Nearly a year on from the publication of the UK Government’s
British Energy Security Strategy, which outlined ambitions for
nuclear energy, Welsh Affairs Committee Chair Stephen Crabb has
raised concerns that there has been little further progress on
how the ambitions will be met.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, written ahead of the Spring
Budget, Mr Crabb has outlined representations made to the
Committee’s ‘Nuclear energy in Wales’ inquiry. MPs have collected
evidence from a wide range of stakeholders, a large number of
whom are calling for greater clarity on how the UK Government
will meet its aims to generate 24GW of nuclear energy by 2050;
and urging the swift establishment of Great British Nuclear to
drive the programme forward.
Mr Crabb has called for the UK Government’s next nuclear power
station, after Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C, to be built at
Wylfa in North Wales. By doing so, highly skilled and well-paid
long-term jobs will be brought to a rural area of the UK.
Welsh Affairs Committee Chair, Rt Hon , said:
“The UK Government’s British Energy Security Strategy sent
positive demand signals to the nuclear energy sector. But since
its publication in April last year, we have heard very little as
to how the target to generate 24GW of nuclear energy by 2050 will
be accomplished.
“Nuclear energy could hold the answer to reliable baseload as we
transition away from oil and gas. With mounting household bills
and the spiralling costs of fossil fuels, there is a unique
opportunity to galvanise the low-carbon energy sectors. Instead,
the nuclear energy sector has been waiting to know the ‘when and
where’ for nuclear power stations in the UK.
“By siting the UK’s next nuclear power station at Wylfa, highly
skilled, long-term jobs will be supported in a rural area of the
UK. I urge the UK Government to act now, and to launch Great
British Nuclear to drive progress forwards.”
