Why the UK has warmed up to nuclear power again
By Victoria Seabrook, climate reporter
For years nuclear was a dirty word. Now, the tide is turning.
For the past 20 years or so, global nuclear power has stagnated amid concerns about its environmental damage and its safety after the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters.
Another nail in its coffin appeared to be its appalling record of delays and costs, while wind and solar plummeted in price and soared in supply.
But leaders are warming up to nuclear again, driven by a few key trends.
Demand for energy
First and foremost, they are anxious to keep pace with booming demand for low-carbon energy, driven by an explosion of data centres and the switch to electric cars and heat pumps.
Data centres for AI and cloud computing not only have a voracious appetite for energy, but as they operate 24/7, they need a more steady, reliable stream. Enter: nuclear, which can provide this most of the time.
The 'flat pack' power plant
Secondly, a new type of nuclear power plant may be on the horizon.
The much vaunted small modular reactors (SMRs) promise to be much faster and cheaper to build, as the parts can be built in a factory and assembled on site - the flat pack furniture of nuclear power.
The government wants Rolls-Royce to get the UK's first SMRs online "in the 2030s". That's most likely another 10 years from now, so a mid-term solution, with much more clean power is needed in the meantime, hence the announcement of 拢14bn for Sizewell C in Suffolk.
Beyond the UK, even Japan - which suffered the 2011 Fukushima disaster - and Germany - which detests nuclear - are warming up to it. So are tech giants like Google and Meta.
The undeniable price tag
That's not to say nuclear does no damage.
Sizewell C has been very unpopular with some local campaign groups that protest its local damage to trees, birds and coastline, and they recently launched a fresh legal challenge to additional flood barriers.
Large reactors like have also been eye-wateringly expensive and slow, and must be routinely taken offline for maintenance.
Critics argue solar and wind power, backed up by batteries, are faster, cheaper, and safer. Others want the money to be spent on reducing demand for power in the first place by insulating homes.
But societies and leaders are slowly becoming less concerned about nuclear disasters and other environmental impacts, and much more worried about climate change and reliable energy supplies.