Speeches by Young.

“GBE-N has called for a clearer route to market for market-led nuclear projects. What should that route look like, and what role should the Government play in supporting it?”

“Which partner nations would those be?”

“GBE-N has called for a clearer route to market for market-led nuclear projects. What should that route look like, and what role should the Government play in supporting it?”

“Are you saying that the deadline was wrong? You did not manage it quicker than the deadline.”

“We are in a difficult geopolitical environment at the moment. We have seen in Iran and Ukraine that energy infrastructure can be a military target. How is scenario-planning accounting for both large nuclear sites and a future fleet of more geographically dispersed SMRs, Simon?”

“Are you saying that the AMR framework does provide this? We have had evidence that you were calling for a clearer route to market.”

“Gareth, will the new nuclear power stations be climate-resilient over their lifetime, particularly given risks from rising sea levels, drought and rising water temperatures?”

“Andy, evidence suggests that misalignment between UK regulation and comparable countries deters investment. Do you agree, and what steps are being taken to address this?”

“Are you confident that those things that are low probability still remain low probability?”

“I am going to turn to Vanessa now. Do you think that EN-7 will ensure that siting decisions do not concentrate new technology solely in these traditional nuclear regions, as Alastair has just been talking about, but also support deployment in grid-constrained industrial areas where there is no nuclear legacy?”

“Can you identify any particular parts of the process that caused the delays? I am also interested because prior to the decision, talking to people in the industry, there seemed to be a widespread assumption that you would probably win as the UK competitor. Why did it take so long?”

“Are there any particular examples of European law that you now think we should disregard?”

“You would feel they were all suited to gigawatt scale rather than SMRs?”

“I would like to talk about the SMR design competition: what went well? What lessons can be learned? I would like to start with you, Alastair. Other than you winning, obviously, what went well for you in the process, from your perspective? What lessons can we learn, especially from the withdrawals by EDF, NuScale and We…”

“My residents who are hearing that may be inclined to hear that as, “These standards won’t apply,” but you are saying you will still end up with the same end result, you just think there are different ways to achieving it.”

“If we turn to part two, which sets out enabling conditions in regulation, planning skills and the supply chain, which of those currently poses the biggest risk to timing deployment, and what actions are needed to address that?”

“Q6. Yate station is at the heart of the town’s industrial area and can be a gateway to the eastern end of the west innovation arc. Local rail users tell me they want it improved, businesses stress its importance for attracting a workforce, and in the wake of local manufacturing job losses, its redevelopment could be a …”

“What about the withdrawals by some competitors? Do you think there is anything to be learned from that?”

“Just looking back at the process that was gone through, do you think there would have been an argument for—as initially was considered—having two different technologies chosen to allow a competitive evaluation of different technologies? Or is there more advantage in going all in on one technology, from the overall UK e…”

“Let us move on to the siting choice. Given Wylfa is one of the UK’s strongest strategic sites for gigawatt-scale nuclear, was it right to select it for the UK’s first three Rolls-Royce SMRs rather than a large-scale reactor?”