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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of permanent full-time employees at Sizewell nuclear power station in the latest period for which figures are available.

BEIS has not made any estimates of employee numbers at any of the Hinkley Point B, Sizewell B, Torness, Heysham A and B, Hartlepool, Hunterson B or Dungeness nuclear power stations, which are owned and operated by EDF. However, BEIS does understand from information supplied by EDF that each of the stations currently employs around 500 staff each, supplemented by staff from supply chain partners, at specific times.

BEIS has also not made any forecast estimates of the number of individuals that will be employed in the future as those stations close and enter into a phase where the nuclear fuel is removed (defueled) and then decommissioned. The Dungeness B and Hunterston B stations have already permanently ceased generation and the changes in staff numbers during the defueling phase are being considered by EDF currently.

The Government is committed to ensuring the UK civil nuclear industry has the required skills to deliver on its existing decommissioning requirements together with supporting the proposed programme of additional nuclear power generation capacity.