COP26: Government gives £210m backing for mini nuclear reactors to hit net zero 'more quickly'

Small nuclear reactors will get a £210 million government investment boost in the hope of moving to clean household energy “more quickly”.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the money for developer Rolls-Royce, matched by at least £250m of private sector funding, is a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for the UK.

The announcement, which comes in the middle of the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, is part of the government’s push to move away from a reliance on fossil fuels – and comes over fears of further possible gas price hikes.

Officials said the small modular reactors (SMRs) have the potential to be cheaper to build than traditional nuclear power plants because they are smaller so can be built in a factory then easily transported to a site.

The reactors could be in use by the early 2030s, they added.

Rolls Royce-SMR said a domestic SMR sector could help to create about 40,000 jobs.

The consortium said the jobs would also help support the government’s “levelling up” agenda, with up to 80% of the power station components set to be made in factories across the Midlands and the north of England.

Ministers are looking to minimise the reliance on Chinese financing for nuclear power stations and reports have claimed the effort to downscale the risk involved is aimed at attracting domestic backers.

Three former Conservative energy ministers have argued COP26 needs to accept nuclear power, as well as hydrogen, should play a larger role in the global energy mix in order to hit net zero targets.