The Government is looking to further expand its nuclear horizons publishing two consultations, one on a new approach to siting future nuclear power stations and another on supporting the sector and encouraging private investment to roll out advanced nuclear projects.

The proposals are aimed at attracting investment in the UK nuclear sector by empowering developers to find suitable sites rather than focusing on the eight already designated, although it says it is still committed to community engagement on any decisions, alongside maintaining robust criteria such as nearby population densities.

The Government is keen on a mix of larger plants and small modular reactors (SMR)as it seeks to increase nuclear power and turn away from gas.

Nuclear power currently provides about 15 per cent of the electricity mix, and recently EDF has launched an investment programme for those reactors not being decommissioned, and the Government is launching a high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) programme with £300m of investment to provide enriched uranium for the next generation of nuclear reactors.

The Government's Civil Nuclear Roadmap is also considering a new site for another nuclear power station of the size and scale of the £30bn plants under construction at Hinkley Point in Somerset and committed to Sizewell in Suffolk.

Analysis by the Nuclear Skills Strategy Group suggests that to reach up to 24GW, the civil and defence nuclear workforce will need to double over the next 20 years.

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