US / UK regulation, Peter Burt Times letter
Posted: 17th September 2025
Letter Peter Burt: It is both ironic and worrying to read that the
government is proposing to blindly accept assessments by US safety
regulators in its panic to build new nuclear reactors (“Deal with US to
fast-track mini nuclear reactors”, news, Sep 15). The public voted in
2016 to leave the European Union in order to increase sovereignty over
important decisions for this country, and to enable government decisions to
be made more accountably and closer to home. The irony is that less than
ten years later the government has decided to hand over crucial nuclear
safety decisions to the Trump administration. The worry is that the US
Nuclear Regulatory Commission has conflicting roles as both a regulator and
a sales organisation promoting US nuclear technology. Its approval process
has been described as rubber-stamping, and it has widely been criticised
for the influence that the nuclear industry has in its decisions. The
organisation is facing cuts in its workforce from the Trump government, and
the president will be appointing new commissioners to the NRC who share his
own views on safety and environmental protections. It is hard to comprehend
how this proposal will maintain safety standards or encourage communities
that suddenly face having a new nuclear reactor built in their locality to
welcome such development. The move is purely a leg-up for the US nuclear
industry, and has nothing to do with the interests of the British public.
The Times 16th Sept 2025
https://www.thetimes.com/comment/letters-to-editor/article/times-letters-public-disapproval-trump-state-visit-7rs33trdn