The U.K. will invest 14.2 billion pounds ($19 billion) to build a new nuclear station to reduce its reliance on volatile international fossil fuel markets
BySYLVIA HUI Associated Press
LONDON — Britain will invest 14.2 billion pounds ($19 billion) to build a new nuclear station that will reduce the U.K.’s reliance on volatile international fossil fuel markets, the government said Tuesday.
Officials said the investment will go into building the new Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk, on England’s eastern coast, saying it will generate enough low-carbon electricity to power 6 million homes when it becomes operational in the 2030s.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said previous governments had dithered and delayed over nuclear power. No new nuclear plant has been opened in the U.K. since Sizewell B in 1995.
“Having our own energy in this country that we control, gives us security, gives us independence, so (Russian President Vladimir) Putin can’t put his boot on our throat,” Starmer said. “And it means that we can control the prices in a way that we haven’t been able to in recent years, which has meant very high prices for businesses, for households and for families.”
The government also announced that Rolls-Royce is the preferred bidder to develop a number of small modular reactors, which it said can power around 3 mill