Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much plutonium was imported annually since 2010, by country of origin.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We do not import civil separated plutonium to the UK. Historically, spent fuel has been imported from other countries for reprocessing, however the imports took place prior to 2010, and reprocessing stopped in the United Kingdom in 2022.
ONR publishes annual figures on the UK's separated plutonium inventory, including material held in the UK on behalf of overseas customers. The most recently published data can be found at the following link: https://www.onr.org.uk/publications/regulatory-reports/safeguards/annual-civil-plutonium-figures/2023-annual-figures-for-holdings-of-civil-unirradiated-plutonium/.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to increase domestic inventories of uranium.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The procurement of nuclear fuel, including uranium is a commercial matter for reactors operators. However, the Government does and will continue to work closely with operators and wider industry to ensure a secure and resilient supply for the UK fleet now and in the future.
There is a diverse and resilient global uranium supply and uranium deposits which are spread across the globe. The World Nuclear Association notes that the world’s known uranium resources increased by at least one-quarter in the last decade due to increased mineral exploration.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the specific growth regions for clean power are, broken down by (a) nuclear, (b) wind, and (c) solar.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s plan to deliver Clean Power by 2030 will deliver economic growth across the country supporting thousands of jobs and businesses. A full regional capacity breakdowns for solar, onshore wind and batteries is included in the ‘Clean Power 2030 Action Plan: A new era of clean electricity – connections reform annex’. Nuclear capacity included in the ‘Clean Power Capacity Range’ is expected to be delivered through some combination of Sizewell B, Heysham 2, Torness, and Hinkley Point C Reactor Unit 1.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an estimate of the proportion of grid decarboinsation that will be achieved via reduced energy usage before 2030.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government expects overall grid demand to rise by 2030 as we electrify transport, heating, industry, and other sectors. The Government has committed to funding energy efficiency improvements in existing building stock which will make heating homes cheaper and more efficient.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much uranium was imported annually since 2010, by country of origin.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The procurement of nuclear fuel, including uranium and enrichment services, is a commercial matter for reactors operators. The Government works closely with these operators to ensure there is a secure and resilient supply for the UK fleet. Uranium enrichment facilities in the UK operate as service providers, enriching uranium that is provided to them by customers. The stockpiles of Uranium held by these companies are a commercial matter and therefore disclosure of these amounts would be at the discretion of these entities.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to increase domestic inventories of plutonium.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There are no plans to increase the quantity of plutonium in the UK. The domestic inventory of plutonium has arisen from historic reprocessing of spent fuel from the UK and overseas energy utilities under commercial agreements. Reprocessing stopped in the UK in 2022.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has received recent representations from (a) energy-intensive manufacturing and (b) chemical industries on carbon pricing.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ministers regularly engage with a variety of stakeholders.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department plans to align carbon pricing under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Under the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), the UK Government and EU agreed to give serious consideration to linking our respective carbon pricing schemes and to cooperate on carbon pricing. As part of our reset with the EU the Government continues to explore all options to improve trade and investment.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the UK carbon price to £147/tCO2 by 2030 on (a) energy-intensive manufacturing industries and (b) chemical industries.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department has no plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the UK carbon price to £147/tCO2 by 2030. The Department previously published an impact assessment in July 2023 of the impact of the moving to the current United Kingdom Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) using the analysis at that time : https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64b91b522059dc00125d267b/developing-uk-ets-main-impact-assessment.pdf
The Department produces its own traded carbon values for modelling purposes which are used to estimate the financial cost of purchasing allowances in the UK ETS under different scenarios. This figure of £147/tCO2 is higher than in any of the scenarios in those projections. The Department’s most recent projections can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traded-carbon-values-used-for-modelling-purposes-2024/traded-carbon-values-used-for-modelling-purposes-2024
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is preparing for the UK to enter the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK has had its own standalone Emissions Trading Scheme since 2021. Under the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), the UK Government and EU agreed to give serious consideration to linking our respective carbon pricing schemes and to cooperate on carbon pricing. As part of our reset with the EU the Government continues to explore all options to improve trade and investment.