Speeches by Reader.

“The whole delivery, including construction and operations?”

“I highly recommend Northampton.”

“I am just trying to understand the global perspective here. You have talked about the Czech Republic and America; I have just done a quick search, and Rolls-Royce is working in Turkey; there is SMR in Canada, India, and the Middle East, all of which are first of a kind. Why is the industry delivering so many pilot sche…”

“Alastair, we are going to talk a bit about the supply chain, starting with Rolls-Royce SMR. Can you explain to us what a 70% British-built supply chain means in layman’s terms?”

“Sorry, Chair, I have one more very quick question. How does your commercial model look at encouraging an SME market? The suppliers we have talked about today are all large global firms; for both your firms, what is your strategy around engaging UK SMEs?”

“The AMR and SMR programme definitely brings nuclear reactors closer to home. For example, I have spoken to a developer who would love to build one in the Docklands in London. Should the public be concerned?”

“So the big job creation is in the factories and in the supply chain?”

“Of the contracts you have placed to date, what percentage are with British firms? You can always write to us if you do not know this.”

“I should declare a potential or perceived conflict; I worked in the supply chain bidding for work with Rolls-Royce SMR and some of the others that have given evidence. My former firm is one of the firms named on the latest press release. Looking at your online presence, it depends on how you define British content. You…”

“One final question and I will let you off the hook, Alastair. You and I both know that your headline contract may say 70%, but what actually matters is what is in your supply chain. For your top five contracts by volume, let us say, what contractual terms are you pushing on to suppliers to make sure that they have UK c…”

“Going forward, at the moment you are procuring consultants and advisers—who we know exist in the UK at scale—but you now need factories and others. Is there enough Government support to develop that part of the supply chain in the UK? It is a supply chain that does not currently exist.”

“Why would you put the manufacturing capability in the UK, given that we have really high energy prices and a relatively low manufacturing base compared even to other European countries? As a committee, we have heard that the UK is a very difficult place in which to manufacture at the moment. So why would you do it here…”

“On gas and electric, do you think the Government should be investing more in gas and electricity storage, or is relying on international imports the way we get energy security?”

“In your opinion, would investment in gas and electricity storage—you can decide which you answer—improve the UK’s resilience and reduce our reliance on overseas imports?”

“What amount of energy storage does the UK currently hold, and how does this compare internationally?”

“What about electricity storage? How does the UK compare?”

“To what extent have high retail prices reflected the wholesale costs? To what extent have they been reflected by additional margins and profit in the supply chain, with your retailers taking the public frustration because of that hitting the supply chain?”

“Are we looking in the wrong place? We have had some evidence around excessive margins and profit-making in the supply chain rather than from the retailers themselves. Are the retailers the fall guys for others making excess profits in the supply chain?”

“On gas and electric, do you think the Government should be investing more in gas and electricity storage, or is relying on international imports the way we get energy security?”

“If we were to invest in gas storage, do you have any idea what that would do in terms of the impact on bills? It would be a capex outlay from Government, I guess.”