Is the UK keeping up with the nuclear revival?

Steve Thomas: Since the Starmer government came to power in 2024, it has
made a series of announcements that have placed the UK at the forefront of
the so-called Nuclear Renaissance. The government talks about a “Golden Age
of Nuclear Power” in the country. However, a closer look shows that these
announcements primarily concern what the government hopes to do and what it
hopes to achieve, in the absence of new projects in the pipeline.

Currently, the burden of submitting proposals falls on the private sector.
Regarding current nuclear projects, there is one under construction,
Hinkley Point C; another, Sizewell C, for which an investment decision has
been made and construction could begin in two to three years; and a project
for three Rolls-Royce small modular reactors (SMRs) for the Wylfa site,
where an investment decision is hoped for 2029.

The Hinkley Point C project
for two French European Pressurized Reactors (EPRs, 3.2 GW) is seven years
behind schedule, is 90% over budget, and requires at least six years to
complete. The Sizewell C project is expected to be built along the lines of
the Hinkley design and was supposed to be built approximately two years
after Hinkley, so that the workforce could seamlessly transfer from Hinkley
to Sizewell.

This means it is at least nine years behind schedule. Even if
the government’s estimated completion date is met, Sizewell will not begin
generating power until 2039. The estimated cost of this plant, £40.5
billion (2024 funding), is 70% higher than the actual estimated cost of the
Hinkley Point project at the time of the Final Investment Decision.

This ridicules claims that Sizewell would be cheaper than Hinkley due to the
“expertise” built at Hinkley Point. If it goes ahead, the Wylfa project
will not begin generating power until 2035. If there are no further delays
to these projects, it will be 2040 before the UK’s nuclear capacity returns
to 2015 levels, or approximately 9 GW. In 2022, Boris Johnson’s government
set a target of “up to 24 GW” of new nuclear capacity, in addition to the
Hinkley project, to be achieved by 2050. The “up to” specification left
room for vagueness, and in fact the Starmer government has clearly not
adopted this target.

So why is it so difficult and takes so long to build
nuclear capacity? And has the UK not performed well in this regard?
Research commissioned by the UK government found that, on average,
globally, the construction of a nuclear power plant, from the investment
decision to first start-up, takes 13-17 years. Add to this the time
required to reach the final investment decision. This includes: choosing
the supplier and technology; project assessment by the national safety
regulator; identifying and verifying the suitability of the chosen site;
and defining a financial model to provide the capital, own the plant, and
purchase the energy.

This process is unlikely to take less than five years;
in fact, it could take longer. Therefore, the construction time for a
nuclear project is likely at least 20 years.

Rienergie 12th Feb 2026, https://rienergia.staffettaonline.com/articolo/35901/UK+sta+al+passo+con++la+rinascita+nucleare++++/Steve