Chancellor stumps up 拢14.2bn to fund new nuclear power station
The chancellor is set to confirm the government will commit more than 拢14bn to build the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk.
The plant was first proposed 15 years ago and will take a further nine to 12 years to build.
But Rachel Reeves will confirm the Treasury is putting the cash behind the plan in a speech at the GMB union conference later this morning.
She says this money will create 10,000 jobs, including around 1,500 apprenticeships, and will also support thousands more jobs around the UK.
It's all part of what Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has called the "golden age" of nuclear power - as the UK seeks to boost its energy security.
It follows it being revealed yesterday that Britain's nuclear power sector grew by a quarter in 2024, compared to three years ago.
It's now worth 拢20bn and employs around 87,000 people according to research by the Nuclear Power Association.
What is Sizewell C nuclear power station, and why has it taken so long?
The nuclear power plant in Suffolk was first proposed more than a decade ago by EDF, the French energy company and China General Nuclear Power Group.
Three years ago, the Conservative government bought out the Chinese company as the UK sought to secure its critical national energy infrastructure.
The state now owns 83.5% of the project, with the rest controlled by EDF.
The Tories gave the green light for construction to begin at Sizewell C 18 months ago, leading to contracts worth 拢330m being signed with local companies.
Reeves also backed the project in her autumn budget last year, committing 拢2.7bn to the power station.
But campaigners against the project have warned that it might become a bottomless money pit and have called it 'HS2 mark two' - after the high-speed train line that has faced high costs, delays and has had parts of it axed.
Instead, the Stop Sizewell C group would like to see the money spent on "other priorities" and say the power station "is guaranteed to be late and overspent".