Britain wants to make nuclear power plants cheaper to build
Can new technologies and smarter regulation reduce delays and cost overruns?
British politicians like talking about nuclear power. Earlier this month the energy secretary, Claire Coutinho, trumpeted plans for “the biggest expansion of nuclear capacity in 70 years”. Ms Coutinho’s “roadmap” is the latest in a long line of such plans: one in 2022, from the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, for a “nuclear renaissance” with a reactor built each year; one in 2015 from George Osborne, a chancellor keen to woo Chinese investment; and one promoted in 2008 by Gordon Brown, another prime minister, to have eight new reactors running by 2023.
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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Fission mission”
Britain January 27th 2024
- Britain wants to make nuclear power plants cheaper to build
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From the January 27th 2024 edition
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