Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled plans for a major expansion of nuclear power across England and Wales, aiming to utilize Labour's majority to designate new sites for power stations. Starmer also called on tech companies to collaborate on building small modular reactors (SMRs) to power energy-intensive AI datacenters. He emphasized the need to overcome local resistance and prioritize national energy needs, acknowledging the challenges of bringing SMRs online.
Keir Starmer said it was in the interests of tech firms to ensure that nuclear power was expanded across England.Keir Starmer said it was in the interests of tech firms to ensure that nuclear power was expanded across England.
For the first time, the government will now allow nuclear projects to be built outside eight designated nuclear sites – meaning sites can be built anywhere in the country. Planning reforms will also pave the way for the building of small reactors, which Starmer said had been near impossible under previous rules.
Asked if he would tolerate any blocking from MPs in his own party, he said: “No – this is where we’ve gone wrong for so long in this country. Everybody puts their hand up for infrastructure, for change … and then puts their hand up again to object to it being in their area.Starmer issued an open invitation to tech companies such as Google, Meta and Amazon to invest in AI datacentres in Britain, which could be powered by small modular reactors.
Starmer said there would be “no compromise on safety … It can’t be with nuclear.” But he said new SMRs would be “quicker to build, small, placed next to a particular facility that needs the power”. The changes, which were first developed several months before Labour won last year’s general election, would bring planning for nuclear power in line with other forms of generation. They could allow for future nuclear power in areas with proposals for energy-intensive industry such as Teesside, or for AI datacentres near Oxford and Cambridge – although no sites have yet been chosen.
NUCLEAR POWER ENERGY POLICY LABOUR PARTY AI SMALL MODULAR REACTORS
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