A Brief History of Civil Nuclear Energy in the UK

These two primer papers on the UK’s civil and military nuclear history launch the new Policy Exchange Nuclear Enterprise Commission. The Commission’s work will study how the Government should combine and amplify its civil and military nuclear programmes drawing on expertise from renowned international military officials, policymakers, academics, engineers and more. Backed by former UK Cabinet Secretary Rt Hon Simon Case CVO, the Commission’s publications and events will revitalise the conversation which has stalled, re-engaging with nuclear as a source of security and prosperity.

The civil nuclear primer asserts that the UK must break out of the cost-inflationary overregulation that has made nuclear energy an unaffordable option and slowed construction. If we are to achieve cheap, secure and clean energy able to propel Britain into the fourth industrial revolution and reinvigorate our sluggish economy, we must remove the regulatory burdens that have reduced capacity so severely.

As Edward Barlow writes in the introduction:

‘The Russian invasion of Ukraine, deindustrialisation and rising global instability…across the Western world…The only answer to these challenges is the regulatory reform that would facilitate consistent nuclear construction ensuring secure, cheap and clean energy while resurrecting the regional productivity of the most deprived regions and attracting investment in cutting-edge technologies.’