The recent decision by the government to press ahead with the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset is good news for the future of the whole of the industry in the UK. The construction is an £18billion investment in the Britain’s energy market, creating 25,000 jobs. The completed station will employ 900 people and generate 7% of the electricity that our country needs. Nuclear energy is an important part of our electricity supply because it is always there when we need it; regardless of whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. With supplies of North Sea oil and gas also running down, we need more secure sources of power for the future.
In the Shepway area, there are one thousand people directly employed in the nuclear industry, and many other jobs that are linked to it. This includes the 500 people who work at Dungeness B nuclear power station. I have consistently campaigned for a long term future for the nuclear industry in our area. Last year the government extended the operating life of Dungeness B by a further ten years, taking it to 2028. Thanks to the hard work of all of the crew, Dungeness continues to produce near record levels of electricity, and the station is maintained to an exceptional standard.
New nuclear power stations are planned for Sizewell in Suffolk and Bradwell in Essex. I want Dungeness to be part of this nuclear future as well. In the last parliament, I got the government’s Major Infrastructure and Environment Unit (MIEU) to review the case for a new power station at Dungeness. The Department for Energy had previously stated that it was open to any company coming forward that was interested in investing in new nuclear generating capacity at Dungeness. This further review by the MIEU confirmed that the principle issue that would need to be resolved at Dungeness would be the about of land required for a new power station, as it would not be possible to disturb the protected areas of shingle that were left untouched by the construction of the existing nuclear reactors.
This may make the construction of a power station like Hinkley Point C difficult, but Dungeness would be an excellent site for smaller modular nuclear reactors. This is considered by many to the technology of the future for the industry. They are much quicker to deploy and cheaper to build that traditional power stations. I have already raised with government ministers the suitability of Dungeness as a site for smaller modular reactors. The government has launched a competition to approve a design for one of these types of new power stations, and this has attracted considerable interest for the nuclear industry here and around the world. I have also met with international businesses to talk up the potential of Dungeness as a site. We still have at least 12 years more of nuclear energy being produced by Dungeness B, but we need to plan now for what will come next.