Programme for nuclear energy urgently needed to offer clarity for jobs and skills

• Letter to the Prime Minister
• Inquiry: Nuclear energy in Wales
• Welsh Affairs Committee

In a letter to the Prime Minister, written ahead of the Spring Budget, Mr Crabb has outlined representations made to the Committee’s ‘Nuclear energy in Wales’ inquiry. MPs have collected evidence from a wide range of stakeholders, a large number of whom are calling for greater clarity on how the UK Government will meet its aims to generate 24GW of nuclear energy by 2050; and urging the swift establishment of Great British Nuclear to drive the programme forward.

Mr Crabb has called for the UK Government’s next nuclear power station, after Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C, to be built at Wylfa in North Wales. By doing so, highly skilled and well-paid long-term jobs will be brought to a rural area of the UK.

Welsh Affairs Committee Chair, Rt Hon Stephen Crabb MP, said:

“The UK Government’s British Energy Security Strategy sent positive demand signals to the nuclear energy sector. But since its publication in April last year, we have heard very little as to how the target to generate 24GW of nuclear energy by 2050 will be accomplished.

“Nuclear energy could hold the answer to reliable baseload as we transition away from oil and gas. With mounting household bills and the spiralling costs of fossil fuels, there is a unique opportunity to galvanise the low-carbon energy sectors. Instead, the nuclear energy sector has been waiting to know the ‘when and where’ for nuclear power stations in the UK.

“By siting the UK’s next nuclear power station at Wylfa, highly skilled, long-term jobs will be supported in a rural area of the UK. I urge the UK Government to act now, and to launch Great British Nuclear to drive progress forwards.”

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

Image: Ian Cappla/Geograph