Oral Answers to Questions

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Tuesday 15th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. The whole point of a hydrogen strategy is to dovetail nicely with the levelling-up agenda. I know many of the people in the HyNet cluster, which is an excellent cluster doing great work. We hope that those benefits and that innovation can be spread throughout the country and create opportunity the width and breadth of our country.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

What recent progress he has made on the (a) development and (b) introduction of small modular nuclear reactors.

[The Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth (Kwasi Kwarteng)]

My hon. Friend will know that small modular reactor technology is very much at the centre of what the Prime Minister outlined in the 10-point plan; in fact, the nuclear segment of that plan was the third item on the agenda and is extremely important. SMRs will certainly play a part in our nuclear future.

[Mr Speaker]

Let us land the next question from Bob Blackman.

[Bob Blackman [V]]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

As my right hon. Friend the Minister rightly says, small modular nuclear reactors can be developed quickly and provide green energy at very low costs. They can also be located at a range of sites throughout the UK to enable easy connection to the national grid. Will my right hon. Friend bring forward proposals to accelerate the roll-out of this exciting new opportunity to provide clean energy and create more employment in the UK, putting us ahead of the rest of the world?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that SMRs represent a huge opportunity for precisely the reasons he gives: they are flexible and one can operate them in lots of geographical areas. Next year, we will undertake a comprehensive assessment of the siting requirements for SMRs and advanced modular reactors so that we can develop this exciting technology.