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Energy: Draft National Policy Statement for Nuclear Power Generation (EN-6)

My Lords, the position is very clear. I was going to come on to that issue, but shall deal with it now. The fact is that the taxpayer is having to put a lot of money into the decommissioning legacy. We have learnt the lessons of that, so that when it comes to new nuclear development we are absolutely clear that the cost of decommissioning must be met by the developers. We have established the financial framework, and we are still engaged in consultation and argument about the exact way that the contribution will be made, but we are clear that that cost must fall to the developer. We are setting up mechanisms that will avoid the issue of the taxpayer’s contribution to legacy waste. We have made progress on the long-term management of highly radioactive waste. Some noble Lords were worried about the timescale. The exact timing of the process for siting a geological disposal facility is, in part, driven by discussions with local communities and a willingness to move forward at each stage of the process. This is a siting process based on volunteerism, partnership and experience in the UK and overseas, which suggests that such an approach is the most likely way to succeed in siting a facility. I know that the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, is worried about the dates. The NDA’s planning assumptions are that the first waste emplacement will be in a geological disposal facility by 2040, with legacy high-level waste spent fuel emplacement beginning around 2075 and disposal of legacy waste estimated to be completed by about 2130. These dates are caveated to recognise that the early pace is guided by the volunteer communities involved in the process and are governed by the years of cooling required for the waste material. I have picked up from the DECC Select Committee and your Lordships’ committee, which is investigating the work of the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, that there is a desire for firmer time guides in relation to this issue. We will of course consider that very carefully when we respond to the parliamentary process. However, I am convinced that the approach that we set out—interim and very secure storage on-site and then geological disposal—is the right way forward. There seems to be an emerging international consensus in this area, but we will of course pay very close attention to this as we go forward. I should like to turn to a number of other issues. The noble Lord, Lord Teverson, raised Finland. Yes, lessons are to be learnt from that. We believe that the key lesson we have learnt is that it is much better to do a lot of the regulatory work at the design stage, rather than wait until a facility is half way to being built and then discover that there are problems. The generic design assessment, which is being taken forward by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, is a way of dealing with that. The process is going well. I believe that it is on time. I hope that it will ensure that we do not have the kind of problems to which the noble Lord referred. I should also say that I hope very soon to lay the legislative reform order that will lead to the reform of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and set it up as a separate body with, none the less, close links to the Health and Safety Executive. Clearly, we have an effective regulatory body and we want to make sure that it is able to meet the big challenges that we will face in the future. A number of noble Lords, including the noble Lords, Lord Broers and Lord Jenkin, raised the issue of skills. There is huge potential here. If we can energise institutions and tempt young people into the sector, we can give them the skills that they need for the fantastic careers ahead of them. We have launched the National Skills Academy for Nuclear and so far have invested £3 million in it. It is led by employers from across the nuclear sector. I hear very good things about it and the work that it is doing. We will shortly release a new report that looks at the specific skills and capability needs behind nuclear new build in the UK. I very much agree with the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Broers, about research and university support. We are supporting nuclear skills development with the involvement of universities. In January 2009, we established Nuclear FIRST at the University of Manchester to provide a national training centre for doctoral scientists and engineers in nuclear fission science and technology. We have also established the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, which will be owned and run by the University of Sheffield. The University of Manchester is part of the management consortium that is running the National Nuclear Laboratory, which will be a world class nuclear science and technology laboratory. On nuclear research, EPSRC spending on nuclear research has increased substantially over the past few years. Its programme, Keeping the Nuclear Option Open, has been provided with £6 million over four years. I very much take the point made by the noble Lord, and I will certainly take the opportunity to discuss with the relevant bodies the need to make sure that we step up our game in relation to research. On the supply chain, my noble friend Lord O’Neill and the noble Lords, Lord Jenkin and Lord Broers, made the point that we have to develop a UK supply chain. The global nuclear renaissance provides a multibillion pound opportunity for industries involved in the supply of goods and services. There is no reason whatever why this country cannot create a globally competitive UK nuclear supply chain. Last summer, I attended a conference organised by EDF. More than 300 British companies were invited to get really involved and to become part of a strong, vibrant UK supply chain. The Government are looking at ways to ensure that business in the UK is able to make the most of the opportunities available. We should remember that we can argue about at what point this Government made the decision in relation to new nuclear, but globally we are well ahead of many countries. There is a great opportunity if we can move ahead as quickly as possible, but not just in terms of the investment that will take place in the UK. I am convinced that we can also become a centre of excellence that we can export to other countries. Of course, we should not forget that we are not starting from scratch. We are building on an industry that may have considered that it was moving towards a decommissioning mode; none the less, it is a very good foundation and it is vital that we do not lose that possibility. I return to the question of timing raised by the noble Lord, Lord Broers. The noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, is always chiding me about progress and timetables. Can we learn from the Chinese? I suspect that we can learn some things, but I doubt whether planning consent is an issue that the Chinese Government have to worry about too much. We need a robust planning system. As my noble friend Lord O’Neill said, we need a system where people feel that they can put their point across. We do not need a Sizewell B public inquiry where hundreds of days are spent arguing about whether to have nuclear excluding proper discussion of the local impact of a nuclear power station. Essentially, that is what the new planning arrangements will give us. I am confident that we are on time. If we look at the progress being made in the industry with the establishment of the IPC and the work that has been undertaken by the nuclear inspectorate and in relation to the national policy statements, I am confident that we are still on time. I am confident that the Government will do everything that we can to support the development of the new nuclear industry. We will have to consider very carefully the comments that we have received and the parliamentary scrutiny of the national policy statements but, having done that, we can then move towards designation or adoption of the national policy statements. I believe that we are very much in business and that we have been given a second chance concerning nuclear. The first time around, for many reasons, this country did not take advantage of the opportunity in the way that it might have done, as it was at an early stage of peaceful civil nuclear development. We have been given another opportunity and there is huge potential for this country in terms of energy security and also in terms of investment in jobs and exports. It is very important that we take advantage of that. Motion agreed.