Wilfred Aspinall: We need an active nuclear fleet now

Wilfred Aspinall is a member of Hitchin Conservative Association and an Eastern Region ambassador on the Conservative Policy Forum. He is also the former Chair of the European Parliament Forum for Construction and Energy Users.

The announcement by the Secretary of State for Energy that £14.2bn will be available for nuclear facilities at Sizewell in Suffolk must be welcomed: secure jobs will be created, and we need to extend our fleet to meet the target for nuclear to provide at least 25 per cent of electricity for UK consumption.

This is a long-term investment and the continuation of the Sizewell project means French technology (which some experts say is already out of date), but that appears the way in which we are obliged to work because we do need a fleet of nuclear plants to replace those to be decommissioned. The problem is these large plants take a decade to build and the costs spiral.

What about the strategy to build small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs)? Ten SMRs were promised under a Conservative government based on the nuclear reactors supplied for nuclear submarines by Rolls Royce. These were to be commissioned throughout the country, producing indigenous electricity.

Only a few weeks ago it was rumoured that the Labour government had paused any future plans but I guess, like all Labour’s thinking, the idea has been raised – but perhaps with no intention of fulfilling the build. Nevertheless the Chancellor has referred to just one SMR (in Cumbria). Was this a fact or just grandstanding?

We need to tell the government that it is essential for this SMR project to be activated now – it is said they will be quicker to build and are cost effective. We need ten to be part of our nuclear programme all functioning as soon as possible; all part of growth, security of energy supply, and regional levelling up.

Remember our past economic fortunes resulted in ‘home made’ coal, oil and gas. We should stop importing fuel from countries that can hold us to supply and price ransom. We have to move away from imported energy and have an indigenous fuel supply to provide competitive prices for industry, as well as security of supply and competitive charges on homes and public services.

Sources such as solar, wind and other renewable energy facilities are intermittent and could result in the need to import expensive energy. Renewables are an important part of our decarbonisation strategy, and part of the energy mix required to maintain energy supply. But it is a mistake to cancel exploration of oil and gas (even fracking) until our indigenous energy supply is secure.

Nuclear must be supported and some of us have weathered the opposition for the last 50 + years. We cannot afford to ignore the SMR regime and therefore it is essential to get these built.

There will possibly be opposition, but as major infrastructure facilities to increase the nuclear fleet locations must be agreed, all the planning should be based on the same model criteria (in other words no individual local planning applications but a national template regime). In this way the process of location and planning, plus construction is controlled by a Panel of Expert Managers for all the individual projects. Procurement for each should be the same and managed with a view to them being commissioned under a strict timetable deadline. Some could be built simultaneously.

We need an active nuclear fleet now.

No more promises; a clear action line.

No doubt the question of funding will arise. Nuclear facilities, whether large projects like Sizewell, Hinckley Point, Sellafield etc plus the SMR facilities, are all long-term investments over 40-50 years. Indigenous fuel intention and guaranteeing our security of supply for electricity, for business and keeping the lights on generally, will also be created and the programme part of making industry competitive in the regions.

They are all assets and should be financed on that basis (over the lifetime of their commission).

The UK remains the sixth largest economy (and we must ensure that remains so). We should plan to borrow the costs, not as a debt as a percentage of GDP, but on a separate plan quite separate on the UK balance sheet as a continuing asset.

And facilities could be explored with the Bank of England to facilitate this nuclear infrastructure project under a similar QE scheme in conjunction with the UK Investment Bank.