NRI Annual Review 2026 - Flipbook - Page 20
A regulatory framework
built for fusion
In the UK, the Government has
explicitly determined that fusion
energy facilities will be regulated
outside the nuclear site-licensing
regime applicable to nuclear
installations such as fission reactors.
Section 156 of the Energy Act 2023
amended section 1 of the Nuclear
Installations Act 1965 so that the
nuclear site-licence requirement does
not apply to a fusion energy facility,
defined as a site used for plant
designed or adapted to produce
electricity or heat by fusion, provided
that the site is not also used to
install or operate a nuclear reactor.
The provision came into force on 10
September 2024.
The principal regulators are the
Health and Safety Executive and the
relevant environmental regulator:
the Environment Agency in England,
Natural Resources Wales in Wales
and the Scottish Environment
Protection Agency in Scotland, with
the corresponding authorities in
Northern Ireland. This proportionate
approach reflects the Government’s
assessment of fusion’s lower intrinsic
hazard, including the absence
of a runaway chain reaction or
meltdown risk. Planning, radiological
justification, environmental
permitting, emergency preparedness
and radioactive material transport
requirements may also apply.
20
In the US the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) unanimously voted
in April 2023 to regulate fusion under
the byproduct material framework
(10 CFR Part 30)2, not under the fission
reactor framework, and is currently
developing rulemaking to establish a clear,
proportionate regulatory pathway.
The broader legal and insurance
frameworks for fusion are also continuing
to evolve internationally. The International
Group of Legal Experts on Fusion Energy
(FELEX) has recently highlighted the need
for internationally harmonised liability
and insurance arrangements that reflect
fusion’s distinct risk profile as commercial
deployment approaches. NRI continues
to engage with developers, brokers and
industry stakeholders to help ensure our
insurance solutions evolve alongside the
technology.
An insurable technology with
a distinct risk pro昀椀le
From an insurance market perspective,
fusion insurance is already here. The
insurance market is not waiting for fusion
to arrive; NRI already provides insurance
capacity and construction coverage solutions
to projects in this in this space. Fusion fits
within advanced energy risk frameworks,
and NRI is a major capacity provider
recognising. fusion as a viable and
insurable technology.
NRI understands that fusion is not
fission, however, the central issue is how
‘proportionality’ is demonstrated. Fusion
reactions stop when the external conditions
needed to sustain them are lost, and
fusion is expected to produce less longlived radioactive material than fission.
Fusion facilities can nevertheless contain
tritium, neutron-activated material and
substantial electrical, magnetic, pressure,
thermal or chemical stored energy. Low
projected public dose can coexist with
material contamination, clean-up costs and
economic disruption.
