Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declared a “‘national endeavour’ to secure the future of the UK’s thriving defence and civil nuclear industry” with a £200 million investment over the next decade.
The investments are earmarked for advanced nuclear attack submarines undergoing construction in the Cumbrian town of Barrow-in-Furness.
It comes as nuclear minister Andrew Bowie admitted the UK is playing catch up in terms of both nuclear energy and defensive capabilities.
“I make no bones about it, we should have done this years ago. We are running to catch up,” nuclear minister Bowie told LBC Radio.
While £200 million is a pittance when taking into account nuclear capital expenditure requirements, the government commitment complements investment from BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, EDF and Babcock.
“The investment will create more than 8,000 career opportunities to help the sector fill 40,000 new jobs by the end of the decade – and will support plans to double the number of nuclear apprentices and graduates and quadruple the number of specialist science and nuclear fission PhDs,” read the government press release.
Visiting Barrow on Monday, Sunak said that “safeguarding the future of our nuclear deterrent and nuclear energy industry is a critical national endeavour”.
The Royal Navy is expected to bring new Dreadnought Class submarines into service in the early 2030s.