A government-commissioned Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce has issued a 162-page Nuclear Regulatory Review 2025 with 47 recommendations to cut delays and costs on projects such as Hinkley Point C, whose first reactor has slipped from a 2025 to at least a 2029 start-up. Led by former Office of Fair Trading chief executive John Fingleton, the taskforce calls for a unified Commission for Nuclear Regulation, a ‘one‑stop shop’ for approvals, and merging the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator into the Office for Nuclear Regulation. The review targets “unnecessary over‑specialisation” in components from bolts to cranes, urging greater use of commercial off‑the‑shelf solutions and clearer risk proportionality to save tens of billions in decommissioning and improve constructability.

Roads Australia will rebrand as Transport Australia following member approval at its recent Annual General Meeting, signalling a shift from a roads‑only focus to a broader, multimodal transport remit. The peak body, which has spent more than a decade convening governments, contractors and consultants on issues such as road funding models, asset management and decarbonisation, will now explicitly cover rail, ports and integrated transport networks. For civil and transport engineers, this points to policy forums and guidance increasingly framed around whole‑of‑network planning rather than discrete road projects.

BS 30417 introduces the UK’s first formal standard for inclusive PPE sizing and fit, moving away from legacy designs based on a single “average man” template. The standard sets out anthropometric measurement guidance, fit-test protocols and size-range requirements so items such as fall-arrest harnesses, hi-vis garments and safety footwear can accommodate women, ethnic minorities and workers with non-standard body shapes. For contractors and asset owners, it signals future procurement specifications where PPE suppliers must evidence compliant size ranges and documented fit assessments rather than offering limited S–XL ranges.