Government nuclear vision has ‘no substance’, warns union

The government’s nuclear policy lacks “substance” and plant decommissioning agencies are losing key staff to private companies because public sector pay is constrained, a senior trade union official has warned.

Addressing a fringe meeting on the nuclear industry at the Labour Party conference this week, Prospect energy organiser John Storey said the government had yet to confirm former prime minister Boris Johnson’s recent commitment of £700 million to support the development of a new nuclear power station at Sizewell in Suffolk.

He said: “As yet, despite some positive words, we haven’t got any real substance.

“They have put down the marker for GB nuclear. At some point, there needs to be some substance behind it. They may have other issues that are more pressing at this very moment but there needs to be substance.”

Rolls-Royce is waiting for tangible government support before it pushes ahead with its small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear programme, Storey said: “Until they get support and the private sector investors see that government support is there, they’re going to hold their counsel.”

Storey also warned that the workforce in nuclear decommissioning agencies is highly skilled but aging and increasingly tempted by offers from private companies, like Rolls-Royce and engineers Jacobs, which are able to pay more.

“Organisations such as Sellafield, Magnox and the like are wholly-owned subsidiaries of a government arm’s length body and are therefore subject to government pay restraint. That government pay restraint does not apply in the private sector so there are people leaving those organisations.

“Those organisations are finding it difficult to retain those much-needed skills. 80% of the jobs in the nuclear industry are transferable. That may surprise you but they’re transferable to other big infrastructure projects.

“If you generate a load of money for infrastructure and there’s nobody there to build and operate the thing, we’re in real difficulty. That’s why we need to focus on the skills, the money and those good quality unionised jobs.”

He also said that Prospect supports the regulated asset base (RAB) financing mechanism, which the government has recently extended to nuclear power, because it is the best option currently available to spur investment in the sector.

“It’s far from ideal, there are better ways of doing it, but it’s currently the only show in town and therefore, being supportive of the industry, we have to support RAB because there is nothing else under consideration.”

Bill Esterson, shadow minister for business and industrial strategy, told the same meeting that nuclear will play an integral role in delivering Labour’s party conference commitment to decarbonise the electricity system by 2030.

“That commitment to net zero can only happen if we have nuclear as part of the offer. It really is as simple as that.

“There has been a journey for the Labour Party, but I think we are in the right place.”

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