Speeches by Reader.

“Are we paying for the first of a kind, in terms of the Government investment to support you? Is the Czech Republic? Is Turkey? I have just read on your website that it has an SMR programme with Rolls-Royce. Are all the Governments paying a bit of money to you to fund your R&D?”

“How about yourself, Leon? Are you developing the UK SME supply chain?”

“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?”

“I highly recommend Northampton.”

“Is that by volume, as in the number of contracts, or by value in terms of pounds?”

“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…”

“The whole delivery, including construction and operations?”

“Did you say you have targets?”

“We cannot do a session on nuclear without talking about Fingleton. The Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce said that the UK’s nuclear planning regulatory framework is tailored to traditional large-scale reactors, making it difficult for innovative designs to gain regulatory approval. The Government have committed to implement…”

“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…”

“Vanessa, just quickly on the factory model; we have had evidence questioning why you would have the factory in the UK, not just for Rolls Royce but for others as well. Does shifting to factory-build reactors actually risk UK job losses to overseas, cheaper manufacturing?”

“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?”

“Alastair, what about SMRs?”

“Leon, do we have the specialist skills required to advance nuclear technologies? What gaps persist, and should Government or industry be accountable for funding and delivering the necessary training?”

“We have also had evidence around security; as a Committee, we have been very interested in the link between defence security, energy security and sovereign security. How can we ensure that in a more distributed energy system—particularly for SMRs and AMRs—we are safe from physical and cyber-attacks?”

“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?”

“Do you think the Government should therefore be making a clearer argument that there is a defence and sovereign security element of investing in distributed energy generation—not just for renewables but also nuclear as well— in that it makes us a harder target for adversaries such as Russia?”

“I would be getting one, but they are a bit short on the ground today. Turning to the workforce, we are looking at employment models and how you predict your future workforce. We have had evidence that in a fleet-based model, the multiplying effect means fewer jobs per gigawatt. In our previous panel, Sue Ferns told us …”

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