Sizewell C nuclear plant given £14bn go-ahead

The Government has committed £14.2bn of investment to build the new Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk.

Sizewell C nuclear plant will create 10,000 direct jobs. This is in addition to thousands more in firms supplying the plant. As well as this, it will generate enough energy to power six million homes, the Treasury said.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the "landmark decision" would "kickstart" economic growth, while Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the investment was necessary to usher in a "golden age of clean energy".

Once construction work begins, Sizewell C will take at least a decade to complete.

Biggest in a Generation

Reeves said it would be the "biggest nuclear building programme in a generation".


Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Miliband said the project was part of the government making "long-term decisions for the future of the country" and it would tackle the climate crisis by "getting [the UK] off insecure, expensive and volatile fossil fuels".

He said: "I remember as a young cabinet minister identifying in 2009 Sizewell as a potential new site for nuclear and I didn't expect it would be me back doing it and making it happen."

Replicate

He said the project would replicate the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset.

"Sizewell will reap the benefits of replicating what happened at Hinkley. We are confident it can be built cheaper and faster."

The government insists that nuclear power provides enormous amounts of low-carbon, non-intermittent energy that forms a crucial part of the government's plans to almost completely eliminate fossil fuels from the UK's energy grid by 2030.

Hinkley Point C in Somerset, the other new plant of which Sizewell C is a copy, will switch on in the early 2030s - more than a decade late and costing billions more than originally planned.

The final investment decision on the funding model for the plant is due later this summer.

Once operational, Sizewell C is expected to employ 900 people.

As well as Sizewell C, the government said it was investing £2.5bn over five years into research and development for fusion energy and making investments into its defence nuclear sector.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the project was part of the government making

“long-term decisions for the future of the country" and it would tackle the climate crisis by "getting [the UK] off insecure, expensive and volatile fossil fuels".

He said: "I remember as a young cabinet minister identifying in 2009 Sizewell as a potential new site for nuclear and I didn't expect it would be me back doing it and making it happen."

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