Ministers will commit £20 billion of taxpayers’ money to fund the development of a network of small nuclear power stations, in an effort to meet the government’s 2035 net-zero target.
In one of the largest ever direct government investments in civil nuclear power, Grant Shapps, the energy secretary, will announce plans to directly fund the development of up to eight small modular reactors (SMRs) in the UK.
This is expected to unlock billions of pounds of private investment in the technology with an ambition for the first reactors to go into service in the early 2030s, ahead of the government’s target to decarbonise electricity generation by 2035.
On top of the taxpayer investment, the cost of developing the plants will be paid for through energy
