Boris Johnson today confirmed that he is committing £700m of government money to a new £30bn nuclear reactor at Sizewell C in Suffolk.
Speaking at the site of the proposed plant, the prime minister said that he believed the cash would allow developer EDF to get the project “over the line” within the coming weeks.
In a message to Tory leadership hopefuls Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak – one of whom will take over at No 10 on Tuesday – Mr Johnson said it would be “madness” not to approve the project, adding: “Go nuclear, go large, go with Sizewell C.”
The outgoing prime minister blamed the “myopia” on senior Labour and Liberal Democrat figures in earlier administrations for failing to invest in nuclear power which could have kept energy bills down this winter.
Accusing Labour predecessors Tony Blair and Gordon Brown of “doing nothing to develop this country’s nuclear industry”, he said: “Thanks a bunch, Tony. Thanks a bunch, Gordon. Tell that to the British businesses and industries that are desperately short of affordable and reliable energy.”
He also blamed former Lib Dem deputy prime minister Nick Clegg – mocking the Meta global affairs chief as a “tech lobbyist in California” – for resisting approval of new nuclear reactors during the coalition government.
However, Labour pointed to the approval given by former energy secretary Ed Miliband in 2009 to 10 sites for new nuclear power stations in England and Wales, to come onstream as early as 2018 – only one of which was progressed by subsequent Tory-led administrations.
In his final policy speech as PM, Mr Johnson said that previous government’s rejection of nuclear power on cost grounds had been shown to be “a false economy” by the hydrocarbon price spike caused by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Britain’s failure to build new plants since 1995 meant the UK derives only 15 per cent of its electricity from nuclear, compared to 70 per cent in France.
If the delayed Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset were up and running now, Mr Johnson said it would cut national fuel bills by £3bn this year, at a time when households and businesses are facing eye-watering hikes in energy bills.
Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, welcomed the funding commitment, saying it would help in “cutting gas, cutting bills and creating stable, secure well-paid jobs for people up and down the country”.
But the Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) group launched legal proceedings over the decision to give the go-ahead to the project against the advice of the planning examination authority.
Solicitor Rowan Smith, from law firm Leigh Day, said: the group believes “fundamental legal errors were made, particularly in respect of water, alternatives to nuclear power, local wildlife and climate change”, adding that the campaigners hoped their arguments will soon be heard court.
Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist Doug Parr said the £700m announced for Sizewell C would do nothing to cut energy bills this winter – attacking the nuclear project as a “white elephant”.
The environmentalist said the money would be better spent on other clean renewables “instead of being thrown on to the slow-burning financial bonfire that is EDF, to increase our bills for decades”.
Claiming investors had already “fled” the nuclear sector, Mr Parr added: “To get Sizewell done, the government would have to step in and add the enormous costs of building reactors to the enormous costs consumers are already paying for their electricity.”
Placards belonging to protesters from the Stop Sizewell C and Together Against Sizewell C
Green MP Caroline Lucas said approval for “the massively costly and achingly slow” Sizewell C plant was “simply Boris Johnson’s woeful final attempt at making his prime ministerial mark”.
But the GMB union welcomed the “belated” investment in Sizewell C – saying “it should have happened years ago”. The energy union called for further commitments to new reactors in Wylfa in Wales and elsewhere.
“Today’s decision is a belated step in the right direction – but it should have happened years ago, said Andy Prendergast, GMB’s national secretary.
He added: “With energy prices going through the roof and all bar one of our nuclear power stations due to go off line by the end of the decade, this does at least provide some assurance on our energy security.”
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson said he was confident that his successor would deliver “substantial sums” in support for those hit by the energy crisis caused by Putin’s “kamikaze attack on the world economy”.
“Of course there will be more cash to come whoever takes over from me in the months ahead – substantial sums, that’s absolutely clear,” said the PM, who was mocked for suggesting people could invest £20 in a new kettle to save £10 a year on bills.
Mr Sunak has repeatedly promised to extend his earlier support package with an additional £5bn in support to the most vulnerable households.
And while Ms Truss has spoken out against government “handouts”, she told The Sun on Thursday that she would be “robust” in offering immediate help with unaffordable bills.
Asked whether he had spoken to either Ms Truss or Mr Sunak about plans to protect households, the caretaker PM avoided a direct answer – but said it was “clear that come the new administration, there is going to be a further package”.
But he said that it was “even more important” that the new PM stick with the energy security strategy he has set out, which includes a major boost to solar and offshore wind with the aim of delivering 95 per cent of the UK’s energy needs from non-carbon sources by 2030.
Mr Johnson said that the £700m was drawn from an existing £1.7bn government fund for developing large-scale nuclear projects.
“In the next few weeks, I am absolutely confident we will get it over the line,” he said. “It would be absolute madness not to … It will help fix the energy needs not just of this generation, but the next.
He repeated promises to build a reactor a year over the coming period. “A baby born this year will be getting energy from Sizewell C long, long after she retires.”
But he voiced doubts about fracking, after Ms Truss made clear she will lift a moratorium on the controversial technology.
“I’m not intellectually, morally opposed to it at all,” the PM said. “I think that if we could frack effectively and cheaply in a country that would be a very beneficial thing.”
But Mr Johnson added: “I’m just slightly dubious that it will prove to be a panacaea. I would much rather that we focused the things were we are brilliant and where the environmental damage is really minimal, like offshore wind.”
