Wales: Nuclear Power Generation

Earl Russell Excerpts

Tuesday 29th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, that is a very good point indeed. Of course, one has to face up to the fact that the Scottish Government are not in favour of new nuclear development, despite the rich heritage there, and despite how much of Scotland’s electricity at the moment comes from nuclear development. But certainly, the noble Earl is absolutely right to say that, in these kinds of discussions, the role of nuclear is very important, not just for what it provides but for the growth it can bring to our economy, very highly skilled jobs and a lot of infrastructure investment as well. So the case for nuclear is very strong indeed.

[Earl Russell (LD)]

My Lords, the Welsh Government are clear that the development of Wylfa has the potential to be the single largest investment project in Wales. I welcome the response the Minister has given, saying that work will be done on this in due course, but could he be clearer on what “in due course” means? Can I push him further? Will serious consideration be given to using these sites for either long-duration energy storage or for data centres if the Government decide that they are not fit for future nuclear?

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I am very wary of getting into detailed speculation about the future of Wylfa. Clearly, it has great potential. I am not prepared to define “in due course”, but I can say to the noble Earl that we recognise the urgency of the situation in giving certainty to the market about our level of nuclear ambition going forward over the next 10, 20 or 30 years. On the issue of AI data centres and the links to AMRs, we very much recognise the potential there; we are discussing that with developers, and we are also looking at our regulatory system to ensure that it is fit for purpose in relation to that kind of development.