Responding the the news that the cost of the Sizewell C nuclear power station could cost almost £40bn Sam Richards, CEO of pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, said:
“If Sizewell C ends up costing almost £40bn this would make Britain home not just to the world’s most expensive nuclear plant with Hinkley Point C, but the top two.
“Building new nuclear capacity doesn’t have to be this expensive. South Korea builds nuclear plants for one-sixth of what it costs here. They do this by having a truly long-term strategy, building fleets and reusing a proven design time and time again.
“In Britain nuclear power is held back by a dysfunctional planning, bureaucracy and never ending rounds of consultation that drag on for years. At Hinkley Point C this red-tape means EDF has had to make over 7,000 changes to a design already built in France and Finland, while being forced to install a fish disco to save a few fish in the Bristol Channel because of environmental regulations.
“Britain needs more nuclear power and the government needs to act decisively to speed up construction and drive down costs. New nuclear in Britain may never be as cheap to build as it is in South Korea, but it can be significantly cheaper than it is now.”