1 Sellafield Ltd. (2016, October 16). 60 years since the day that changed the nuclear industry.
2 Our World in Data. (2025). Nuclear power generation [1966 Dataset]. Our World in Data.
3 Our World in Data. (2025). Nuclear power generation [1974 Dataset]. Our World in Data.
4 Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. (2025). Historical electricity data.
6 This is a conservative estimate and assumes that the emissions intensity of coal would be equal to that of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in 2020. Power Station Directory (2025). Ratcliffe on Soar: Carbon intensity Department for Transport. (2025, April 24). Greenhouse gas emissions from transport in 2023
7 Oxford Economics. (2017). The economic impact of Sellafield Ltd.
8 StatsWales. Average earnings data by Welsh local areas. Welsh Government.
9 Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. (2025). Historical electricity data
10 Britain Remade. (n.d.). Tell the government: Don’t switch off clean power in 2029. Britain Remade. Tell the Government: Don't Switch Off Clean Power In 2029
15 Newbery, D. (2021) The cost of finance and the cost of carbon: A case study of Britain’s only PWR
16 Goodlad, D (Undersecretary of State at the Department of Energy), Hansard. (1986) Power stations
17 Mellor, D (Undersecretary of State at the Department of Energy), Hansard. (1982) Power stations
18 Allocation Round 6 for most recent prices, Allocation Round 1 for 2015 prices . Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. (2024). Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 6: results and Department Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2015). Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round One Outcome.
20 National Energy System Operator. (2025) 2025 Annual Balancing Costs Report
21 National Energy System Operator (2022) Future Energy Scenarios 2022 & National Energy system Operator. (2025) NESO Clean Power 2030 Report
22 Simmons & Simmons. (2024) What’s the future for Ireland’s data centres?
24Assumes a load factor for solar of 12%, slightly above average for southern England, and a load factor of 90% for Hinkley Point C, fairly typical for PWR nuclear plants. If we assume a relatively dense solar farm, a solar farm outputting as much as Hinkley will need to be 384 square km, slightly larger than the Isle of Wight.
25 E3 Analytics. (2024) Misforecasting the Future
27 2019 figures here: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. (2019) Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 3 results. 2024 figures here: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. (2024) Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 6 results
28 Our baseline scenario uses the Future of Energy Security Scenarios 2025 which are ultimately derived from: Electricity generation costs 2023. These DESNZ figures assume that large scale solar prices will fall 18% compared with Allocation Round 6, . While possible it is also possible that this does not come to pass, hence our modelling of scenarios where renewable costs rise 30% above this baseline.
29 Singh, Arj. (2025, June) HS2 bat tunnel farce worsens as costs rise to £125m. iNews
30 80,000 pages includes supporting documentation.
31 EDF Energy. (2025) Acoustic fish deterrent
33 Paik, S., & Schriver, W. R. (1980). The effect of increased regulation on capital costs and manual labor requirements of nuclear power plants. The Engineering Economist, 26(3), 223-244.
36Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce: interim report. (2025). Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
37Maconachie,R. (2024). ‘We miners die a lot’: Appalling conditions and poverty wages – the lives of cobalt miners in the DRC. University of Bath and Sturmes,D.. (2023). The fatal toll of artisanal cobalt mining continues. Fair Cobalt Alliance
38 Lukiv, J (2025) Chile rescuers find body of last trapped miner – five confirmed dead. BBC.
39 As many as ten times more are estimated to have died from knock-on impacts such as declining food production.
40 Ritchie, H. (2020). What are the safest and cleanest sources of energy? Our World in Data.
41 Bryant, P. A. (2024). Airborne Radioactive Discharges and Human and Environmental Health Effects. IOP Publishing.
43 Some parts of the UK receive higher doses, for example background radiation in Cornwall is around three times higher than the average, due to the natural presence of rocks with uranium that emit radon..
44 Thomas, G. Public and non-nuclear stakeholders’ perception of the role of nuclear power in climate change mitigation. Imperial College London.
48 UK Health Security Agency. (2023) Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE) reports
50 Thomas, G. Public and non-nuclear stakeholders’ perception of the role of nuclear power in climate change mitigation. Imperial College London.
51 Ibid.
52 HPC Consortium. (2011, July). Hinkley Point C: Article 37 submission.
53 This limit is derived from the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).
55 Office for Nuclear Regulation. (2017) Nuclear ventilation codes and standards – Hitachi-GE UK ABWR
56 With thanks to Alicia Durham, University of Cambridge for sharing findings from her forthcoming dissertation.
57 Again, we thank Alicia Durham for sharing insights from her forthcoming dissertation.
58 This would be compatible with the International Atomic Energy Association’s requirement for regulatory independence in Insag-17.
60 The ONR’s statutory purposes are: nuclear safety; nuclear site health and safety; nuclear security; nuclear safeguards; and regulation of the transport of radioactive material (Energy Act 2013, c. 32, Part 3).
61 UK Health Security Agency. (2023). Ionising radiation: dose comparisons. GOV.UK.
63 Boswall, R. (n.d.). EN-7, ’Sup D.C., and the mystery variable. Substack.
64 Lorenzini, P. (2016). Nuclear Power: How Environmentalism Lost Its Way. Nuclear News, 34-39.
65 Bryant, P. A. (2024). Airborne Radioactive Discharges and Human and Environmental Health Effects. IOP Publishing.
68 EDF Energy. (2025.) Acoustic fish deterrent
70 Dumitriu, S. Britain is a consultation nation. Notes on Growth.
71 Sizewell C. (2022, September 28). New ICM poll reveals strong local support for Sizewell C. & BBC News. (2010, October 12). EDF survey shows support for Hinkley power station.
73 Howard, C. (2025). Project Nutcracker – avoiding more kittiwake hotels and bat sheds. HSF Kramer.
74 Latif-Aramesh, M. (2025) How much protection does a National Park or National Landscape need? TLT LLP.
75 Data Centres says max of 22 TWh of electricity needed by 2030. With 6 GW of data centre capacity assuming normal utilisation rates of 65-80% would require between 32-42 TWh of electricity.
76 Ofgem. (2023) Ofgem launches policy review on reforming the electricity connections system.
77 Assumes a continuous 75 MW load (a common hyperscale range is 20–100 MW). Annual consumption: 657 GWh. UK price: manufacturing electricity, Q2 2024, 18.2 p/kWh (DESNZ, Quarterly Energy Prices). Virginia comparator: average industrial electricity price 9.03¢/kWh, May 2025 (EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A).
80 World Nuclear News. (2025, May 9). New supply agreement expands Talen-Amazon partnership.
82 Calculated as (strike − baseload market reference price) × capacity × capacity factor × 8,760 hours/year. Using 100 MW, 90% capacity factor, and the 2024 baseload Market Reference Price of £83.27/MWh (the simple average of LCCC’s Summer 2024 and Winter 2024 values), a £150/MWh strike gives (150 − 83.27) × 100× 0.9 × 8,760 ≈ £52.5 million a year. Low Carbon Contracts Company. (2024). Market reference prices (Summer and Winter 2024 tables).