Treasury, in partnership with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, has announced a £14.2 billion investment to help build the new Sizewell C nuclear reactor.
The government’s investment will go towards creating 10,000 jobs, including 1,500 apprenticeships, and support thousands more jobs across the UK, it said.
The nuclear company has already signed £330 million 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 equivalent of around six million of today’s homes will be powered with energy from Sizewell C. It is also expected to replace the UK’s dependency on fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators with homegrown power that we control.
“We will not accept the status quo of failing to invest in the future and energy insecurity for our country,” said Ed Miliband (Energy Secretary).
“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,” he said.
What to expect from Sizewell C
Sizewell C will provide 10,000 people with employment at peak construction and support thousands more jobs across the UK, including 1,500 apprenticeships.
The company has already signed £330 million 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.
Jobs in the nuclear industry pay well above national averages, and the government said it is committed to working with nuclear trade unions.
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.
The government’s nuclear programme is now the most ambitious for a generation – once small modular reactors and Sizewell C come online in the 2030s, combined with Hinkley Point C, this will deliver more new nuclear to the grid than over the previous half century combined.
Small modular reactors and fusion energy
The government plans to support the UK’s long-term energy security, with small modular reactors expected to power millions of homes with clean energy and help fuel power-hungry industries like AI data centres.
This follows reforms to planning rules announced by the Prime Minister in February 2025 to make it easier to build nuclear across the country – changing the rules to back the builders of this nation, and saying no to the blockers who have strangled our chances of cheaper energy, growth and jobs for far too long.
The government is also looking to provide a route for private sector-led advanced nuclear projects to be deployed in the UK, alongside investing £300 million in developing the world’s first non-Russian supply of the advanced fuels needed to run them.
The government is also making a record investment in R&D for fusion energy, investing over £2.5 billion 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.
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