Alarm sounded over delays to develop UK mini nuclear reactors

Lords scold government for lack of progress on small modular reactors plan, warning UK nuclear sector will suffer if firms walk away

The government's failure to deliver on a multimillion-pound competition to develop mini atomic power stations has hurt the nuclear sector and risks international companies walking away from the UK, a Lords committee has warned.

In 2015 the then chancellor George Osborne promised 250m over five years for a nuclear research and development programme, an undisclosed sum of which was for a competition to pave the way for small modular reactors.