Concerns over the “functioning independence” of the Office for Nuclear Regulation have been raised in the House of Lords after the regulator’s sponsorship was moved from the Department for Work and Pensions to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which is directly responsible for nuclear policy and new build. Critics argue that placing the safety regulator under the same department promoting Sizewell C, small modular reactors and lifetime extensions could create perceived conflicts of interest. For civil and nuclear engineers, this may affect confidence in regulatory decisions on reactor design approvals, site licensing and safety case scrutiny.

Public trust built through strong regulation and early, meaningful community participation is identified by the Trust, Accountability and Inclusion Collaborative’s report “Mined The Gaps: Trust and Critical Minerals” as a primary driver of faster permitting, challenging assumptions that deregulation speeds critical minerals projects in Australia, Canada and the US. Author Sefton Darby proposes Adaptive Governance Partnerships, with joint regulator–company–community committees addressing environmental, social and cultural risks from exploration onwards, rather than at permitting. The report warns that under-capitalised juniors, focused almost solely on geology in brownfield expansions, embed unmanaged ESG risks, and calls for exploration funding to be explicitly tied to environmental and social initiatives.

The Minerals Council of Australia is urging the Federal Government to extend the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount for individual investors in junior minerals explorers beyond its June 2027 expiry. Under the scheme, investors pay CGT on only half the profit from shares held for at least 12 months, a setting the MCA argues is critical for high‑risk greenfields exploration and early‑stage drilling campaigns. Any change to this tax treatment could materially affect capital flows to junior explorers, influencing pipeline projects for critical minerals and future mine development.