Britain and US to accelerate nuclear plant construction, creating jobs

The United States and Britain will work together to accelerate the development of nuclear energy and the construction of new nuclear power plants. The signing of the relevant agreements is expected this week, during US President Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain. Thousands of jobs will be created, and the deal is also expected to strengthen Britain’s energy security, the BBC reported today. Both sides also expect the agreement to lead to billions in investment.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the two countries are building a golden age of nuclear power that will put Britain and the United States at the forefront of global innovation. The government in London said that generating more nuclear power could cut household electricity bills while also tackling climate change.

The new agreement, known as the Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy, aims to enable companies to build new nuclear power plants more quickly in Britain and the US. It is intended to simplify regulatory approvals and cut the average licensing time for nuclear projects to two years, from up to four years at present.

The agreement also aims to strengthen commercial partnerships between American and British companies, and a number of contracts are therefore likely to be announced. Key plans include a proposal by US nuclear company X-Energy and British energy company Centrica to build up to 12 advanced modular nuclear reactors in Hartlepool, with the potential to supply electricity to 1.5 million households. The project could create up to 2500 jobs.

The wider programme is expected to be worth up to 40 billion pounds (more than 1.1 trillion Kč), with 12 billion pounds set to go to the north-east of England. Centrica chief executive Chris O'Shea told the BBC’s Today programme that expanding nuclear power could bring stable electricity prices for British consumers in the long term. “It will give more people greater certainty about their energy costs and enable them to plan better,” he said.

In this context, the BBC mentions small modular reactors (SMRs), which work on the same principle as large reactors. They use nuclear reactions to generate heat, which produces electricity, but are smaller and can generate up to a third of the output of a typical large reactor. The modular aspect means they would be custom-built in factories—as a set of parts—and then transported and assembled. The SMR sector is still young, however, and a number of different designs are still being explored.

Other plans under the US-Britain agreement include multinational companies Last Energy and DP World working together on a micro-modular reactor at the London Gateway port. The project has the backing of 80 million pounds (2.2 billion Kč) in private investment.

Holtec, EDF and Tritax also plan to convert the former Cottam coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire into a nuclear-powered data centre. The project is estimated to be worth 11 billion pounds (310 billion Kč), and the plan is expected to create thousands of highly skilled construction jobs, as well as permanent jobs in long-term operations. In addition to energy production, the new partnership includes cooperation on fusion energy research and ending US and British dependence on Russian nuclear material by 2028.

“Nuclear power will supply our homes with clean energy from domestic sources. The private sector is building it in Britain, which will drive growth and create well-paid, skilled jobs for workers,” British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the agreement would usher in a ‘nuclear renaissance’. In his view, it will strengthen energy security and meet growing global demand for energy, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI) and data infrastructure. British Prime Minister Starmer has previously said he wants Britain to return to the ranks of the world’s leaders in nuclear energy.

Nuclear power accounted for around 25 per cent of electricity generation in Britain in the 1990s, but its share has gradually fallen to around 15 per cent. No new power plants have been built there since, and many ageing reactors will be decommissioned over the next decade.

Last November, Britain and 30 other countries signed a global pledge to triple their nuclear capacity by 2050. Earlier this year, the British government announced that it had reached an agreement with private investors to build the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk. Its nuclear programme also includes Britain’s first small modular reactors, which will be built by British company Rolls-Royce.