Government nuclear plans a ‘wish list’, not a method, say MPs
G
overnment plans to drastically scale up nuclear capability are extra of a “wish list”, with the function of Great British Nuclear nonetheless ambiguous, MPs have stated.
Parliamentarians on the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee stated questions stay for ministers’ formidable nuclear targets, with doubts over whether or not the Government has a particular technique to satisfy the goal of bolstering the UK’s nuclear capability to 24 gigawatts (GW) of electrical energy by 2050.
The new 118-page report, printed on Monday, backs the Government’s determination to look to nuclear energy as a method to meet the UK’s electrical energy wants amid the race to web zero.
It warns that the Government’s personal most up-to-date vitality safety plan, printed in March, affords little clue about how measures will likely be applied.
Current plans, MPs warn, do “not amount to the comprehensive, detailed and specific strategy that we believe is required if the Government’s aspirations are to be delivered”.
Greg Clark, chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, stated: “The Government is right to identify nuclear power as an important contributor to meeting our future electricity needs. It has stretching ambitions to achieve 24GW of nuclear power by 2050.
“This would be almost double the highest level of nuclear generation that the UK has ever attained.
“The only way to achieve this is to translate these very high-level aspirations into a comprehensive, concrete and detailed nuclear strategic plan which is developed jointly with the nuclear industry, which enjoys long-term cross-party political commitment and which therefore offers dependability for private and public investment decisions.”
Elsewhere, the report additionally questions the precise function of Great British Nuclear (GBN), an arm’s-length physique at present concerned within the Government-backed competitors to develop smaller-scale nuclear expertise initiatives.
Earlier this month, Energy Secretary Grant Shapps hailed a “renaissance” in nuclear vitality within the UK, with GBN taking part in a key function.
MPs stated: “There is still ambiguity over what GBN’s exact remit will be in the future, beyond running a SMR (small modular reactor) competition.
“We recommend that the Government should set out a more comprehensive statement of GBN’s remit, operational model and budget, and its intended role with respect to ministers and government departments.”
Campaigners in opposition to the Sizewell C nuclear energy plant venture in Suffolk welcomed the committee’s name for Government readability on the financing of gigawatt-scale nuclear initiatives.
MPs stated “the choice to proceed with gigawatt-scale nuclear power should not be made without robust estimates of its value for money, including the financial value of the construction risk being assumed by taxpayers or billpayers”.
“A headline lower cost than Hinkley Point C is not justified if the value of the risk is too great. This is true even if it forces a conclusion that — for all its other advantages — gigawatt scale new nuclear is not financeable on defensible terms, and that the UK’s nuclear ambition would need to be pursued through other nuclear technologies,” the report discovered.
A spokesperson for the Stop Sizewell C marketing campaign stated: “We’re appalled that the committee has ignored legitimate concerns about whether nuclear can deliver reliable, affordable electricity.”
The group stated it supported “the committee calling for the Government to publish Sizewell C’s cost and value for money, as doing so will expose just how unjustifiable this slow, risky, expensive project is”.
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson stated: “We have already made clear we will publish a nuclear roadmap and consult on alternative routes to market by the end of the year.
“Nuclear has a vital role to play in reaching net zero and boosting energy security – just last week we launched Great British Nuclear which will help generate billions for the UK economy and support thousands of jobs.”