Great British Nuclear

Posted: 4th April 2022

Britain could build up to seven new nuclear power stations as part of a radical expansion of homegrown energy following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Business Secretary has said. In an interview with TheTelegraph, Kwasi Kwarteng said “there is a world where we have six or seven sites in the UK” by 2050 as part of a push for self-reliance. Ministers have agreed to set up a development vehicle, Great British Nuclear, to identify sites, cut through red tape to speed up the planning process and bring together private firms to run each site. As a first step, BorisJohnson is preparing to announce plans to significantly expand the existing commitment to back one new large-scale nuclear power station by 2024. The Prime Minister and Mr Kwarteng have been battling with Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, to secure funding for new plants – a row first disclosed by The Telegraph. However, a meeting between Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak on Wednesday is said to have ended in agreement on expanding Britain’s existing set of ageing nuclear plants, all but one of which are due to be decommissioned by 2030. The energy security strategy, due to be unveiled on Thursday, is expected to commit the Government to supporting the construction of at least two new large-scale plants by 2030 in addition to small modular reactors. A government source said: “Nuclear will definitely look larger in the British energy mix by the end of this decade.” MrJohnson and Mr Kwarteng then want to more than treble the country’s existing seven gigawatts of nuclear capacity to 24 GW by 2050. Separately,The Telegraph has been told that Mr Johnson used a round table with renewable energy firms last week to urge the industry to build a “colossal”offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea within 12 months. The strategy is expected to raise the prospect of relaxing planning laws in England to make it easier to build turbines on land but, in the face of significant opposition from ministers and backbenchers, Mr Kwarteng acknowledged: “Any movement has to have a large measure of local consent.” The Great British Nuclear delivery body is likely to be a government-owned company akin to HS2 Ltd, which is building the high speed railway line. Telegraph 2nd April 2022  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/04/02/britain-could-get-seven-new-nuclear-power-stations-2050/