Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had discussions with (a) British Airways and (b) other airlines on the potential for electric aviation.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The adoption of zero emission flight, including electric aviation, is considered at the Government and industry forum the Jet Zero Council (JZC) including its Zero Emissions Flight Delivery Group. The JZC is co-chaired by the Secretaries of State for Transport, Business and Trade and Energy Security and Net Zero with industry members including British Airways.
The Government is investing a record £685 million over three years into R&D in the UK aerospace sector through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme. In February the Department for Business and Trade announced £113 million of co-investment with industry in three Rolls-Royce-led projects on hydrogen and Vertical Aerospace work on battery-electric aircraft.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many designs for small modular reactors have been submitted for Generic Design Assessment to the Office of Nuclear Regulation; and if he will list the (a) date of submission, (b) stage of assessment process and (c) anticipated programme for each to get to design approval.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In April 2022, the nuclear regulators began a Generic Design Assessment (GDA) looking at the safety, security, and environmental impact of the Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd reactor design, which is the first Small Modular Reactor design to be assessed in the UK.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) publishes and maintains information on current and completed Generic Design Assessments on their website, which can be found at the following link: https://www.onr.org.uk/new-reactors/assessment.htm.
Asked by: Baroness Adams of Craigielea (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government where the nuclear reactors for the SSN–AUKUS submarines will be built.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
As the Minister for Defence Procurement (Alex Chalk) highlighted in his Oral Statement to the Commons on 14 March, all nuclear reactors for the SSN-AUKUS Class submarines will be built by Rolls Royce in Derby.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Government is taking to support the manufacture of new zero emissions whole aircraft in the UK.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government published the Jet Zero Strategy in 2022 setting out an approach to achieving net zero aviation by 2050.
As part of the Jet Zero Strategy Government co-invests in ultra-efficient and zero-carbon aircraft technologies through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme. The ATI programme is investing £58m in the development of whole new zero emission aircraft led by Vertical Aerospace, ZeroAvia Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, Rolls-Royce and Hybrid Air Vehicles. Industry has co-invested £57m alongside these grants. As all the aircraft are still in the development phase none have yet entered full scale production.
To support further work on zero emission flight the ATI led the £15m FlyZero project. This in-depth research study, which was completed in March 2022, found green liquid hydrogen offers the greatest potential to power future zero-carbon emission aircraft.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the article Location, location, location: finding sites for nuclear power plants by Professor Adrian Bull, published by the University of Manchester on 13 March 2023, if his Department will work with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to adapt their clean-up mission of nuclear decommissioning sites to take account of the need for substantial new nuclear capability.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has already been providing support to nuclear power developers who are interested in the potential for using the NDA land estate to deploy new nuclear reactors and has signed memorandums of understanding with Rolls Royce and Cwmni Egino in relation to this. They also work with other sectors interested in their land. This work is consistent with NDA’s mission to clean up the UK’s nuclear legacy sites safely, securely and cost-effectively, in order to release sites for other uses.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the document entitled Fact sheet: Trilateral Australia-UK-US Partnership on nuclear-powered submarines, updated on 13 March 2023, which elements of the SSN-AUKUS will be built (a) at the Barrow Shipyard and (b) elsewhere in the UK.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
All the UK's SSN-AUKUS hulls will be built at the Barrow shipyard, and all the nuclear reactors for the UK and Australian SSN-AUKUS submarines will be made in the UK by Rolls Royce in Derby. This arrangement will create thousands of jobs, particularly in Barrow-in-Furness - the home of British submarine building.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, where the nuclear reactors for the SSN-AUKUS submarines will be built.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
All the UK's SSN-AUKUS hulls will be built at the Barrow shipyard, and all the nuclear reactors for the UK and Australian SSN-AUKUS submarines will be made in the UK by Rolls Royce in Derby. This arrangement will create thousands of jobs, particularly in Barrow-in-Furness - the home of British submarine building.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support the introduction of zero-emission aircraft.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government published the Jet Zero Strategy in 2022 which sets out its approach to achieving net zero aviation by 2050. The Strategy considered the potential for zero emission flight alongside other measures.
The Government is investing a record £685 million over three years into R&D in the UK aerospace sector through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme. The Department announced in February £113 million of co-investment with industry in three Rolls-Royce led projects on hydrogen in aviation as well as funding towards Vertical Aerospace, who are developing a battery-electric aircraft in the South-West of England.
As part of the Jet Zero Council, the Department has also established a dedicated Delivery Group to convene activity across Government, industry and academia on the development of Zero Emission Flight.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to help encourage the development and use of zero-emission aircraft.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government published the Jet Zero Strategy in 2022 which sets out it’s approach to achieving net zero aviation by 2050. The Strategy considered the potential for zero emission flight alongside other measures.
The Government is investing a record £685 million over three years into R&D in the UK Aerospace Sector through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme. As part of the programme, the Department announced in February £113 million of co-investment with industry in three Rolls Royce led projects on hydrogen in aviation, as well as funding towards Vertical Aerospace, who are developing a battery-electric aircraft in the South- West of England.
As part of the Jet Zero Council, the Department has established a dedicated Delivery Group to convene activity across Government, industry and academia on the development of Zero Emission Flight.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans he has for small modular reactors to contribute to (a) net zero and (b) energy security; and whether he has discussed these goals with Rolls Royce SMR Ltd.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The British Energy Security Strategy (BESS) announced that Government will scope and set up Great British Nuclear (GBN), a body to help projects through every stage of the development process and develop a resilient pipeline of new build projects.
There remains a wide range of nuclear technologies available for deployment, including small modular reactors (SMRs). SMRs have the potential to play a key role in the UK’s future energy mix as we transition to Net Zero in 2050 and in supporting our energy security.
The Department’s engagement with Rolls Royce SMR Ltd and with vendors across all technologies reflects the Government’s policy priorities, and ambitions, in line with the BESS.