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The government has allocated another £14.2bn investment to the development of the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk over the next four years.

But there is still no final investment decision and no start date, although site preparation has been going on for years.

There is talk of Sizewell C being complete in the mid 2030s, but Hinkley Point C (HPC) – identical in scale and European pressurised reactor (EPR) design – has been under construction for nine years already and is not expected to be commissioned for another six.

EDF, the French lead developer of both power stations, argues that learnings from HPC will save time and money on Sizewell C. Despite this, it seems optimistic to believe that the Suffolk plant will be generating power much before the 2040s.

Energy secretary Ed Miliband said: “We are entering a golden age of nuclear with the biggest building programme in a generation.”

He also announced that Rolls-Royce SMR has been selected as preferred bidder to build the UK’s first small modular reactors, subject to final government approvals and contract signature. The procurement process began in July 2023.

The government has allocated £2.5bn for the overall small modular reactor programme in the current spending period.

Alison Downes of Stop Sizewell C said: “There still appears to be no final investment decision for Sizewell C, but £14.2bn in taxpayers’ funding, a decision we condemn and firmly believe the government will come to regret. Where is the benefit for voters in ploughing more money into Sizewell C that could be spent on other priorities, and when the project will add to consumer bills and is guaranteed to be late and overspent just like Hinkley C? Ministers have still not come clean about Sizewell C’s cost and, given negotiations with private investors are incomplete, they have signed away all leverage and will be forced to offer generous deals that undermine value for money. Starmer and Reeves have just signed up to HS2 mark 2.”

She added: “Sizewell C’s contribution to energy security is dubious. There is no uranium in the UK, the construction of Sizewell C is dependent on French state-owned EDF, which is planning its own competing programme of nuclear new builds, and there is no energy security in a reactor that is offline – as EDF’s EPR reactor in Taishan was for the best part of two years. All EPR builds in China, Finland, France and the UK (Hinkley Point C) have cost billions more than predicted and been between five and 14 years late.”

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