Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether there has been any change to the 2028 Out of Service Date (OSD) of RFA Fort Victoria.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Royal Navy constantly explore options to ensure optimal availability of the fleet. However, in order to preserve the Operational Security of the Fleet, individual out of service dates are no longer released.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by The Earl of Minto on 11 March (HL Deb col 1805), how will the 138 F35B Lightning aircraft be allocated to squadrons.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Lightning Force is configured to be flexible and interchangeable as individual aircraft cycle between the Forward Fleet and periods of maintenance. Squadrons will gain aircraft from the available Forward Fleet in line with their readiness cycle, expeditionary deployment requirements, and associated training and exercises. The size of Air Groups for every Carrier deployment are tailored based on the overall balance of Defence requirements at that time.
Specific airframes are not allocated to specific Squadrons on a permanent basis. As is normal across all aircraft fleets, as part of the readiness cycle and routine fleet management across the Front-Line Squadrons and Operational Conversion Unit, the exact number of airframes operated by individual units varies day-to-day. A Squadron held at Very High Readiness will require a full complement of airframes, while a Squadron on lower readiness or undertaking post Operational deployment leave will require fewer airframes for day-to-day pilot currency and competency requirements.
Our plan remains to procure 138 aircraft through the life of the programme. This procurement is phased; our first acquisition phase of 48 aircraft is underway at present, with the second phase consisting of a further 27 aircraft now progressing through the approvals process, which will form the basis of our third Front-line Lightning Squadron with deliveries expected to continue into 2033. The Ministry of Defence will seek approval for further acquisition phases at the appropriate time.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to invest in the development of technologies associated with the fourth industrial revolution.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Science and Technology Framework sets out our plan for investing in 5 critical technologies: Artificial Intelligence (AI); engineering biology; future telecommunications semiconductors; and quantum technologies. These have been chosen because they draw on UK strengths and create opportunities for growth, while also supporting national security, and UK goals such as net zero. We have already committed significant investment to those technologies, including £2.5 billion for quantum technologies and £2 billion for semiconductors over the next decade; up to £1 billion through our Semiconductors Strategy; and £1.5 billion in compute infrastructure across the exascale and AI Research Resource (AIRR) programmes.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reconsider the commitment in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's command paper, Civil Nuclear Roadmap to 2050, published in January, "not to support the use of plutonium stored at Sellafield by Advanced Nuclear Technologies".
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government confirmed in the Civil Nuclear Roadmap that the UK will not support the use of plutonium stored at Sellafield by advanced nuclear technologies, whilst high hazard risk reduction activities are prioritised at site. The Government has no plans to reconsider this commitment.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to designate sites where new nuclear reactors can be tested and established, and how the processes of certification will be expedited.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are developing a new nuclear National Policy Statement (NPS) and have launched a consultation on a proposed siting policy, which includes greater flexibility in where nuclear power stations can be located. The Government’s Nuclear Roadmap has set out plans to streamline future nuclear development to make Britian the best place in the world to invest in nuclear.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the expected timescale from the decision to proceed with Hinkley Point C until it is providing power to the grid.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Hinkley Point C is not a government project and EDF is responsible for delivery with the developers being responsible for any cost and schedule overruns and not UK taxpayers or consumers. On 23 January 2024, EDF announced a revised schedule that projected that Hinkley Point C would start generating between 2029 and 2031.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that, in future, the United Kingdom will not have to rely on foreign suppliers of nuclear technology.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is an exciting time for GBN as we are running an SMR competition to identify those technologies best able to facilitate 2029 FID decisions and deliver projects in the mid-2030s. GBN is seeking technology partners that will provide design and development of various products, equipment or services related to the key plant required for SMR nuclear generation.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that in the competition to find the best modular reactor the support from agencies of the government of the United States and large US commercial enterprises for US designs will not place Rolls-Royce at a disadvantage.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The 2022 British Energy Security Strategy set out our ambition to deploy up to 24 Gigawatts of civil nuclear generation by 2050, around 25% of our projected 2050 electricity demand.
GBN is running an SMR technology selection process to select those technologies best able to facilitate Final Investment Decisions in the next Parliament and be operational by the mid-2030s.
In November 2021, Government announced £210m in new funding for Rolls-Royce SMR, awarded through the Low-Cost Nuclear challenge. This investment was to further develop SMR design and take it through the regulatory processes to assess suitability of potential deployment in the UK.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of risk of declining to adopt the Rolls-Royce reactor for the future of Britain’s nuclear industry.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
It is our ambition to deploy up to 24 Gigawatts of civil nuclear generation by 2050, around 25% of our projected 2050 electricity demand.
GBN is running an SMR technology selection process to select those technologies best able to facilitate Final Investment Decisions in the next Parliament and be operational by the mid-2030s.
Through the Advanced Nuclear Fund, the Government has awarded up to £210m to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design. The Rolls-Royce SMR entered the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process in March 2022, becoming the first SMR to begin UK nuclear regulation. In April 2023, the Rolls-Royce SMR progressed to Step 2 of GDA.
Asked by: Lord West of Spithead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the design of the Rolls-Royce nuclear reactor.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (RRSMR) was given a grant of £210m in the Low-Cost Nuclear award in 2021 and is one of six selected technologies, in the first phase of the Great British Nuclear Technology Selection Process aiming to identify technologies best able to reach a project Final Investment Decision by the end of 2029 and deliver projects in the mid-2030s.
In April 2022, the regulators began a Generic Design Assessment (GDA) looking at the safety, security, and environmental impact of the RRSMR reactor design. The regulators concluded in April 2023, that all required activities for Step 1 of the RRSMR GDA have been completed and progressed to Step 2.