Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many universities in England have small nuclear reactors that are being used to develop or apply radiotherapy medical treatment.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are currently no universities in England that have small nuclear fission reactors that are being used to develop or apply radiotherapy medical treatment.
It is critical that the UK continues to maintain access to the nuclear medicines it needs. In the 2024 Civil Nuclear Roadmap, the government committed to considering a research reactor and an accelerator in the next Spending Review to address the UK’s supply needs.
No decisions have yet been taken by the government to select one or more technology options.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2024 to Question 25469, how many of the (a) former miners and (b) widows of former miners receiving a Mineworkers' Pension Scheme pension are aged (i) over 90, (ii) 80 to 89, (iii) 70 to 79, (iv) 60 to 69, and (v) below 60 years of age.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The breakdown by age of former miners in receipt of pensions and dependents at 30 September 2023 is as follows:
Age | Former Miners in receipt of a pension | Dependents | |
| 6259 |
| |
60-69 | 37513 | 3500 | |
70-79 | 27157 | 6239 | |
80-89 | 14133 | 8982 | |
90+ | 2959 | 3876 |
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many former miners are not yet eligible to receive their mineworkers' pension.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are currently 34 members who are not in receipt of a pension and are under age 50 and therefore not yet eligible to receive their MPS pension.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the average cost of fees is for a recipient of a pension through the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the year to September 2023, Scheme expenses totalled £36m. The number of members in receipt of a pension at 30 September 2023 is 112,057. Therefore, the cost of scheme expenses per member in receipt of a pension is £321.27.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2024 to Question 25350 on Rolls-Royce SMR: Government Assistance, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision by Rolls Royce not to pursue plans for a heavy pressure vessel plant in Deeside on the return on capital; and how much and what proportion of the grant has been allocated to Rolls Royce.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the Low Cost Nuclear programme, the Government has given a grant of up to £210 million to Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design, potentially capable of deployment across the UK in the early 2030s. Whilst part of the work of the Programme has supported the design of key factories and engagement with potential locations, decision on deployment are outside of this funded programme and are a commercial matter for Rolls Royce SMR ltd.
For the current phase of the Low Cost Nuclear programme Rolls Royce SMR have been allocated a total grant of £139.3 which equates to 66.3% of the total grant of £210m awarded. The assessment of Value for Money of activities Rolls Royce is undertaking under the grant funding agreement is in line with Green Book principles.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2024 to Question 23797 on Renewable Energy: Finance, what approximate capacity her Department expects to be successful for the Contracts for Difference AR6.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
National Grid ESO are now reviewing the applications against Contracts for Difference qualification criteria. The volume of capacity successful will depend on a range of factors including the volume of eligible applications, and subsequent bid prices. We cannot pre-judge the outcome of AR6.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will take steps to ensure that (a) tenants and (b) leaseholders are not adversely financially impacted by communal heating schemes.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Protecting heat network consumers is a priority for Government. The Government is introducing regulation, as recommended by the Competition and Markets Authority, to protect Heat Networks consumers. From 2025, Ofgem will be appointed as the heat network regulator. The regulatory framework will include standards for fair prices as well as additional protections to ensure that all heat networks consumers receive a quality service.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent steps her Department has taken to support (a) companies and (b) individuals in the development of fusion technology.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has announced its plan to launch the Spherical Tokomak for Energy Production (STEP) procurement process on 22nd May. This multi-stage competition, which offers the chance to bid for up to hundreds of millions of pounds in the initial contract period until 2029, will seek to find industry partners in engineering and construction, to form a world-leading public-private alliance led by UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd (UKIFS). Meanwhile, UK Research and Innovation invest in research grants for fusion, doctoral training and support fusion companies through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's prosperity partnership.
Asked by: Alan Whitehead (Labour - Southampton, Test)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the report on multi-region loose volume coupling by transmission system operators following the March 2022 Specialised Committee on Energy meeting will be made publicly available.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I can confirm that the report will be made publicly available in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will update her Department's policy paper entitled Geo-engineering: the Government's view, published on 4 May 2020.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The policy paper entitled Geo-engineering: the Government's view, updated on 4 May 2020, describes the Government’s position on greenhouse gas removals (GGRs) and solar radiation management (SRM). The Government is not deploying SRM and has no plans to do so. The GGR business model update, published in December 2023, sets out the Government’s plans and policies on GGRs. Officials will continue to develop policy on these matters and will make any necessary updates to the policy statement in due course.