Claims that the government is abandoning the £20 billion project are false, according to a representative for Rishi Sunak, and the government wishes to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
The government maintains its support for the Sizewell C nuclear power facility and hopes to quickly reach an agreement to fully fund the project.
Boris Johnson, in one of his final actions as prime minister, approved £700 million in funding for the Suffolk factory at the beginning of September.
The future of the site, however, has been placed into doubt following claims that it is being evaluated ahead of the chancellor’s autumn statement in less than two weeks, with Treasury insiders telling that “all alternatives are on the table” to plug the budgetary black hole in government budgets.
Now, the official spokeswoman for Rishi Sunak states that the reports are “inaccurate” and that “our position has not changed,” adding that conversations are “ongoing and productive.
The £20 billion Sizewell C project seeks to create sufficient low-carbon electricity to service six million homes and defend the United Kingdom against energy market instability.
The construction of the plant is a cooperative effort with the French energy firm EDF and is projected to take a decade.
While the Labour Party and unions support the proposal, detractors argue that it is too expensive and will take too long to become operational.
Stop Sizewell C’s spokesperson stated that the project “absolutely should be reevaluated,” adding that “it is not essential to meeting our net zero obligations or maintaining energy security.”
“All it can give is short-term pain, in the form of higher energy bills, and long-term agony, in the form of enormous uncertainty over construction costs and duration, for electricity that is far more expensive than easily available renewables.”
“Today’s reaction from Downing Street appears to be more of a reassurance to EDF, France, and the nuclear lobby than a clear declaration of what the government intends to do about spiraling pressure on public spending,” they continued.
A representative for the government, however, stated that Sizewell C was “crucial to reducing our dependency on fossil fuels, strengthening our energy security, and achieving our net-zero goals with reliable renewable energy.”
“We have made up to £700 million available for the transaction, as part of the £1.7 billion for developing a large-scale nuclear project to the point of a definitive investment decision in this legislature.”I taught mathematics at an academy up to the Matric level.
