The UK government has pledged to open more sites for nuclear energy projects across England and Wales, aiming to attract private investment in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) as part of its

broader effort to decarbonize the energy sector.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office announced an expansion of the list of potential nuclear development sites and proposed reforms to streamline the planning process.

"This country hasn’t built a nuclear power station in decades. We’ve been let down and left behind," Starmer stated, emphasizing the need for revitalized investment in nuclear energy.

Successive British governments have highlighted the advantages of SMRs—smaller, more flexible nuclear plants—as a way to mitigate the high costs, lengthy planning delays, and investor challenges associated with traditional large-scale nuclear projects. However, no SMRs have been constructed in the UK to date.

Attracting private capital is a core pillar of Starmer’s economic strategy following his July election victory. Inheriting a sluggish economy, his government has imposed fiscal rules to ensure economic stability while focusing on growth through infrastructure development.

The UK currently has eight approved nuclear development sites. Under the new plan, developers will be encouraged to propose additional locations, with an emphasis on flexibility—potentially allowing SMRs to be situated near energy-intensive facilities such as AI data centers.

This policy builds upon consultations conducted by the previous Conservative government in 2023 and will undergo further consultation and parliamentary review before being finalized.

The government’s ongoing SMR competition, launched in 2023, remains active with four contenders: Rolls-Royce, Westinghouse, Holtec Britain, and GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy—a joint venture between General Electric and Japan’s Hitachi Ltd.

A prior SMR competition in 2016 stalled after the initial information-gathering phase and was discontinued in 2017. The current initiative signals a renewed commitment to advancing nuclear technology as part of the UK’s long-term energy strategy. Photo by U.S. Government Accountability Office from Washington, DC, United States, Wikimedia commons.