- By Jemma Dempsey and Sam Gruet
- BBC News
January 11, 2024, 01:32 GMT
Updated 17 minutes ago
The government has announced plans to build a new large-scale nuclear power plant despite concerns about delays to existing projects.
Ministers say the project would be the sector's biggest expansion in 70 years and would reduce reliance on supplies from abroad.
The new plant would quadruple energy supply by 2050, it is said.
However, concerns have been raised as existing nuclear projects are already behind schedule and over budget.
The government's Civil Nuclear Roadmap aims to strengthen the UK's energy independence by finding a new site for another nuclear power station of the size and scope of the £30 billion plants currently being built at Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk are provided.
Industry sources have told the BBC that top candidates would include Wylfa on Anglesey or Moorside in Cumbria.
Thursday's announcement also pledged £300 million for the UK's production of nuclear reactor fuel, currently only produced commercially in Russia, which it said would reduce costs and improve energy security.
But recent nuclear projects have been plagued by delays, cost overruns and, in the case of Sizewell C, persistent local opposition.
In total, the government has now committed more than £1 billion to the Sizewell C project, building on its original commitment of £700 million, as part of its plan to rapidly expand the UK's nuclear energy sector.
The Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) said all clean energy needs to be accelerated.
Nuclear energy currently supplies around 15% of Britain's electricity, but many of the country's aging reactors are due to be decommissioned over the next decade.
“Drag their feet”
Progress can be slow – it can take almost 20 years from planning to commissioning. Sizewell's consultations alone took 10 years.
The majority of construction work there has yet to begin and there remains strong local opposition to the project.
The government hopes to solve these problems by developing new power plants more efficiently. By introducing smarter regulation, the company believes it will be able to deliver new nuclear power plants more quickly.
Jack Abbott, a clean energy expert who is also the Labor candidate in the neighboring constituency of Sizewell, said the government had “delayed” on nuclear power for too long.
“Fourteen years and not a single new site has opened, despite ten approved sites being taken over by the last Labor government. Labor supports expanding the UK’s nuclear fleet, which must be a crucial part of our future energy mix,” Abbott said.
The REA is also skeptical. It was said that the government had been considering a new privately run nuclear power plant for years. However, the association praised the government for its plans to allocate £300 million to the production of reactor fuel in the UK.
Policy director Frank Gordon added: “We must accelerate the deployment of all clean energy sources, particularly multi-source renewable electricity, as well as support the deployment of much-needed clean technologies and viable energy storage at all scales and for all durations.”
But the government said the plans would also support thousands of jobs and “push Putin out of the global market” to meet a quarter of Britain's electricity needs.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said nuclear power was the “perfect antidote to the energy challenges facing the UK”.
One of the two consultations, to be published on Thursday, will focus on “a new approach” to siting future nuclear power plants and enabling developers to find suitable sites. The other way will be to encourage private investment.
“Community engagement will continue to be critical to all decisions, alongside adhering to robust criteria such as nearby population density,” the government said.
Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, welcomed the publication of the roadmap and streamlined regulation, but said the UK needed to develop both large and small nuclear power plants “at scale and at a rapid pace”.