UK to make it easier to build nuclear reactors

The UK government has announced plans to streamline the approval process for building small nuclear power plants in England and Wales, aiming to promote British economic growth. The government stated that it would reform "outdated" planning rules, which are considered obstacles hindering Britain's progress in the global competition for clean, safe, and economical energy.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the country is "disappointingly behind" because Britain has not built a nuclear power plant in "decades," and these plans will create thousands of high-skilled jobs. Unions and business groups welcomed the move, but environmentalists criticized the government for "swallowing the nuclear industry's propaganda hook, line, and sinker."

Nuclear energy currently provides about 15% of the UK's electricity, but many of the country's aging reactors will be decommissioned within the next decade. Small nuclear power plants, or Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), are smaller, cheaper, and produce significantly less electricity than traditional nuclear power plants. The plan announced on Thursday will mark the first time SMRs have been included in planning rules. Simultaneously, a list of nuclear reactor construction sites containing only eight locations will also be abolished.

Starmer stated that the UK's energy security has "long been held hostage by Russian President Vladimir Putin," causing prices to "skyrocket at his whim." He explained: "I will end this – changing the rules to support the builders, not the blockers, in this country and saying no to those who have held us back from cheaper energy, growth and jobs for far too long."

The process of relaxing the rules for nuclear reactor construction sites began under the Conservative government led by Rishi Sunak and was consulted on in January 2024. Ministers stated that the UK is considered one of the most expensive countries in the world to build nuclear power plants, so a new nuclear regulatory task force will be established to speed up the approval of new reactor designs and simplify how developers communicate with regulators.

Conservative Shadow Energy Secretary Andrew Bowie said that the Labour Party has finally followed his party in recognizing the benefits of "stable, reliable baseload nuclear power," adding that "it's about time." However, Doug Parr, policy director at Greenpeace UK, claimed that the government had not conducted "even a shred of critical scrutiny or asked for a shred of evidence."

"The Labour government has swallowed the nuclear industry’s propaganda hook, line and sinker," he said, adding, "They are presenting mere optimistic speculation about the cost, speed of delivery and safety of small nuclear reactors as fact." Nuclear Industry Association chief executive Tom Greatrex called the reforms "the strongest signal for growth and clean energy yet."

GMB General Secretary Gary Smith stated that the union has repeatedly said that "there is no net zero without new nuclear." He mentioned Sizewell C on the Suffolk coast, where then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to build a new nuclear reactor in 2022, adding, "[It] is shovel ready, waiting to power our nation’s future."

The government has not yet made a final decision on Sizewell C, which is expected to be made during the spending review later this year. The final selection of SMR designs will also be made at the same time. Currently, progress on building nuclear power plants in the UK can be slow – it can take nearly 20 years from planning to "start of electricity." The consultation for Sizewell alone took 10 years.

On Wednesday, Julia Pyke, joint managing director of Sizewell C, called the project the "next step" towards growth and energy security.