• Publish Your article
  • Editorial Policy
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Tuesday, July 1, 2025
No Result
View All Result
UK Herald
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Sports
    England rugby stadium Twickenham given new name after more than 100 years in shock new deal

    England rugby stadium Twickenham given new name after more than 100 years in shock new deal

    Peter Morgan dead at 65: Former Wales and Lions rugby star who became a politician passes away as club pays tribute

    Peter Morgan dead at 65: Former Wales and Lions rugby star who became a politician passes away as club pays tribute

    Horse racing tips: Unexposed Group 1 contender can stun the big guns at 14-1

    Horse racing tips: Unexposed Group 1 contender can stun the big guns at 14-1

    Woman ‘raped seven times by two French rugby stars who left her riddled with bite marks & with horror injuries’

    Woman ‘raped seven times by two French rugby stars who left her riddled with bite marks & with horror injuries’

    Horse racing tips: Gary Moore’s charge can gain revenge after falling last time out

    Horse racing tips: Gary Moore’s charge can gain revenge after falling last time out

    Ian Buckett dead at 56: Former Wales rugby star who was ‘admired and feared equally’ dies as tributes pour in

    Ian Buckett dead at 56: Former Wales rugby star who was ‘admired and feared equally’ dies as tributes pour in

    Horse racing tips: Bash the bookies with these longshots including 9-1 fancy

    Horse racing tips: Bash the bookies with these longshots including 9-1 fancy

    Shayne Philpott dead at 58 – New Zealand All Blacks rugby legend dies after suffering ‘medical event’

    Shayne Philpott dead at 58 – New Zealand All Blacks rugby legend dies after suffering ‘medical event’

    Horse racing tips: This 7-1 chance appears to have been laid out for race he won last year

    Horse racing tips: This 7-1 chance appears to have been laid out for race he won last year

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • food
    • Health
    • Travel
    Is it safe to travel to Turkey? Latest Foreign Office advice as wildfires rage in Izmir

    Is it safe to travel to Turkey? Latest Foreign Office advice as wildfires rage in Izmir

    I grew up in Yorkshire — here’s my insider’s guide to a weekend in the Dales

    I grew up in Yorkshire — here’s my insider’s guide to a weekend in the Dales

    All the food and drink banned on EasyJet, Ryanair, Jet2 and TUI flights

    All the food and drink banned on EasyJet, Ryanair, Jet2 and TUI flights

    ‘Just gorgeous’: Your favourite European islands that aren’t in Greece

    ‘Just gorgeous’: Your favourite European islands that aren’t in Greece

    ‘Charming’ city in Spain is a lesser-known gem with £40 flights and ‘hardly any tourists’

    ‘Charming’ city in Spain is a lesser-known gem with £40 flights and ‘hardly any tourists’

    Anti-tourism protesters have an important message — and it’s not for tourists

    Anti-tourism protesters have an important message — and it’s not for tourists

    ‘Ambitious’ new sleeper train will connect 100 European cities — with private rooms from £67

    ‘Ambitious’ new sleeper train will connect 100 European cities — with private rooms from £67

    Unassuming UK village is an absolute gem for foodies with ‘exceptional’ restaurants

    Unassuming UK village is an absolute gem for foodies with ‘exceptional’ restaurants

    TUI relaunches UK flights to forgotten year-round sunshine destination after 3 years

    TUI relaunches UK flights to forgotten year-round sunshine destination after 3 years

    New Alternative Treatments for Erectile Dysfunction

    New Alternative Treatments for Erectile Dysfunction

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Climate Change
    • Flat Earth
  • Health
  • Opinion
  • Science
  • Tech
  • Crypto
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Sports
  • More
    • Press Release
UK Herald
No Result
View All Result

Labour can’t just throw money at nuclear and hope it works

by Justin Marsh
June 30, 2025
0
0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterReddit


In recent weeks, Labour has made a number of significant announcements to back the nuclear industry. But if Labour wants a British nuclear renaissance, they need to go a lot further than just throwing money at nuclear projects, especially when it comes to streamlining red tape.

Unfortunately, it has been a repeated pattern of Ed Miliband to dither and delay when it comes to British nuclear. The year-long delay to the funding decision on Sizewell C and the watering down of the small modular reactor (SMR) competition show how low down on his priority list nuclear comes.

Britain has a reputation for putting off critical decisions on nuclear. For decades, we were at the forefront of nuclear innovation, but we took our foot off the gas — or rather, ironically, we had a dash for gas and left nuclear to decline. The share of our electricity generated by nuclear power has fallen from a high of 27% in the 1990s, down to around 15% today. France, by comparison, gets around 70% of its electricity from nuclear.

Now, the Conservatives are also not blame-free here — despite establishing Great British Nuclear and launching the SMR competition. It is certainly not all this Labour government’s fault. But they cannot escape the criticisms that they have slow-pedalled the renewal of our nuclear fleet.

We need to see urgency now in reaching a final investment decision on Sizewell C and commissioning Rolls Royce to get building SMRs. If Labour continues with delays, they will simply cause costs to balloon, investment to be lost, and Britain to fall further behind other nations looking to capitalise on nuclear.

A major reason for the delays from this government has been its focus on the arbitrary target of achieving a clean power system by 2030. This means the long-term decisions that are needed to secure our energy supply and meet rising energy demand beyond 2030 were never a priority.

Additionally, rather than backing two companies in the SMR competition — as the Conservatives intended — Labour backed one. Frustratingly, this has left us in the same position we’d have been in if the government simply picked Rolls Royce ten years ago when we could have started building.

But after years of neglect, it is good to see the government take the next steps to build new nuclear. After all, nuclear will play an essential role in helping us shift our reliance away from gas, which has been responsible for a large part of the hikes in energy bills in recent years.

The cost of our electricity is set by the most expensive source needed to meet demand — in 2021, 97% of the time, this was gas. This heavy reliance on gas leaves us vulnerable to European price spikes, as we have seen over the past few years in our energy bills. In contrast, gas set the price only 7% of the time in France in 2021, as there’s usually enough power generated by nuclear to meet demand from that alone. As a result, France has significantly cheaper electricity.

Nuclear is more than just a secure energy source to power our economy. It is a sector full of economic potential in its own right. Over 60,000 jobs are currently supported by nuclear, with the Nuclear Industry Association estimating that 40% of this employment is in the most deprived 25% of local authorities in England. Jobs range from short-term construction roles, to long-term roles operating power stations. With a generating lifespan of over sixty years, there are cases where three generations of the same family could work in the same nuclear plant. Not many sectors these days are able to say this.

So it is right the government has invested to renew this proud sector. But after years of neglect, the industry needs a lot more than a cash injection. Labour cannot afford to dither and delay again on what the nuclear sector desperately needs — which is serious regulatory reform.

The sector is drowning in excessively cautious rules, making building new plants longer and more expensive than it needs to be. To fix some of these problems, we should recognise approved reactor designs from reputable regulators such as South Korea and France, avoiding costly and time-consuming design changes; reform habitat regulations to prevent more costly ‘fish disco’ scenarios, whereby overburdensome environmental mitigation measures such as those at Hinkley Point C add excessive costs; and grant regulatory justification for all new nuclear reactor designs, essentially cutting red tape by stating that the benefits will always outweigh the risks of new nuclear power in the UK.

Britain has pushed off decisions on nuclear for too long. It has hurt the sector and left it on its last legs. Without nuclear, we will be less energy secure in an increasingly dangerous world.

The Conservatives should be bold, hold the government to account on delivering these promised nuclear projects at pace, and pressure them to streamline red tape. And Labour needs to prove they have a serious plan to secure the nuclear sector’s long-term future in the UK beyond splashing the cash.

Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.

The post Labour can’t just throw money at nuclear and hope it works appeared first on Politics.co.uk.



Source link

Related Posts

Week-in-Review: Welfare rebellion has permanently damaged Starmer

Week-in-Review: Welfare rebellion has permanently damaged Starmer

by Justin Marsh
June 28, 2025
0

Another week, another capitulation courtesy of Keir Starmer. Downing Street’s panicked response to criticism of the welfare bill would suggest it was ambushed by a clandestine cadre of guerrilla rebels. The reality...

Nigel Farage on track to become PM with ‘historic’ majority, new poll indicates

Nigel Farage on track to become PM with ‘historic’ majority, new poll indicates

by Justin Marsh
June 26, 2025
0

Reform UK would win a majority of a seats in the House of Commons if a general election was held tomorrow, a new poll suggests.  Nigel Farage’s party would win 377 seats,...

Sadiq Khan warns welfare cuts will ‘destroy financial safety net’ for vulnerable Londoners

Sadiq Khan warns welfare cuts will ‘destroy financial safety net’ for vulnerable Londoners

by Justin Marsh
June 24, 2025
0

Sadiq Khan has called on the government to “urgently” rethink its welfare reforms, warning they could “destroy the financial safety net” and leave hundreds of thousands of disabled and vulnerable Londoners facing...

Nandy downplays welfare rebellion despite whip’s ‘honourable’ resignation

Nandy downplays welfare rebellion despite whip’s ‘honourable’ resignation

by Justin Marsh
June 22, 2025
0

Lisa Nandy has insisted a major rebellion is not brewing over the government’s welfare reforms, describing the resignation of a party whip over the issue as an “honourable” but isolated incident. Vicky...

How every MP voted on assisted dying as bill set to become law

How every MP voted on assisted dying as bill set to become law

by Justin Marsh
June 20, 2025
0

MPs have voted in favour of the assisted dying bill, which will legalise the right for terminally ill people in England and Wales to end their own life with medical assistance. MPs...

PMQs verdict: Chris Philp’s sound and fury signified little

PMQs verdict: Chris Philp’s sound and fury signified little

by Justin Marsh
June 18, 2025
0

Kemi Badenoch’s decision not to appoint a deputy when she assembled her frontbench last November raised eyebrows in Westminster. The Conservative leader simply declined the opportunity to vault some loyal operator or...

Next Post
UK and US publishers back move to block AI scrapers by default

UK and US publishers back move to block AI scrapers by default

Popular News

AXIOM-4: What will be the role of Shubhanshu Shukla in the mission? What did India send in space? What will India benefit?

AXIOM-4: What will be the role of Shubhanshu Shukla in the mission? What did India send in space? What will India benefit?

July 1, 2025
UK and US publishers back move to block AI scrapers by default

UK and US publishers back move to block AI scrapers by default

July 1, 2025
Labour can’t just throw money at nuclear and hope it works

Labour can’t just throw money at nuclear and hope it works

June 30, 2025
Is it safe to travel to Turkey? Latest Foreign Office advice as wildfires rage in Izmir

Is it safe to travel to Turkey? Latest Foreign Office advice as wildfires rage in Izmir

June 30, 2025
Tesla Car Factory arrives at the owner’s house without a driver: the price of auto drive cars will be shocked

Tesla Car Factory arrives at the owner’s house without a driver: the price of auto drive cars will be shocked

June 29, 2025
Week-in-Review: Welfare rebellion has permanently damaged Starmer

Week-in-Review: Welfare rebellion has permanently damaged Starmer

June 28, 2025
I grew up in Yorkshire — here’s my insider’s guide to a weekend in the Dales

I grew up in Yorkshire — here’s my insider’s guide to a weekend in the Dales

June 27, 2025
UK Herald

All Rights Reserved © UK HERALD - The Voice of UK

Important Links

  • Publish Your article
  • Editorial Policy
  • Contact
  • Advertise

...

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
  • UK News
  • Business
  • Science
  • National
  • Entertainment
  • Gaming
  • Sports
  • Fashion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Health
  • Food

All Rights Reserved © UK HERALD - The Voice of UK