Planning rules will be ripped up to make it easier to build new nuclear reactors and create thousands of highly skilled jobs, the government has announced.
The reforms are the latest in a series of proposals designed to “get Britain building” to help grow the economy, after powers for environmental quangos to delay infrastructure projects were removed.
The UK was the first country in the world to develop a nuclear reactor but the last time a power station was built was in 1995.
Ministers have blamed this on “suffocating” red tape, leaving the UK lagging behind in the global race for cleaner more affordable energy.
Under moves announced today, mini-nuclear power stations known as small modular reactors (SMRs) will be included in the national planning guidance, allowing them to be built in the UK for the first time.
SMRs are considered to be cheaper, quicker to manufacture and safer than conventional nuclear power plants, so industry experts see them as having an important role in efforts to decarbonise.
Other reforms include:
• Scrapping a list which currently limits nuclear development to eight specific sites
• Removing the expiry date on nuclear planning rules so projects don’t get timed out
• Establishing a new Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce to look at further ways to build nuclear plants quicker and cheaper, which will report directly to the prime minister
Unions and business groups have welcomed the announcement, but environmentalists were critical.
The changes come amid long-term struggles to get two existing nuclear projects over the line.
Only one nuclear power plant, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, is under construction in the UK – but its completion date has been delayed by years with the French company developing it blaming this on inflation, labour shortages and Brexit disruption.
The government also pointed to the need for a 30,000-page environmental assessment required to get planning permission, saying in its announcement today that Britain “has been suffocated by regulations”, which is harming investment.
A separate project, Sizewell C in Suffolk, has also been hit by delays and rising costs before a spade has even hit the ground.
By comparison China is constructing 29 reactors, and the EU has 12 at planning stage.
UK ‘let down and left behind’
Sir 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 who have strangled our chances of cheaper energy, growth and jobs for far too long.”
The announcement builds on a Labour manifesto commitment to “end a decade of dithering” on nuclear power as part of broader plans to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030 – with cheaper bills and better energy security.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said that nuclear power will create “thousands of skilled jobs” and prevent the UK being vulnerable to global energy markets in the future.
“Build, build, build – that is what Britain’s clean energy mission is all about,” he said.
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’20 years’ to deliver GB Energy jobs
Some environmentalist groups dispute nuclear power’s green credentials though, saying that while it doesn’t produce carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases, it isn’t a plausible alternative to renewable energy sources – like wind and solar.
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.”
Unions were welcoming of the announcement’s potential to create jobs and deliver net zero, but said it should go alongside the complete go-ahead for Sizewall C.
And Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “This is the prime minister’s strongest signal yet that new nuclear is critical to the growth and clean power mission.
“A more streamlined planning system will give certainty to investors, the supply chain and communities, and will enable us to get on with building new nuclear plants on more sites and at pace for a cleaner, more secure power system.”