This article is provided by Julia Pyke, joint managing director of Sizewell C.
As fears over its safety have subsided over time, coupled with the need for cleaner energy, nuclear energy has taken on a pivotal role in providing base power generation in the UK. But how are we getting on in building capacity?
Britain is entering a new age of clean electricity as the foundation of our energy system, said Ed Miliband, energy secretary, at the end of 2024. And crucial to powering that clean energy future, he said, is nuclear.
This ‘new age’ has been a long time coming. Next year will be the 60th anniversary of the start of construction at Dungeness B power station in Kent – the first of the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) nuclear power stations. This was the last time Britain embarked on a relatively uninterrupted nuclear newbuild programme, which ended at Sizewell B in the 1990s.
Dungeness is significant for me personally – 44 years ago I started my career as an apprentice technician at Dungeness...