The government have slashed the red tape in order to get Britain building more nuclear power plants, with experts taking the news better than expected.
The announcement has come for two reasons. The first being to ‘get Britain building’ to help grow the economy and the second is to make our country a clean energy superpower by 2030.
Previously this goal seemed like light work. In 1995 the UK became the first country to develop a nuclear reactor, though no power stations have been constructed since.
Ministers have blamed the lack of progress on ‘suffocating’ red tape, which has ultimately led them to include mini-nuclear power stations (otherwise known as small modular reactors – SMRs) in the national planning guidance, allowing for them to be built in the UK for the first time.
SMRs work by using nuclear fission to generate heat, which can be used directly or to create steam that powers a turbine to produce electricity. They’re also considered to be cheaper and a lot quicker to manufacture.
Other details in the announcement include:
- Axing the expiry date on nuclear planning rules so projects don’t get timed out
- Establishing a new Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce to examine how nuclear power plants can be built quicker and cheaper
- Scrapping a list which limits nuclear development to eight specific sites – this means they can be constructed anywhere in the country
Unions have welcomed the news, with Unite – the UK’s leading trade union for workers in construction, engineering and energy – claiming the expansion programme will ensure ‘energy resilience, drive forward industrial growth and provide high-quality employment opportunities across the country’.
However the trade union has warned: ‘This investment must not be done on the cheap. We will not accept any attempt to cut costs by undermining pay, conditions or safety standards. This must be a programme that delivers well-paid, skilled, unionised jobs from day one.
‘Too often, major infrastructure projects have previously relied on exploitative employment models, with substandard wages and precarious contracts.’
Meanwhile, the union have also made it clear that the government must prioritise the complete go ahead for Sizewell C – a project proposed by EDF Energy and China General Nuclear Power Group to construct a power station with two EPR reactors in Suffolk.
Before the spade hit the ground, the schemes completion date was delayed as a result of inflation and labour shortages.
When unveiling the plans, prime minister Keir Starmer said: ‘This country hasn’t built a nuclear power station in decades, We’ve been let down and left behind.
‘I’m putting an end to it – changing the rules to back the builders of this nation and saying no to the blockers who have strangled our chances of cheaper energy, growth and jobs for far too long.’
However some environmentalists groups do not share the same enthusiasm. Dr Doug Parr, policy director for Greenpeace UK said: ‘The Labour government has swallowed nuclear industry spin whole, seemingly without applying so much as a pinch of critical scrutiny or asking for a sprinkling of evidence.’
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