The Nuclear Delivery Group reached a pivotal moment today as members joined together to present their proposed net-zero roadmap to Government.
Trudy Harrison MP, co-chair of the Nuclear Delivery Group alongside, Ynys’s Mon’s MP, Virginia Crosbie hosted the meeting with Energy Minister, Anne-Marie Trevelyan and experts in nuclear engineering and research and development.
The meeting provided the opportunity for the energy minister to hear the groups’ proposals to push forward an agenda for new nuclear in the UK.
The group was formed in December last year with industry partners to discuss the role of atomic energy in achieving net zero and levelling up ahead of the United Nations 26th Climate Change summit in November, being hosted by the UK in Glasgow.
It is made up of leading industry experts from the National Nuclear Laboratory, the Centre of Nuclear Excellence, BEC Business Cluster, NW Nuclear Arc, UKAEA, Cavendish Nuclear, Jacobs, Nuclear Industry Association, Nuclear AMRC, and the Nuclear Institute including their Young Generation network.
Trudy said: “Nuclear energy is vital to deliver on our net zero ambitions and the whole industry stands ready to produce 40 gigawatts by 2050 as required. Today, presenting our recommendations to Minister Trevelyan marked the coming together of all parts of the sector for what we hope will be a great British science, engineering and construction revolution.”
Virginia Crosbie, co-chair of the NDG and MP for Ynys Mons, said: "Nuclear will be at the forefront of how the UK achieves its 2050 net carbon neutral ambitions.
"For that to happen we need an expansion of nuclear power, increased investment in our workforce so we have the skills to achieve those ambitions and new reactors in places like Wylfa Newydd on Anglesey.
"There is much to do but I am proud the Nuclear Delivery Group will be part of this and I am proud to be a member so I can continue to advocate for nuclear, and especially nuclear at Wylfa Newydd."
The meeting follows a statement in the House this week to mark six months since the launch of the Prime Minister’s, Ten Point Plan to a Green Industrial Revolution.
The plan outlines proposals for the development of multiple large-scale nuclear projects and investment in SMRs (Small Modular Reactors) and AMRs (Advanced Modular Reactors).
The Secretary of State for BEIS, Kwasi Kwarteng, said: “We are investing in the UK’s most important asset—our workforce—to ensure that our people have the right skills to deliver the low-carbon transition and thrive in the high-value jobs this will create.
“This is the case for the engineers and construction workers who will build the new offshore wind farms and nuclear plants to provide clean power to our homes, to the retrofitters who will make homes more comfortable and efficient.”
