The Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) today welcomes the launch of a public consultation by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on the NIA’s application for regulatory justification of the Rolls-Royce SMR.

Justification is an initial regulatory requirement that must be met before any new type of nuclear reactor can be deployed in the UK. It defines the appropriate class or type of practice for the technology and provides a high-level assessment of whether that practice delivers an overall benefit to society.

The NIA’s application makes the case that the benefits of clean, firm, flexible power from the reactor would far outweigh any potential risks, which are in any event rigorously controlled by robust safety features, including passive safety systems, built into the design, in line with the UK’s regulatory requirements.

This is the first ever application for justification of a UK reactor design.

The consultation opens today (6 October 2025) and will run until 1 December 2025.

ENDS

Notes to editors

  1. Details of the consultation can be accessed here: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/nuclear-justification/nuclear-rolls-royce-smr/a
  2. Details of the original application can be found here: https://www.niauk.org/first-uk-reactor-design-submitted-for-justification/
  3. The Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004, as amended, can be found here: The Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004 (legislation.gov.uk). The regulations require that any new practice that produces ionising radiation is justified by an evaluation of the potential benefits and the potential detriments.
  4. Justification applications, including this one, are listed here: Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation application register.
  5. The Nuclear Industry Association, as the representative body of the UK civil nuclear industry, often makes justification applications, because justification is generic decisions can be relied upon by anyone and are not personal to individual reactor vendors or project developers. The NIA was applicant for the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) designed by Hitachi, the Advanced Passive 1000 (AP1000) reactor designed by Westinghouse  and the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) designed by AREVA (now Framatome).
  6. The UK has five generating nuclear power stations, providing around 15% of the country’s electricity from 5.9 GW of capacity.
  7. Find out more about the Rolls-Royce SMR design, ask a question or leave a comment at GDA.rolls-Royce-SMR.com.

About the NIA
As the trade association for the civil nuclear industry in the UK, the Nuclear Industry
Association represents over 300 companies across the UK’s nuclear supply chain.

Links
Visit our website: https://www.niauk.org/
Follow the NIA on X @NIAUK and LinkedIn

For further information, please contact:
Iolo James
Head of Communications
[email protected]g
+447517108023

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