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A coalition of civil society groups is warning of the dangers of cutting safety regulations as the government pushes to “rip up the rules” to accelerate the construction of new nuclear power stations.
The 25 groups from communities neighbouring nuclear sites have submitted a joint response to a consultation by the nuclear regulatory taskforce, saying its proposals lack “both credibility and rigour”.
They argue that the plans to relax regulations only serve to undermine confidence in regulators and the UK’s nuclear regulatory regime.
The government is pushing to speed up approvals for new plants and says it needs to “rip up rules” to “fire up” nuclear power.
But the groups, in their submission to the taskforce, which published its interim report in August, argue that the government has failed to present any evidence to substantiate assertions about the need to reform nuclear safety regulation.
In reality, they say, the problems facing the UK’s nuclear programmes are the result of a multitude of factors, including poor planning, investment difficulties, and slow decision-making by industry and central government.
David Cullen, a co-chair of the coalition, said: “The UK’s nuclear watchdog system has worked well for 60 years to ensure the relative safety of a high-hazard industrial sector. In our view, the system is not broken and does not need fixing, and it would be madness to rip up tried and tested nuclear safety rules that have kept the public safe for a lifetime.
“Measures proposed by the taskforce … would weaken protection for the public and undermine the independence of watchdogs, forcing them to follow instructions from ministers to permit construction of new power stations whether or not they pose risks to local communities and much-loved countryside.”
The groups in the coalition are all part of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) non-government organisation forum.
In their submission to the taskforce, the groups argue that the ONR’s current regulatory regime balances the need to protect society with the requirements to be proportionate towards the industry it is regulating.
They say the taskforce’s proposals to speed up approval of a project where a similar one has been granted in another country, for example in the US, could result in lower safety standards in the UK.
Cullen said: “Our proposals to the taskforce set out steps which the nuclear industry could take to put its own house in order, and call for more public participation to allow communities to have a bigger say in nuclear decision-making which would have profound impacts on their way of life”.
The taskforce’s consultation ended this week.
