Good communication is the key to nuclear love.

Add in the STEP programme’s development of the UK’s first fusion prototype test facility at West Burton, plus planning reform to encourage investment and help select the most optimal sites for new plants across England and Wales, and the direction of energy travel is clear. 

The government ambition was signalled back in February with the announcement of planning reforms that could pave the way to reshaping our energy generation landscape. 

And with Advanced Modular Reactors, Small Modular Reactors and fusion being backed, all options for the future are on the table to create more energy security and support the transition to clean power.

What does all this mean? It means a lot. 

In the short term it means a great deal will need to be done to build public trust in new nuclear technologies.  While nuclear licenced sites have communities who have felt the benefit of nuclear for decades and may be more welcoming, when the proposition is a small nuclear reactor powering a data centre, the need to have excellent communications in place to educate, inform and inspire communities and stakeholders will be paramount. 

Without that trust in the technology, the developer and the people delivering the projects, public acceptance could remain a huge hurdle.

It also has an impact on the propositions for other renewables. The need to communicate the future low carbon energy mix will be important to ensure need cases can still be argued for in the decades ahead. 

Today marks a great step forward for the future provision of energy in the UK.  But there is work to be done to make sure everyone understands the opportunity and people will welcome it when it comes to their community.