Ahead of the upcoming Spending Review, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, has announced that the UK government will invest £14.2 billion to build the Sizewell C nuclear power plant.
The Sizewell C nuclear power plant will provide 10,000 people with employment at the peak of its construction, with £330 million in contracts already being awarded to local companies and 3,500 total suppliers expected to be granted contracts ahead of the plant’s construction.
No nuclear power plants have been opened in the UK since 1995, and every nuclear plant except the Sizewell B plant is set to be decommissioned by the early 2030’s.
In September last year, a new subsidy scheme was launched to support the development of Sizewell C, will provide the government with more flexibility to cover development expenditure costs and allow up to £5.5 billion in support. French-owned energy major EDF is developing the Sizewell C nuclear plant, which began construction in January 2024. EDF Energy itself has invested £1.3 billion into the project.
Reeves expressed the government’s pride in its nuclear future and the role it will play in the country’s energy transition.
“Today we are once again investing in Britain’s renewal, with the biggest nuclear building programme in a generation. This landmark decision is our Plan for Change in action. We are creating thousands of jobs, kickstarting economic growth and putting more money in people’s pockets,” Reeves said.
Furthermore, the government has selected Rolls-Royce SMR as the preferred partner for building small modular reactors (SMRs) in the UK. This follows an extended design and tender process, which saw Rolls-Royce SMR go through a number of processes with the UK government and the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA).
Since the launch of Great British Nuclear, which has now been renamed Great British Energy – Nuclear, in 2023, SMRs have been consistently spoken about as the future of nuclear energy in the UK; last year, the UK government published a document setting out its priorities for energy transition policy on which it heavily emphasised the importance of SMRs to the UK’s clean energy future.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband said: “Great British Energy – Nuclear has run a rigorous competition and will now work with the preferred bidder Rolls-Royce SMR to build the country’s first ever small modular reactors – creating thousands of jobs and growing our regional economies while strengthening our energy security.”
Dhara Vyas, chief executive at Energy UK, called the announcements on SMRs and Sizewell C “a major vote of confidence in the role of nuclear power in delivering our clean, secure and affordable energy future.”
Vyas added: “Recommitting to large-scale projects like Sizewell C, alongside the backing for SMRs marks a genuine turning point – giving long-overdue certainty to an industry with the potential to power millions of homes, create tens of thousands of jobs, and anchor economic growth in communities across the country.”
