Nuclear Power

Yesterday we announced the biggest nuclear building programme in a generation. We are investing £14.2 billion to build Sizewell C, and we confirmed Rolls-Royce SMR as the preferred bidder to build the country’s small modular reactors. I met the chair of Great British Energy Nuclear last week to discuss how to maximise the opportunities for Wales of new nuclear projects, and I will continue to work with the Energy Secretary and the Welsh Government to ensure that Wales’s supply chain and workforce benefit from that investment.

Wales has incredible potential for the next generation of nuclear, but Labour’s announcement yesterday is a fraction of what is needed. Green baseload power that stabilises our grid enhances power generation, as it has done before in Anglesey. Will the Minister give a clearer answer today to confirm that Wales will be a key part of new nuclear, building on Conservative work supporting Welsh nuclear, or will this be another failure to deliver for these communities under Labour?

Almost all the UK’s nuclear power stations are currently due to come offline in the 2030s. It is this Government who are changing that, setting out our plan to end the years of Tory failure to invest or deliver on nuclear. We will deliver the biggest nuclear building programme in a generation.

In 14 years, the Conservatives delivered no new nuclear anywhere in the country, including in Wales. Does the Secretary of State agree that this Labour Government are committed to delivering energy security, good jobs and lower bills for families across Wales?

My hon. Friend will know that the Sizewell C consortium, for example—a group of more than 200 nuclear supply chain companies—has a memorandum of understanding with the Welsh Government that will result in an investment of up to £900 million in the Welsh nuclear supply chain. Great British Energy Nuclear acquired the Wylfa site last year, which previously hosted a nuclear power plant and is the best potential site in the UK for new nuclear deployment.

Before we come to Prime Minister’s questions, I welcome in the Gallery the President and the delegation of the French National Assembly. I also welcome the knighthood given to Sir Billy Boston.