Small modular reactors will help growth and clean energy go nuclear Opinion While France generates most of its energy from nuclear, Britain has the highest industrial electricity costs in the world. The upfront costs of small modular reactors are high, but so is the return on investment, says John Caudwell Last month was the hottest January on record globally. It was unexpected because the natural weather phenomena [...]
Free market groups welcome nuclear power planning reform Politics Free market groups have welcomed the government’s plans to reform planning rules around building nuclear power plants as “excellent news”. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer today announced the overhaul in a bid to slash red tape, fast-track approvals for new reactors and create thousands of highly skilled jobs. Small modular reactors (SMRs) would be built [...]
Overhaul of planning barriers to nuclear power, Starmer announces Politics An overhaul of planning barriers to make it easier to build new nuclear power plants has been announced by Keir Starmer. The move will create thousands of highly skilled jobs, the government said, as the Prime Minister confirmed red tape would be “slashed” in a bid to fast-track approval of reactors. It is set to [...]
‘A speculative figure’: Cost of Sizewell C nuclear plant nearly doubled since 2020 January 14, 2025 The cost of building Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk could reach nearly £40bn, according to reports. Developer EDF and the UK government anticipated the project’s final price tag would be around £20bn in 2020, as it struggled to bring down construction costs and reduce delays. But the Financial Times on Tuesday reported the [...]
AI is about to go nuclear – so the UK needs to, too October 31, 2024 As the artificial intelligence (AI) industry hurtles headlong towards what can only be described as nuclear-level growth, the UK needs a matching energy source to keep up. But data centres, responsible for powering the floods of new generative AI models and applications, rely on vast, consistent energy supplies to keep their servers ticking. According to [...]
Rolls-Royce sells stake in small nuclear reactor division October 29, 2024 Rolls-Royce has sold a minority stake in its small nuclear reactor division to Czech power company CEZ. The Derby-headquartered giant has handed a 20 per cent share in Rolls-Royce SMR in a deal worth hundreds of millions of pounds. CEZ plans to build the first small modular reactor at the existing Temelin nuclear plant in [...]
US start-up to invest £300m in micro-nuclear plants in South Wales October 15, 2024 A US start-up has announced plans to invest £300m in developing a series of cutting edge micro-nuclear power plants in South Wales. Last Energy intends to bring into service four micro-modular nuclear units on a vacant site in Bridgend Country, which housed the coal-fired Llynfi Power Station until 1977. It estimates the project will create [...]
Rolls Royce closes in on European nuclear reactor deals as UK process delayed September 22, 2024 Rolls Royce is closing in on two deals to build miniaturised nuclear power plants in Sweden and the Netherlands after a successful deal with the Czech Republic announced last week. Rolls-Royce boss Tufan Erginbilgic had warned that the firm would start building small modular reactors (SMRs) in Europe should UK ministers fail to speed up [...]
Why we bought a decommissioned nuclear power station August 30, 2024 Seventy years since a Brit first split the atom, it’s time to re-energise our nuclear industry and reclaim leadership in the technology of the future, says Lord Grade Down an unassuming country lane in Gloucestershire, out of the market town of Berkeley and toward the Severn Estuary, lies the site where Britain’s next nuclear power [...]
Rolls-Royce looks to sell stake in small nuclear reactor business August 4, 2024 Rolls-Royce is preparing to sell off a stake in its mini-nuclear power business as it looks to raise fresh funding.