The government has announced a £14.2bn investment to build the Sizewell C nuclear power station, ending years of delays.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government is investing in “the biggest roll out of nuclear power in a generation” at the GMB Congress today (10 June).

The investment, made ahead of the government’s Spending Review, will go towards creating 10,000 jobs, including 1,500 apprenticeships and support thousands more jobs across the UK. The equivalent of around six million homes will be powered with clean energy from Sizewell C.

This is the first British-owned nuclear power station to be announced in more than three decades, with the government as a majority shareholder alongside EDF.

The company has already signed £330m in contracts with local companies and will boost supply chains across the UK with 70% of contracts predicted to go to 3,500 British suppliers – supporting new jobs in construction, welding, and hospitality.  

The announcement comes as the government has also confirmed one of Europe’s first Small Modular Reactor programmes. This comes alongside record investment in research and development for fusion energy, worth more than £2.5bn over five years.

Energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said: “We will not accept the status quo of failing to invest in the future and energy insecurity for our country. 

“We need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance, because that is the only way to protect family finances, take back control of our energy, and tackle the climate crisis.

“This is the government’s clean energy mission in action - investing in lower bills and good jobs for energy security.”

Despite the UK’s strong nuclear legacy, opening the world’s first commercial nuclear power station in the 1950s, no new nuclear plant has opened in the UK since 1995, with all of the existing fleet - except Sizewell B - likely to be phased out by the early 2030s. 

Sizewell C was one of eight sites identified in 2009 by then-energy secretary Ed Miliband as a potential site for new nuclear. However, the project was not fully funded in the 14 years that followed under subsequent governments. 

Julia Pyke and Nigel Cann, joint-managing directors of Sizewell C, said: “Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Sizewell C, the UK’s first British-owned nuclear power plant in over 30 years. It’s a privilege to be leading a project that will create over 10,000 jobs, secure Britain’s energy future and revitalise the UK’s nuclear industry.

“This will be British infrastructure at its best – delivering a cleaner, more secure energy future for generations to come.”

Sam White, managing director, natural resources at Costain - which earlier this year secured a place on a 10-year framework to provide resourcing support for Sizewell C – welcomed the news.

He said: “The government’s confirmation is a huge step forward for the UK’s energy security and net zero ambitions. This nationally significant infrastructure project will provide a safe and resilient energy supply for millions of homes, creating a sustainable future for the UK.

 “At the same time, this is a project that will accelerate the development of highly sought-after engineering skills for thousands of long-term jobs, driving economic prosperity for the East of England. We’re looking forward to working closely with Sizewell C and its supply chain partners to play our part in its successful and efficient delivery.”

Pete Sibley, divisional director, nuclear at Stantec, also welcomed the news. He said: “Today’s announcements around Sizewell C and the appointment of Rolls-Royce to build small modular reactors on behalf of the government mark an exciting day for the built environment, the decarbonisation economy, and local skills development in communities across the country.

"They signal a much-needed vote of confidence in the future of nuclear. Sizewell C will form an integral part of the UK’s low carbon energy mix, and SMRs hold significant opportunities when it comes to efficient, scalable, safe and deployable power.

"We’re proud our interdisciplinary teams have played such an extensive role in the iconic Sizewell C project to date, with a combination of strategic technical, advisory, and engineering services. With so many new homes in the pipeline, as well as AI, data centres, and the digital economy adding more pressure on to UK energy networks, we must accelerate progress in the nation’s growth and resilience journey. Unlocking the potential of nuclear power is an important step towards these aims.”

Great British Nuclear has also announced the outcome of its small modular reactor competition, the first step towards the goal of driving down costs and unlocking private finance with a long-term ambition to bring forward one of the first SMR fleets in Europe. 

Rolls-Royce SMR has been named as the selected technology in the competition.

The government is also making a record investment in research and development for fusion energy, investing more than £2.5bn over five years. This includes progressing the STEP programme (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production), the world-leading fusion plant in Nottinghamshire, creating thousands of new jobs and with the potential to unlock limitless clean power. 

This builds on the UK’s global leadership to turbocharge economic growth in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, while helping deliver the UK’s flagship programme to design and build a prototype fusion power station on the site of a former coal-fired plant.

To secure the UK as a leader in both civil and defence nuclear, the government will also be investing £4bn over the next decade in the Plymouth naval base as well as continued long-term investment in the Defence Nuclear Enterprise and its industrial base.

Further investments in the defence nuclear sector include more than £6bn over the Spending Review period to enable a transformation in the capacity, capability and productivity of the UK’s submarine industrial base, including at BAE Systems in Barrow and Rolls-Royce Submarines in Derby – to deliver the increase in the submarine production rate announced in the Strategic Defence Review.

In addition, the government will embark on a multi-decade, multi-billion redevelopment of HMNB Clyde, with an initial £250m of funding over three years, supporting jobs, skills and growth across the West of Scotland.

The government will also invest more than £420m of additional funding in Sheffield Forgemasters, securing 700 existing skilled jobs and creating over 900 new construction roles.