Small Modular Nuclear Reactors

Lord Stoneham of Droxford Excerpts

Tuesday 28th June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

The noble Baroness makes an important point; these are long-term decisions. Most energy policy decisions are longer term, as it takes many years to bring on stream new energy infrastructure projects in whatever field we are looking at. In the short term, however, the answer to the noble Baroness’s question relies principally on renewables: we are advancing the hydrogen strategy and accelerating the rollout of offshore wind, which has proved immensely successful. In this country, we have the second-largest offshore wind capacity in the world and it is a world-beating industry.

[Lord Stoneham of Droxford (LD)]

Could the Minister confirm whether the Government consider regulated asset base—RAB—funding appropriate for something as experimental as these small reactors?

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

We have not made a decision on the relevant business case model—it could be either the RAB or the CfD model—but we will consult on this shortly.