The Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) welcomes the chance to respond to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee’s ‘A flexible Grid for the future’ inquiry.
The NIA is the trade association and representative body for the civil nuclear industry in the UK. We represent around 250 companies operating across all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle.
Executive Summary
Nuclear is essential to the UK’s energy security as our only source of clean, sovereign baseload power. Nuclear reactors are also capable of ramping their output up and down, as they have done in France for 40 years, to match changes in demand or in renewable output. It can be a critical source of flexibility for our future grid if required.
Nuclear currently supplies around 15% of our electricity from just over half a square mile of land, and according to United Nations’ analysis, nuclear has the lowest lifecycle carbon, lowest land use, and lowest impact on ecosystems of any electricity source.
There is therefore an overwhelming public interest in bringing new nuclear power plants into operation, however, reforms to the planning systems are needed to hit our net zero targets. Crucially, we believe that a Net Zero Duty should be placed on all relevant regulators to ensure decisions proportionate to the urgent need for more low carbon energy.
Please click here to view our full response.
