High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors

Debate between Lord Vallance of Balham and Lord Trefgarne

Monday 19th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

The short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is that, as we move towards contract completion with Rolls-Royce for the small modular reactors, we want to ensure that 70% of the supply chain, both onsite and offsite, is through British construction.

[Lord Trefgarne (Con)]

My Lords, is not some of the work that would be done by the project that is the subject of the question of a highly sensitive nature? Is it properly protected?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

Sorry, I missed the middle of the noble Lord’s question. Is what properly protected—the fuel?

[Lord Trefgarne (Con)]

No, the information.

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

Yes. There is a big focus on security of information across the nuclear space, including of course cybersecurity, and on making sure that we retain the intellectual property and the know-how that are so crucial for the safety of this technology.

Undersea Cables

Debate between Lord Vallance of Balham and Lord Trefgarne

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

The national risk assessment is undertaken regularly and led by the Cabinet Office. In this instance, DSIT is the department responsible for the risk to the cables overall, but it is in collaboration with the MoD, the Cabinet Office and others, particularly in relation to assessing risks other than those that I have outlined.

[Lord Trefgarne (Con)]

My Lords, are these cables used only for civilian purposes or also for military purposes?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

The cables provide the connections that we need for all purposes across telecommunications.