New Build

Energy and Climate Change Minister, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, speaks to Nuclear Energy Insider’s Katherine Steiner-Dicks on which influential factors will boost nuclear’s popularity; how the Department for Energy and Climate Change is addressing the industry’s skills gap; and how future nuclear proposals could provide electricity to every home in Britain.

What positive progress has been made for the nuclear energy sector since the department was created?
The Office for Nuclear Development was specifically established to ensure that new nuclear build plays a vital part in the UK’s future energy mix, and we have made some big steps on the way to making that happen.

One of the biggest signs of progress is the recent publication of the draft Nuclear National Policy Statement, a huge piece of work which is now the focus of a comprehensive consultation programme.

What is going to be the most influential factor to make nuclear a more popular source of energy among utility companies? Among the greater public?
There is no doubt that having a transparent and timely planning system is a crucial factor in giving industry the confidence to invest in the UK’s nuclear energy sector.

With the creation of the Infrastructure Planning Commission and the publication of the draft National Policy Statements, the Government is delivering on this goal.
For the general public, people are becoming increasingly concerned about the threat of climate change – they want to see our economy de-carbonised and our carbon footprint reduced.More and more, the British public is embracing the idea that nuclear power generation is a key part of that low-carbon future.

How is the department addressing the nuclear skills gap both on the decommissioning and new build sides?
An expansion of the nuclear sector in the UK will require thousands of people with expertise in a range of technically complex areas.

The challenge for Government and the industry is to ensure that we have enough people with these skills to build and operate new nuclear power stations UK.

To this end, the Department is continually working with industry and the education sector to deliver the thousands of skilled workers the UK nuclear energy sector will need in the coming decades. 

Does it look like the UK will have to go abroad for most of the talent in the short-term?
There are massive economic opportunities which are to be seized upon in the global nuclear renaissance.

The Government is working closely with industry to raise awareness of the opportunities and encourage investment and we recently announced £6.3 million of funding into a new nuclear skills centre in Manchester.

Inevitably, we will see some migrant labour, especially at peaks of construction activity, however the supply chain and skills base required to support a new build programme offers considerable opportunities for UK businesses and workers.

What has the department done so far to request information on financial benchmarks for the costs involved in building new nuclear plants in the UK? If so, from what are these benchmarks being based?
While we keep abreast of published reports and estimates, it will be for energy companies to fund, develop and build new nuclear power stations in the UK, including meeting the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of waste management costs.

Compared to other energy sources in the UK, how much is the department envisioning nuclear will represent in say 10 years and why?
The Government estimates that of the 60GW of net new generating capacity needed by 2025, as much as 25GW could come from conventional sources of generation.

Of this conventional capacity, new nuclear power should be free to contribute as much as possible - the precise mix to be deployed will depend on specific decisions made by the energy companies themselves.

We already have proposals for 16GW from the major energy companies – that’s enough to provide electricity for every house in the UK.