(Warley) (Lab): May I welcome
the statement? I was going to commend the Minister on the work
that I know he has done, until he unfortunately became petty
political—I think he spent a bit too much time in Scottish
politics. He will be aware that the small modular reactor
assessment is already behind the Government’s own timetable. That
is undermining Rolls-Royce
which builds small reactors for the Royal Navy and has done for
many decades. Meanwhile, the formidable American political
industrial machine is hoovering up customers around the world.
Can we not learn from the vaccine taskforce how to accelerate
process while maintaining safety? Will he now get a move on so
that we can build British modular nuclear reactors using British
workers?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security
and Net Zero (): I know the right hon.
Gentleman would never stoop to petty politics in this Chamber or
anywhere else, but I have to disagree with him. I share his
passion for small modular reactors, and I share his belief that
Rolls-Royce is
a world-leading company that is delivering for this country right
now and will continue to do so in future.
We are proud of the small modular reactor competition, which we
launched in July. We have already completed the first process. We
have six world-leading technologies competing to get investment
from the UK Government for deployment here domestically, of
which Rolls-Royce is
of course a part. We will be launching the next phase in a matter
of weeks. It is world-leading, and faster than any comparable
programme in the world. The right hon. Gentleman says to get a
move on, but we have not stopped to draw breath since we first
launched GBN and the small modular reactor drawdown competition
in the summer. However, I welcome his support for what we are
doing, and I hope that he can encourage more of his colleagues to
support it.
To read all the exchanges, OPEN HERE
