Campaign groups oppose the construction of the Sizewell C power plant in Suffolk. Photo: Gregg Brown/Pennsylvania. allocated £20bn for a new fleet of mini-reactors.
Referring to anti-nuclear protests in the early 1980s, when hundreds of thousands of activists marched across the UK, the energy secretary said that “eventually this sentiment even infiltrated the government itself.”
He added: “The time has come to dispel these misplaced fears of the past and recognize the enormous benefits that clean, reliable, domestic nuclear power can bring.”
>But despite the shift in political sentiment towards nuclear power – the importance of which even Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has acknowledged – Shapps faces another challenge for Britain's fleet of mini-reactors: finding a place to house them.
The planned £20bn Sizewell C power plant in Suffolk has been rejected not only by many locals but also by pension funds.
The BT Pension Scheme and NatWest have told the Stop Sizewell C campaign group that they will not support the project by joining legal & General and Aviva in their restraint.
Alison Downes of Stop Sizewell C said, “There's a lot of opposition here. I mean, it's not just local communities, but also charities like the RSPB that have warned of a “major impact” on the area. She added that the region is more popular with retirees and retirees than with potential nuclear professionals.
However, local MPs “really, really want nuclear power in their area,” Mr Shapps said Tuesday.
The Minister of Energy has allocated £20bn for a new fleet of mini-nuclear reactors. award contracts to design small modular reactors (SMRs), also known as nuclear mininuclear projectiles.
Companies including Rolls-Royce and General Electric are among those vying for lucrative contracts.
“There are so many places where people are demanding high-paying skills and jobs,” Shapps said.
Public support for nuclear power is mixed. According to a YouGov poll, 31% of adults tend to support an energy source and 17% strongly support it, and these numbers have risen in recent years. But strong opposition comes from 10% of voters, and propensity for opposition from 21%.
However, in the unlikely environs of Snowdonia National Park, nuclear planners may find a friendlier welcome, where there is a demand for jobs and familiarity with working with hazardous materials.
Here is the Trawsfynydd nuclear power plant, which was approved in 1958, closed at 19 93 and is considered as a potential site for new SMR power plants.
It's also another way to provide jobs outside of agriculture and tourism that the local economy is currently supporting, said Diefrig Sienkin, leader of the Gwynedd Council.
He said, “We are in desperate need of quality jobs.”
He acknowledged that there is some resistance in the area, but the most reliable indicator is that the locals are voting with their feet until better jobs are available.
2105 Electricity generation for zero path
“Our area's population is currently declining, we're losing people, so we need quality work,” Xienqing added.
There is also a huge demand for electricity as industries move away from natural gas and other fossil fuels and rely on an ever greener electricity grid. Ministers want renewable energy to provide 25% of the country's electricity needs by 2050.
John Stevenson, Conservative MP for Carlisle and a prominent proponent of nuclear power in Parliament, thinks GBN should start looking in places where nuclear power is already embedded in communities.
“The launch is very positive, it's clear there is a lot more interest in nuclear power from the government and it's very welcome,” he said.
communities, and the licensing and infrastructure are already in place.
“In this regard, the two obvious places are in West Cumbria, where you have Sellafield and Wilfa [where two Magnox reactors are being decommissioned].”
In Cumbria, Paul Foster, a former Sellafield chief executive, co-founded Solway Community Power Company, which wants to build SMR power plants in Cumbria with the support of private investors, and chose Rolls-Royce as the designer.
He says community support is key and argues that Sellafield has a lot to offer because of its experience in safely storing hazardous waste for decades to come.
“This is a project demanded by the community, not forced upon it,” he said.
“We are next to one of the most dangerous nuclear sites in the world. And it was a source of income, a source of profit.”
Is nuclear energy green?
The government wants to make a final investment decision on which SMRs to build by 2029, although potential bidders are hoping they will receive a contract well in advance, possibly in the first few months of next year.
Mr Shapps said power should be generated by the new SMRs “in the 2030s – early 2030s I hope.” While supplying electricity from these projects could be done in 15 years, he said a combination of energy sources would still be needed to provide enough green electricity.
“When the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining, you should have another option,” he said. “I think it's wiser to bet on the mix.”
He admits previous delays haven't helped. “I am critical of what governments have done in the past. I think we should have taken on the nuclear program in the 1990s.”
There are many areas that welcome the work with open arms, according to local MP Mr Stevenson – the government just needs to act quickly.
Potential bidders for SMR contracts told The Telegraph they urgently need clarity on the sites to raise the funds needed to start construction.
“Nuclear has provided a source of sustainable , well-paid jobs for generations of families in these areas, and people are recognizing the benefits that this has brought,” said Mr Stevenson.
“The important thing is that the government now gives the private sector the confidence it needs, and ministers cannot stand idle.”
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