Energy 'Madness' to relax rules for nuclear sites, says coalition

Cutting safety regulations to speed up construction of nuclear power stations would be "madness", a civil society coalition has warned.

- Sandra Laville

The 25 groups from communities neighbouring nuclear sites submitted a joint response to a consultation by the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce, saying its proposals lack "credibility and rigour".

The government is pushing for an acceleration of approvals for new plants and says it needs to "rip up rules" to "fire up" nuclear power. But the groups say the taskforce has presented no evidence to support the need for regulatory change.

They say proposals to accelerate approval of a project where a similar system has already been granted in another country could result in lower safety standards in the UK.