Great British Energy: Nuclear Development

Lord Wigley Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wigley (PC)]

My Lords, I am a keen advocate of both the Trawsfynydd and Wylfa sites for nuclear development. Can the Minister give some indication of the likely timescale for SMR—not only announcements on it but when work will commence on those sites? The danger is that we are losing the race for SMR production against overseas competitors.

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

The preferred bidder is Rolls-Royce and I think we are ahead of the curve in all this. We are investing in the technology and we want to see it coming online in the medium to long term—some time in the 2030s. This technology will revolutionise nuclear power in the country, so that we can spread out nuclear technology around the country, build the supply chain and generate power for over 3 million homes. I think we are ahead of the curve: we know what we are doing on this and we are going to generate that energy in the future for the country.