Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the generic design assessment process for advanced nuclear technologies is (1) faster, or (2) slower, and (a) more, or (b) less, costly, than for gigawatt-scale reactors.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The scope and schedule of a Generic Design Assessment is set by the Requesting Party. By far the biggest influences on schedule, and hence cost, are the maturity and stability of the design, and the quality and timeliness of the Requesting Party’s submissions. Prior engagement with the UK regulators, and access to relevant information and judgements from overseas regulators are other notable factors in determining schedule and cost.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what generic design assessments the Office for Nuclear Regulation are currently undertaking; and when they expect each of those assessments to be completed.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The ONR are currently undertaking two GDAs, step three of the Rolls Royce SMR and step two of the Holtec SMR-300. Publication of the completion dates for those processes is a matter for the regulators, including the ONR, and the Requesting Parties. These may be subject to change as the processes continue.
Further details on the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s (ONR) current and previous Generic Design Assessments (GDAs) can be found at https://www.onr.org.uk/generic-design-assessment/assessment-of-reactors.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government which generic design assessments Natural Resources Wales (1) has participated in, (2) is currently participating in, and (3) is expected to participate in.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has participated in several previous and current Generic Design Assessments (GDAs):
NRW participation in future GDA processes is a matter for discussion between Requesting Parties (RPs) and NRW.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have provided any funding to the Welsh Government to support the participation of Natural Resources Wales in the generic design assessment process.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
HMG has not provided any direct funding to the Welsh Government to support the participation of Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process. Regulatory costs for GDAs are borne by the Requesting Party (RP) of the GDA.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of international regulatory harmonisation on the speed of delivery of civil nuclear projects in the UK.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
International cooperation and regulatory harmonisation have the potential to streamline deployment for nuclear energy deployment around the world and help achieve economies of scale.
The UK continues to explore opportunities for regulatory harmonisation in nuclear to speed up the deployment of new nuclear in the UK, demonstrated by the recent Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy, which builds on existing UK-US collaboration.
ONR as the UK’s independent regulator will need to be satisfied that any design to be deployed in the UK meets UK safety standards and complies with UK law.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding in the Nuclear Regulatory Review 2025 that increasing complexity in the regulatory system has led to a relative decline in the UK's nuclear sector.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government endorses the report’s approach and accepts the principles of all recommendations it set out.
My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister has also issued a Strategic Steer which sets clear expectations for the civil, defence, and decommissioning nuclear sectors to accelerate safe and efficient delivery through proportionate regulation and stronger collaboration.
We will present a full implementation plan within three months, taking account of international obligations, national security considerations, and planning, environmental and court processes.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to implement the recommendations of the Nuclear Regulatory Review 2025.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government endorses the report’s approach and accepts the principles of all recommendations it set out.
My Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister has also issued a Strategic Steer which sets clear expectations for the civil, defence, and decommissioning nuclear sectors to accelerate safe and efficient delivery through proportionate regulation and stronger collaboration.
We will present a full implementation plan within three months, taking account of international obligations, national security considerations, and planning, environmental and court processes.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of revising the semi-urban population density criterion on the development of civil nuclear projects in the UK.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is recognised that there may be potential longer-term benefits for nuclear technologies to be deployed closer to denser populations, such as providing high-temperature heat to industrial plants or proximity to electricity transmission infrastructure.
Given the importance of new nuclear development and recent recommendations from the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce, government will be reviewing the criterion following designation of the new nuclear planning framework.
Asked by: Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they have put in place to promote hydrogen energy in Wales.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
In the Autumn Budget, the Government confirmed £2.3 billion in revenue support for 11 green hydrogen projects from the first Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR1), including the HyBont project in Bridgend, and the West Wales Hydrogen Project in Milford Haven.
On 7 April 2025, the Government announced a shortlist of 27 projects, including three located in Wales, that have been invited to the next stage of the Second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2) process.
Projects offered support under previous programmes such as the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund include the Holyhead Hydrogen Hub, where we are working closely with the Wales Office, Welsh Government and Ambition North Wales as the project develops.