nuclear-news

Sizewell C stitch-up is looking increasingly radioactive

MPs’ report on the £40bn nuclear power plant points out obvious flaws that leave
taxpayers on the hook and give investors a golden rod.

Some nuclear reactions can be hard to predict. Not those involving Ed Miliband and
Rachel Reeves. Put them in charge of the financing for a new plant on the
Suffolk coast and you hardly need MPs on the public accounts committee to
tell you the outcome: “Sizewell C represents a terrible deal for the UK
taxpayer.”

Private companies were hardly queuing up to invest in Sizewell
C. As the PAC points out, no nuke “anywhere in the world” with the
similar “European pressurised reactor” design “has come out on
budget”. France’s Flamanville 3 and Finland’s Olkiluoto 3? Fourteen
years late and costing at least “300 per cent” more than forecast.

And, of course, our own Hinkley Point C: “Five to seven years delayed and
around 100 per cent over budget.”

Still, no one forced the government to
box itself into the same financially ruinous design. Or to adopt the
“regulated asset base” financing model championed by Kwasi Kwarteng —
the former Tory chancellor of mini-budget, “moron premium” fame —
that front-loads construction cost overruns on to consumers. Or, having
opted for both, strike such a lopsided deal. As the PAC puts it:
“Consumers and taxpayers shoulder significant financial risks, while
private investors enjoy protected profits.”

Times 28th Oct 2026,
https://www.thetimes.com/business/companies-markets/article/sizewell-c-nuclear-power-plant-anthropic-octopus-wbncx0ljh

November 1, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK