Sir Keir Starmer has used his vision to a Lancashire lab to declare that his government's changes to the nuclear energy sector will make Britain a "leader in nuclear energy". During a discussion session in Preston designed to highlight these reforms, the Prime Minister said: "We've got five big priorities, one of them is clean power by 2030 and nuclear is part of that mix, and therefore it has to be within that mission, which is already a priority for us."
Sir Keir further emphasised the significance of nuclear power in the upcoming spending review, labelling it as "really, really important".
The government announced on Thursday that more nuclear power plants would be approved across England and Wales. Planning reforms to planning rules aim to make it easier for Small Modular Reactors - which are and easier to build - to be built for the first time in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ.
The government's statement heralded the creation of "thousands of new highly skilled jobs while delivering clean, secure and more affordable energy for working people". Following this declaration, Sir Keir, alongside Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, met employees at the new decontamination and decommissioning laboratory at Preston's National Nuclear Laboratory, reports .
Mr Miliband saidy: "Build, build, build - that is what Britain's clean energy mission is all about. The British people have been left vulnerable to global energy markets for too long - and the only way out is to build our way to a new era of clean electricity."
The government's blueprint for nuclear energy reform will incorporate mini-nuclear power stations into planning regulations for the first time, eliminating the earlier predefined list of eight sites, and doing away with the expiration date on nuclear planning rules. The Prime Minister also intends to establish a Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce, which will "spearhead improvements to the regulations to help more companies build here".
On the other hand, Energy Minister Michael Shanks assured that communities "will still absolutely have a voice" in the planning processes for constructing new nuclear reactors. At present, nuclear development is confined to eight sites as per plans last reviewed in 2011.
Don't miss the latest news and analysis with our regular North West newsletters – sign up here for free
