High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors

Lord Naseby Excerpts

Monday 19th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

We have a committed ban on using any import from Russian nuclear fuel by 2028. As of now there is no direct use of Russian fuels; by 2028 indirect use will be eliminated as well. By that I mean fuel processed elsewhere that may have originated in Russia. We have also invested £300 million in making sure that we have our own fuel production, particularly high-assay low-enriched uranium, which is going to be particularly important. That is a major step forward in becoming self-sufficient in some of this fuel.

[Lord Naseby (Con)]

My Lords, the Government have done a considerably good job in this area in the limited time they have been there. There is a problem, in that I am not sure the general public understand, and they are still worried about, the development of nuclear in a variety of areas. Can the Government reassure us that they will look hard at that so that we can at least begin to reduce the extensive time for consultation that is holding back a fair number of developments?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I think public opinion is changing, and it has changed quite a lot in the past few years, but the noble Lord is right that there remain a lot of obstacles to moving fast in this space. That is why the Fingleton report, with its 47 recommendations, is so important. We will be responding fully to that within the three-month period—that is, by the end of February—and will propose to drive that forward as fast as we can, for exactly the reasons he has raised.