A new nuclear power station mirroring Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C in size is set to be explored under government plans.
The construction of a new plant, which would power six million homes, would come under ambitious targets to quadruple the UK’s nuclear capacity to 24 gigawatts by 2050.
“Nuclear is the perfect antidote to the energy challenges facing Britain - it’s green [and] cheaper in the long term,” prime minister Rishi Sunak commented.
A new plant would complement the roll-out of Small Modular Reactor technology, which it is hoped will cut costs and building times for new nuclear power stations.
“We will need both large and small nuclear at scale and at pace for our energy security and net zero future,” Nuclear Industry Association chief executive Tom Greatrex said.
Some £300 million will also be invested in domestic nuclear fuel production, alongside £10 million for development, the government said on Thursday, as it unveiled the largest expansion plans for the sector in 70 years.
Such high-tech nuclear reactor fuel, known as HALEU, is currently only produced in Russia, with the government aiming to kickstart production in north west England by early next decade.
Critics slated proposals for a new large-scale nuclear power site, however, pointing to delays and mounting costs relating to the two new traditional reactors currently planned.
Campaign group Stop Sizewell C said the ambitions “ring hollow when Hinkley Point C is already at least 3 years late and £8 billion overspent”.
“Sizewell C is still some way off a final investment decision,” the group added, despite being originally proposed in the early 2010s.