Strengthening our energy security means that Britain will never again be held to ransom over energy by tyrants like Vladimir Putin. Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho, said: This will ensure our future energy security and create the jobs and skills we need to level up the country and grow our economy. This is the right long-term decision and is the next step in our commitment to nuclear power, which puts us on course to achieve net zero by 2050 in a measured and sustainable way. Nuclear is the perfect antidote to the energy challenges facing Britain - it’s green, cheaper in the long term and will ensure the UK’s energy security for the long-term. The roadmap also includes a government ambition to secure 3 – 7GW worth of investment decisions every 5 years from 2030 to 2044 on new nuclear projects. This builds on the ambition to return uranium conversion to the Springfields nuclear fuel site, both of which are critical to pushing Putin out of the global market.Īn additional £10 million will be provided to develop the skills and sites needed to produce other advanced nuclear fuels in the UK, helping to secure long term domestic nuclear fuel supply and support our allies. The government will also invest up to £300 million in UK production of the fuel required to power high-tech new nuclear reactors, known as HALEU, currently only commercially produced in Russia.Īs the first country in Europe to launch a HALEU programme, the UK will lead the way from its North West production hub to provide the world with this form of uranium fuel, with the first plant aiming to be operational early in the next decade. The plans include next steps for exploring a GW-scale power plant as big as Sizewell in Suffolk or Hinkley in Somerset, which are capable of powering 6 million homes each. The roadmap sets out how the UK will increase generation of this homegrown supply of clean, reliable, and abundant energy by up to 4 times to 24 gigawatts ( GW) by 2050 – enough to provide a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs.

The Civil Nuclear Roadmap will give industry certainty of the future direction of the UK’s ambitious nuclear programme, on top of the government’s historic commitment to Sizewell C and world-leading competition to develop small modular reactor ( SMR) technology. In the 2 years since Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the government has doubled down on security of supply to protect the country from price volatility and hostile foreign regimes and bolster the UK’s energy independence. The government today outlines plans for the biggest expansion of nuclear power for 70 years to reduce electricity bills, support thousands of jobs and improve UK energy security – including exploring building a major new power station and investing in advanced nuclear fuel production. measures such as smarter regulation will help quadruple UK nuclear power by 2050 up to 24GW – the biggest expansion for 70 years.

UK becomes first country in Europe to launch high-tech nuclear fuel programme with up to £300 million investment into UK production, pushing Putin out of global market.Government roadmap includes exploring a new power station as big as Hinkley C and Sizewell C.

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