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Policy paper

UK-Ireland Contact Group on Radiological Matters, Winter 2025: communiqué

Published 22 December 2025

This was published under the 2024 to 2026 Starmer Labour government

UK Ireland Contact Group on Radiological Matters Winter Meeting, 20 November 2025

Ireland’s Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE) hosted the 2025 Winter Contact Group meeting. The UK provided high-level updates on:

  • the current UK civil nuclear landscape
  • Great British Energy - Nuclear Small Nuclear Reactor (SMR) Programme, including a recent announcement on siting of first UK SMR
  • Sizewell C
  • Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce
  • UK-US Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy
  • developments at Sellafield
  • regulatory activities by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency (EA)
  • UK emergency preparedness and response planning

At the request of the Group, in-depth presentations were provided by the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) on Radioactive Waste Storage Policy and Small Nuclear Reactor (SMR) Siting.

Closing remarks

After the meeting, the Chair thanked all attendees and reiterated the importance of the Contact Group. Both delegations agreed that the next UK-Ireland Contact Group meeting would take place in London in Spring 2026.