In reaction to the announcement in the Budget that nuclear will be labelled green in the UK taxonomy and the launch of Great British Nuclear, Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said,
“This is a huge step forward for UK energy security and net zero. Nuclear’s inclusion in the UK Green Taxonomy is a vital move, following the example set by other leading nuclear nations, and will drive crucial investment into new projects, making it cheaper and easier to finance new reactors.
“The launch of Great British Nuclear with powers to select sites for new projects will make nuclear deployment much more efficient and give the supply chain a clear pipeline to work from. The SMR selection will put us back in the global race, creating opportunities for home-grown technology and others to bring jobs and investment to the UK and helping us capitalise on export opportunities in a massive global market.
“We look forward to working with Great British Nuclear on delivering a fleet of large and small scale stations to make us a clean energy powerhouse of the twenty-first century.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- The UK has five generating nuclear power stations, providing around 15% of the country’s electricity from 5.9 GW of capacity.
- Hartlepool and Heysham I stations will retire by March 2026, and Heysham II and Torness will retire by March 2028, leaving only Sizewell B, with 1.2 GW of generating capacity.
- The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe found nuclear to have the lowest land use, lowest ecosystem impact and lowest lifecycle carbon of all generating technologies at 5.1g CO2/KWh. CCS with gas is 130g CO2/KWh.
- Nuclear has saved the UK 2.3 billion tonnes of carbon emissions, far more than any other source. The saving is equivalent to all UK emissions from 2015 through 2020.
About the Nuclear Industry Association
As the trade association for the civil nuclear industry in the UK, the Nuclear Industry Association represents more than 250 companies across the UK’s nuclear supply chain.
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Iolo James
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