The prime minister and chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, have approved funding to build two new reactors known as Sizewell C, allowing private funding of around £20-30bn to be raised. But Simon Clarke, another key Truss ally and Chancellor of the Exchequer, warned in a letter leaked to the Sunday Times that the decision could limit Truss’ economic vision. In the letter, he said the cost of Sizewell C was “sufficient to materially affect spending and fiscal choices for a new government, especially in the context of wider pressures on public finances”. In an article for the Mail on Sunday, Kwasi Kwarteng stressed the need to “break more nuclear power stations” in order to increase Britain’s energy security. It granted development consent for Sizewell C in July, but negotiations over the government’s investment decision were ongoing. A Whitehall source said Boris Johnson had made the decision to go ahead with Sizewell several weeks ago. But he dismissed the idea that the move would tie the hands of the next prime minister, after reports the Truss campaign worried it was irreversible. “In the coming weeks, we will announce a government investment decision at Sizewell C, where the government has formally committed to funding the project. It allows the project to raise private capital in the markets. But only at the point of the final investment decision in early 2023 will the government formalize any share.” Johnson’s decision on Sizewell was challenged by a campaign to stop the construction of the nuclear reactor. A spokesman for the campaign, Stop Sizewell C, said: “Whatever your view, this is a very dark decision. Was it done by a lame Prime Minister who shouldn’t be tying his successor’s hands, or was it actually done before Sizewell C was granted planning consent, lending serious weight to our belief that this was a biased, political decision? “Our next Prime Minister should call Sizewell C. There are so many better ways to spend billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money than a project that won’t light a single light bulb for at least a decade.” Truss has not stated a clear position on Sizewell C, but last year hinted at concerns about the involvement of China’s state energy company CGN as part of a consortium providing funding for preparatory work at the nuclear plant. He told the Telegraph at the time: “I think it’s very important not to become strategically dependent and I think it’s important to make sure we work, particularly in areas of vital national infrastructure, with reliable partners.” EDF, the French state energy company, has partnered with CGN on the first phase of the project for a new nuclear power station next to Sizewell B, which is in operation, and Sizewell A, which is being decommissioned. The UK government is keen to lower the CGN, however, due to concerns about China’s involvement in sensitive assets. The Johnson government has already committed £100m of funding this year to support the development of Sizewell C.
