Professor Stephen Thomas is an Emeritus Professor of Energy Policy, at the University of Greenwich.
Professor Andrew Blowers OBE is Emeritus Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, The Open University
In April 2022, the then UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, set a target of 24GW (equivalent to eight stations like Hinkley Point C) of new nuclear capacity to be completed in Great Britain by 2050. At the heart of the proposal was the creation of a new government owned entity, Great British Nuclear (GBN), with a mission of ‘helping projects through every stage of the development process and developing a resilient pipeline of new builds’ designed to ensure energy security and to meet the UK’s commitment to achieving net zero. The new Labour Government, elected in July 2024, has been emphatic about the scaling up of renewables and has confirmed that nuclear power ‘will play an important role in helping the UK achieve energy security and clean power. While not explicitly committing to the 24GW target, the new Government expressed its belief that a scale expansion of new nuclear projects was a necessary part of the energy mix for the transition to achieving net zero carbon by 2050. The Government is expected to continue with GBN but in a clearly subordinate role to its new creation, Great British Energy, its vehicle for driving development and investment into projects that will enable the energy transition to achieve net zero by 2050.
