Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made is of the (a) financial risks (b) liabilities to the public purse of the Government's new nuclear programme.

In September 2016 the Government signed a Contract for Difference with EDF and CGN to construct Hinkley Point C, the first new nuclear power plant in the UK in over 25 years. Under this agreement, the developers will bear the risk of constructing the plant in return for a guaranteed price of electricity once it starts generating. Decommissioning costs for the plant are paid for by the developer through the Funded Decommissioning Programme.

The Department laid a minute on 21 October 2015 outlining the liabilities that would be incurred by entering in to the contracts for Hinkley Point C. The minute can be found at:

http://qna.files.parliament.uk/qna-attachments/425357%5Coriginal%5C20151021%20Minute%20to%20Parliament%20HPC%20contingent%20liabilities.docx

We continue to discuss with developers’ their proposals for wider new nuclear power stations.