Nuclear News – Late September 2025
Estimated reading time 2 minutes
The UK’s nuclear industry has reached a record high, with 98,173 people now employed across the sector, according to the Nuclear Industry Association’s annual Jobs Map, the sector’s major jobs report.
Key takeaways:
- Government investment in Sizewell C and Rolls-Royce SMR fuels 11,000 new jobs in a year, making Britain one of Europe’s largest nuclear workforces.
- Nuclear jobs rise 55% in a decade, driven by major new projects.
- Sizewell C set to repeat the success of Hinkley Point C in creating tens of thousands of jobs across the country.
The figure represents an 11,000 increase on last year’s total and a 55% surge over the past decade, driven by £14.2bn of additional government investment in Sizewell C, £2.5bn for SMRs, and major ongoing decommissioning programmes.
In a move designed to accelerate the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors across UK and the USA markets, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have signed a new memorandum of understanding.
The MoU reaffirms an agreement signed in 2020 to cooperate and exchange technical information as the two countries move towards the global deployment of new nuclear technologies.
The initiative is expected to cut duplication and fast-track decisions, targeting reactor design reviews within two years, and nuclear site licensing within one year. The two regulators will mutually recognise each other’s assessments, with appropriate due diligence to ensure legal compliance, but retain independent decision-making.
