New National Policy Statement for Nuclear Energy (EN-7) to be designated

Last week the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (“DESNZ”) published the new National Policy Statement for Nuclear Energy Generation (EN-7), which should be formally designated by parliament before the Christmas recess.  

We say new, but DESNZ have confirmed that they have not made any substantive changes to the content of the draft policy since it was first published for consultation in February 2025, as the “consultation has identified no areas of EN-7 which are unworkable, unfit for purpose, or lacking in broad support from stakeholders”. Therefore, the key policy innovations of EN-7 which we highlighted in February are set to come to fruition.  Nevertheless, the designation is a hugely significant development for the industry as a whole, as it provides that keystone government support for new nuclear fission projects from 2025 onwards.

Wylfa Small Modular Reactors 

The first project likely to be determined under EN-7, the Great British Energy Nuclear Wylfa Small Modular Reactor (“SMR”) Project, was also announced last week with the supportive statements being made by the prime minister, chancellor and energy secretary, testament to the importance of new nuclear to government priorities. 

Semi-Urban Population Density Siting Criterion

One of the most significant policy developments of EN-7 is to enable developers to identify and promote sites for the deployment of nuclear generation themselves based on the EN-7 siting criteria. The siting criteria provide continuity with the criteria which underpinned the government’s EN-6 strategic sitting assessment (for deployment of projects up to 2025), and include: proximity to military activity, flood risk and the need to preserve biological and geological diversity. 

At the consultation stage, many within the nuclear industry made extensive comment on the appropriateness of the semi-urban population density threshold for use in identifying further sites through EN-7. They argue that the criterion is too restrictive to enable new nuclear, especially SMRs and AMRs, to be delivered for the novel applications for which they were designed which would necessitate greater proximity to the users of their energy output, and that it is safe to do so in light of technology advancement.  Despite that commentary, the criterion has been retained, albeit with a commitment from government to keep that position under review moving forwards. 

EN-1, EN-3 and EN-5 updates 

Last week was certainly very busy for DESNZ, with revisions to EN-1, EN-3 and EN-5 also being announced. These changes should also be adopted before parliament breaks for the end of the year, and we will publish thoughts on these, and what they mean for others in the energy and infrastructure sectors, separately. 

If you have any questions or would otherwise like to discuss any issue raised in this article, please contact Patrick Robinson or Alex Minhinick.