, Labour’s Shadow Energy
Minister, responding to yet another relaunch of the
Conservatives’ nuclear energy policy, said:
“Yet another relaunch of Great British Nuclear cannot cover up
thirteen years of failure by this government on nuclear.
“It's shambolic that after 13 years of Tory government, not one
of the 10 nuclear sites approved by the last Labour Government
have been built.
“Ministers should today tell us whether they can guarantee to
keep their promise to bring Sizewell to final investment decision
this Parliament. The signs are not encouraging.
“Only Labour will get Britain building and power our future,
including a crucial role for nuclear power. With Labour’s plan
for Great British Energy - a new home-grown, publicly-owned,
clean energy company, we will cut bills and deliver energy
security for our country.”
Ends
Notes
The Conservatives are not on track to deliver on their promises
to deliver Sizewell C by the end of this Parliament:
The Conservatives are not on track to deliver their commitment to
build new nuclear beyond Sizewell C:
- There has been zero details from the Government on how to
deliver the promised 24GW of power,.
- In November 2022 the government promised new projects beyond
Sizewell, but details have been coming.“Today’s approval
comes alongside the government’s continued commitment to develop
a pipeline of new nuclear projects, beyond Sizewell
C”(November 2022)
The Conservatives have not set out any serious detail on GB
Nuclear since it was originally launched last year:
- Great British Nuclear was first ‘launched’ in November 2022, but
since then no details have been supplied.
- The Government has missed its promise, made in 2022, to set
out details “early in the new year”. (Source)
The announcement on SMRs is a reannouncement of a scheme first
promised in 2015:
- The Conservatives promised in the Ten Point Plan
(November 2020) and Energy White Paper
(December 2020) that the UK would have “Early 2030s First
SMRs and AMR demonstrator deployed in the UK”. We are not
on track to meet this.
Labour’s plan:
- Labour would push forward nuclear in the UK, getting existing
projects over the line and identifying opportunities for new
nuclear. Labour would also reform the planning system with tough
new targets to get planning decisions on renewables down from
years to just months, as well as reforms to the grid system to
cut the delays and ensure that clean energy is prioritised as a
task of urgent national importance.
- Labour's Green Prosperity Plan will boost energy security
through increasing our supply of clean, home-grown energy like
nuclear, ensuring we have the energy we need to keep our UK
industries competitive and cut costs for consumers.
- Sizewell C and Hinkley Point C among others are still not
operational despite having been identified in 2009, and after the
Tories’ 13 years in government
- Labour will build a power system run entirely by cheap,
home-grown renewables and nuclear by the end of this decade. From
a world-leading offshore wind industry in Scotland and the East
Coast, hydrogen in the North-West and Teesside, nuclear power in
the South-East, and solar power in the South and Midlands, GB
Energy will unleash Britain’s potential with thousands of good,
well-paid jobs across our country.
The last Labour government announced 10 new nuclear sites in
2009, but under the Conservatives no new nuclear has been
built.https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/nov/09/energy-policy-nuclear-coal
NUCLEAR SITE
|
STATUS
|
Bradwell, Essex
|
Stage one consultation only completed in in 2020. Site
not operational.
|
Braystones, Cumberland
|
Government decided not to take this site forward in 2011.
|
Kirksanton, Cumbria
|
Government decided not to take this site forward in 2011.
|
Sellafield, Cumbria
|
In 2018 Toshiba withdrew plans for a nuclear facility on
this site.
|
Hartlepool, County Durham
|
Proposals to build a new reactor on the site in
Hartlepool were not brought forward
|
Heysham, Lancashire
|
Proposals to build a new reactor on this site were not
brought forward.
|
Hinkley Point, Somerset
|
The target commercial operations date for the first
reactor is still four years away in 2027..
|
Oldbury, Gloucestershire
|
The project was suspended in 2019, and Hitachi withdrew
from the project in 2020.
|
Sizewell, Suffolk
|
The Government only started negotiations on the projects
11 years after the site was identified, with the project
still not operational in 2023.
|
Wylfa, Anglesey
|
The project was suspended in 2019 along with Oldbury, and
Hitachi then formally withdrew from the project in
September
2020.
|
- UK generation of nuclear power was around 50% higher in 2010
when Labour left office. Based on the number of jobs in nuclear
on latest data, 50% more generation could support just 7,000 jobs
in the British nuclear industry.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-section-5-energy-trends
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/bulletins/finalestimates/2021