas of responsibility within the nuclear landscape. The Taskforce will not make recommendations for devolved governments in devolved areas.

The Taskforce will provide an interim report following discussion with ministers. A final report will be published in Autumn 2025 and recommendations will be put to the Prime Minister, Energy Secretary, Defence Secretary and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Call for evidence

The Taskforce has launched a call for evidence to support its work which will close to responses on 19 May 2025.

List of members

John Fingleton – Taskforce Lead

John is an Irish-British economist and former CEO of the Office of Fair Trading, he was a Senior Independent Member of the Council of Innovate UK until 2024, as well as a Member of Board for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) from 2021 to 2024. John runs a company advising and supporting clients to successful resolution of complex and novel regulatory problems. He has a profile across a wide range of business sectors and is considered an expert in business, government and regulation, with a reputation for innovative thinking.

Professor Andrew Sherry

Andrew is Professor of Materials and Structures at the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials at the University of Manchester. He has experience leading science and innovation, skills development, and infrastructure programmes across industry, national laboratories and academia. He was previously Chief Scientist and Special Advisor at the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory. He was also previously Chair of the Defence Nuclear Safety Committee, providing independent advice to the Secretary of State for Defence. In that role he was known for his ability to offer clear and pragmatic solutions to complex problems.  

Mark Bassett

Mark is a member of the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) and recently retired from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) after 8 years where he was a Director and the Special Assistant to the Director General (DG) for Nuclear Safety, Security and Safeguards. His role included dealing with, and providing advice to the DG on, a very wide range of complex technical, diplomatic, and political matters in these areas. He has held senior leadership roles in the nuclear sector in the UK public and private sectors, as well as the international civil service, and was DCI (Deputy Chief Nuclear Inspector) at the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) for a number of years with over two decades in ONR where he held a wide range of roles across all nuclear sectors, both civil and defence.  

Dame Sue Ion

Sue is a British engineer and an expert advisor on the nuclear power industry with a career spanning 45 years. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2012 for contributions to nuclear fuel development. She is a strong advocate for nuclear power and has a background advising government about nuclear reactors and countering the negativity caused by incidents such as at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. As technical director of BNFL, Sue held a seat on Tony Blair’s Council for Science and Technology and has been credited with persuading Blair to change Labour’s official government policy on nuclear power. Sue supports the development of smaller, modular versions of nuclear reactors for their economy of size, portability and cost.    

Mustafa Latif-Aramesh

Mustafa is a leading infrastructure planning lawyer, and Parliamentary Agent. He has advised on numerous small modular and advanced nuclear developments in the UK, advised on over 25 nationally significant infrastructure projects and has advised central government on infrastructure planning and regulatory reforms, including on the recent Infrastructure Planning Bill. He is authorised by Parliament to draft and promote legislation.

Contact

Email contact: nuclearregulatorytaskforce@energysecurity.gov.uk