Nuclear Is the UK’s Cup of Tea

Millie Beaver I think for the UK, a key part of why we wanted to pursue an SMR project at the same time as a large-scale project like Sizewell C is because we want to get the UK back to being this leader in nuclear development. We used to be. If you take it back to the 70s and 80s, the UK really was leading the way with nuclear development. We want to be that again.

Mary Carpenter This is Fissionary, a show exploring how nuclear powers your world. I'm Mary Carpenter.

Jordan Houghton And I'm Jordan Houghton. Let's jump in. Welcome back to Fissionary! This season, we've been traveling around the world to see how different countries are approaching nuclear energy. And some of the most compelling nuclear developments are happening in places leading the way on energy innovation. So, grab a cup of tea because today we are going to the UK and talking all things nuclear development in the UK. When you think Rolls Royce, you're probably picturing luxury cars, not nuclear reactors, but they are in fact building Europe's first SMR in Wales. And that's just the beginning. The UK also just secured funding for Sizewell C, a massive gigawatt scale reactor that will bring energy and economic opportunity to the grid and communities around it. It's perfect timing to talk about this because we already heard from Callum Thomas a few episodes ago about the workforce challenges across Europe. And the UK, you will hear in our episode today, is up to the challenge, they're ready to go, they are building the talent pipeline. And so, what does that mean? More highly skilled jobs, highly paid jobs, energy independence, and a whole new era of nuclear energy for the UK. So, let's dive in with our guest today. Millie Beaver. Joining us today is Millie Beaver, Public Affairs Director at the Nuclear Industry Association. NIA is a UK-based trade association representing more than 300 member companies across the entire nuclear supply chain, from fuel manufacturers to decommissioning specialists. Millie, thank you so much for joining us today, I'm so excited to get to talk to you and have you on the show!

Millie Beaver Thank you for having me, it's great to be here and great to see you again and chat all things nuclear!

Jordan Houghton I know, and I'm so excited to be doing a UK-focused episode because it's my favorite place and I haven't been back since I was there with you. So, let's start first with how you got involved with nuclear. What drew you to focus on this industry?

Millie Beaver It's really funny actually, because looking back now, it was almost like this invisible string throughout my career that I never knew was there. And you know, if my physics teacher knew that I was in nuclear now, I think he would genuinely fall off his chair. He'd say, absolutely not, not Millie, because I was not science-y at all at school or anything like that. But essentially, I studied political science and international relations at university. Then when I left, it was the pandemic, so my travel plans got put on hold and I took up working for my local MP, who was Victoria Prentis. And after I worked for her for about a year I went and worked for another MP in the heart of Parliament, so I moved to London, called Tobias Ellwood, and he was the chair of our Defense Select Committee. And a lot of my work with him actually covered nuclear energy from a energy security standpoint. So, I worked in Parliament for just shy of three years in total and then I thought, I'll do the classic move out and I'll go into public affairs consultancy, which a lot of parliamentary staffers do, and I actually had an array of clients but one of which was a advanced modular reactor company called newcleo, and over time I ended up being the account lead for that company. And it was by far my favorite account. I loved it, I loved everything about nuclear, I was clearly really invested, I understood the asks, I understood the cause, and I wanted to champion it. And I had dealings with the NIA on behalf of my clients, so I knew the NIA somewhat when I was representing newcleo. So, when the NIA came up as an opportunity for me to join the team, I grabbed it with both hands and I've been here for over two years now. It has gone so quickly. And I love the fact that although it is one industry, one sector, it is by far the most diverse industry that I know, and no day is the same. And you are working on different technologies and different companies, so that's kind of what drew me in. But yeah, weird invisible stream throughout all of it.

Jordan Houghton You're bringing up your high school physics teacher just took me back because thinking about it, mine would also not believe it. I hung on in that class by, like, the skin of my teeth. That was, that was—

Millie Beaver Obviously, it's embarrassing. I mean, if anyone ever saw those grades, I'd be—I would be terrified.

Jordan Houghton Kids, listen, you can do anything! You're not defined by your primary school interests or grades! Okay, so tell us a little bit more about NIA, the work you're doing, what the organization does.

Millie Beaver So, the NIA, as you said, is the civil trade association in the UK covering nuclear energy. We are a mighty team, but very small in numbers. People are always surprised to find that there's about 12 to 14 of us full-time employees spanning membership, policy, public affairs, communications and kind of everything in between. And our main role will always be to be the biggest supporter and advocate for the UK nuclear sector, to make sure we get the changes that we need, the support from government that is necessary for us to continue growing, and to make sure our workers are represented, supported, well paid, and everything in between.

Jordan Houghton So, in the U.S. right now, public perception and support of nuclear is almost at an all-time high. Where does it stand in the UK? How do people feel about it there?

Millie Beaver Well, we are in a similar boat in that we've seen such incredible progress after years of misinformation, misunderstanding, confusion. There's been a really noticeable steady increase since about 2021, and we have actually very recently, last week, we published our most recently commissioned YouGov polling, which actually shows that 43 percent of people in the UK think nuclear is their favorite energy source for keeping the lights on. So, to have 43 percent of people say that is quite significant given, as I said, in the teens, the 2010s to 2015s, that wouldn't have been the case. And 36 percent of people think that nuclear will generate the most jobs and investment. And when you compare that to wind and solar, they both stood at 14 percent each. So, you're looking at over double, think, that nuclear is there for that industrialization as well. And then another thing that we've seen which is really important in the work we're doing now, is obviously we've got a lot of our existing power stations going offline over the next couple of years, and 53 percent of people support replacing retiring power stations and just 22 percent are in opposition. So, I think that answers your question. I think, you know, we're seeing this fantastic increase and sustained support that only continues to rise, really, as things like Sizewell C, Hinkley Point C, and the SMRs kind of gain public interest and backing.

Jordan Houghton Those are incredible numbers.

Millie Beaver I know.

Jordan Houghton Almost half think nuclear is the best option. That's wild. And yes, a similar situation to here in the U.S, like, that's a big change over the last several years. No doubt testament to the work that NIA is doing.

Millie Beaver And all of our members. I think the way that our members, especially post-general election, realized that they really needed to be visible with a new government that'd come in with new priorities. It was—I mean, talk about a gear change, it was fantastic. And actually, parliamentarian perception has changed so much in the last couple of years as well.

Jordan Houghton Incredible. Okay, so I want to talk about some of the projects you just mentioned. So, let's start with Sizewell C. Tell us about—tell our listeners about that project. I know it just secured its final investment decision. So, what is Sizewell C? What will it mean for energy in the UK?

Millie Beaver So, Sizewell C is an absolutely fantastic project for—not only for the nuclear industry but for the country as a whole. It will be two 1.6 gigawatt pressure water reactors, so that's a total of 3.2 gigawatts, and they will power 6 million homes for 60 years. So, I mean, when you actually just dwell on that number, 6 million homes, 60 years, you realize the scale of this project and it is following in the footsteps of Hinkley Point C, which is currently under construction. There was nervousness when Labor came in to government that the Sizewell C development would not take place, would be paused, there would be this lack of momentum. So, securing that final investment decision was really, really key to make sure that this project will continue and will get the financial backing that it needs. It's so important for many reasons, but one that I've touched on briefly recently is that 5 of our 6 gigawatts of nuclear in the UK will go offline by 2030. So we will be left with 1.2 gigawatts at Sizewell B, and that is it. Now, I say that, then we might be able to squeeze out some more lifetime extensions from a few of our existing fleet, but at the moment they all set to go offline by 2030 because they have been operating for so long and the manufacturing components, obviously they have a lifespan to them. If we don't seek to rebuild the gigawatts that we are losing, we're really going to feel it at a time when, actually, the country is struggling with the cost of living, energy prices, energy spikes being felt by many countries, especially given the international scene and kind of landscape that we're all kind of having to contend with at the moment, but Sizewell C will be bringing 3.2 gigawatts back online and that is something that is so valuable for us as a country so we're very excited by the project.

Jordan Houghton So, a lot of buzz is around SMRs and we're going to talk about SMRs, but Sizewell C is a large-scale gigawatt reactor. What made the UK commit to another large-scale reactor?

Millie Beaver I think a big part of it is the fact that we are losing a lot of our nuclear capacity in the next four or five years. So, a bold statement and commitment needed to be made to make sure that we get a lot of gigawatts online at the same time, which obviously you can do with a large-scale gigawatt reactor. But it was also an element of, we need to reap the rewards of economies of scale and actually the fleet deployment approach—which we see in South Korea, we see it in France—we won't see here if we don't build upon what we have started with Hinkley Point C. Hinkley Point C had its struggles, had its challenges, and they are ironing out so many of those that it would be foolish to not then reap the benefits of that by putting everyone into this next power station. And the long-term socio-economic benefits, not just for the East of England, where obviously Sizewell C will be in Suffolk, it's also so far reaching and the larger nuclear power stations do bring those longer, larger socio-economic values into economies and give it a real boost, often in economies that really need it the most, local economies that are by the sea, that aren't by a major town, they aren't by a major city, you know, outside the kind of London bubble. So, Sizewell C was really important for that, you know, that energy security, making sure we replenish, essentially, our nuclear capacity that we are losing over the next couple of years and making sure that we get that economies of scale through the fleet deployment approach.

Jordan Houghton That is such a great point that you made and one that we are making in the U.S. all the time, which is that you have to have the fast follow to reap the benefits of the project. There's incredible cost savings that come as a result of that if you can continue building because you've learned so much from the process that you want to just quickly go into doing it again.

Millie Beaver Absolutely.

Jordan Houghton Okay, I mentioned SMRs, I want to talk about SMRs. Rolls Royce, which by the way, I promise you most of the listeners over on this side of the pond are going to be surprised to learn that they do things other than cars.

Millie Beaver Yep!

Jordan Houghton People are going to be so surprised by that! Rolls Royce is building Europe's first small modular reactor in Wales.

Millie Beaver It is.

Jordan Houghton Tell us about it! Tell us about that project. You gave a great answer on why the UK is building large scale, so talk about pursuing the smaller technology alongside the gigawatt scale plants.

Millie Beaver I mean, this is such an exciting project. I feel like I'm saying that about everything that you're asking me, so it doesn't seem sincere! But genuinely, both Sizewell C and Hinkley Point C as large scales and now with our SMR project, they really are taking the industry by storm. So, we've actually just renamed the project. So, the Rolls Royce SMR Project in Wylfa on Ynis Môn will be called Project Gwyndod. I think for the UK a key part of why we wanted to pursue an SMR project at the same time as a large-scale project like Sizewell C is because we want to get the UK back to being this leader in nuclear development. We used to be, if you take it back to the 70s and 80s, the UK really was leading the way with nuclear development. We want to be that again, and I think that's a big reason why government and industry were pushing for both to be done. As with needing a diverse energy mix as a country, you want to have a diverse range of technologies within the nuclear aspect of that energy mix. Sizewell C, Hinkley Point C, your large-scales are tried and tested, they are not first-of-a-kind, so we know what we're doing with them. But also obviously larger means longer in terms of time scales and in terms of the sizeable mission that is building on site everything in one place, whereas with SMRs, their smaller footprint means that they can be deployed in various places across the UK. And that also means that they can be used to power data centers, which I'm sure in the U.S. there's a lot of discussion about the need for reliable power sources for something so power-intensive like your data centers, which, obviously everyone is wanting AI nowadays in their back pockets, so SMRs would be something that could do that. They'll be able to supply electricity to a remote location, and they can also provide heat as well as electricity so they can do those more power intensive industries. I think kickstarting the way in which our industry thinks about being innovative with various technologies is so important and being the first in Europe will only open the gate for everyone else who is keen to deploy SMRs and AMRs across not just the UK, but in other countries, and it is such an exciting project and I'm really keen that it is taking place in Wales which haven't had new nuclear for a really long time Wylfa have been crying out to get nuclear back to their local area and I think we will really see those benefits firsthand first for local communities. The key difference between an SMR and a gigawatt-scale plant, aside from the actual size of the reactor, is the modular construction aspect of it. So, what you will find with SMR projects like the Rolls-Royce SMR GBE-N project is, their reactors will be built in a separate manufacturing facility and then delivered and placed and plugged in on site really. So, what that means is it will boost local economies across various locations whereas with large-scale, everything gets put largely into one area. You do obviously have offshoots with the supply chain. With the SMRs it's far more about the offshoots. And then obviously you still get that localized boost, so Wylfa-Sizewell C, 3,000 jobs on site so that will be kind of your local people getting those jobs and getting that uplift, but a lot of it will be about the manufacturing supply chain and making sure that non-nuclear communities can actually still reap the benefits.

Jordan Houghton Okay, so let's talk about jobs, workforce, and community impact more, because I think this is a natural transition to that. And obviously, with all of this development on the horizon, we need people to actually staff all of these projects that bring the plants to life. So, I want to start by saying, NIA publishes a jobs map every September. And you all reported that 2024 and 2025, there were more than 10,000 new jobs recorded across your membership. What does that growth look like on the ground, what do you attribute that to? That's a great number over just the course of a year.

Millie Beaver This is one of my favorite things to talk about because for us, nuclear jobs are the biggest area of excellence for the industry. You are highly paid, highly skilled, and long-term in your employment. So, not only are you getting a GVA of almost double the average UK worker, but you are getting an incredibly long-term job, should you want it, and there are so many options for upskilling while you're a part of that nuclear family. We’re actually launching our 2026 jobs map this month, and while I can't give the complete specifics, we are going to be reaching six figures for the first time and again it really is in response to that government certainty of saying we want more nuclear in this country. The industry are responding by saying, brilliant, we're going to hire the workforce that you need to make that happen. And the growth is throughout the entire nuclear supply chain rather than just in one place or one occupation. As we go back to almost the physics teacher analogy, it's not just your classic nuclear jobs. You have bus drivers, you have caterers, you have accommodation managers, you have lawyers, you have communication professionals. You have so many different professions that feed into what needs to happen for a nuclear station to thrive and not only be operational but be maintained and then be decommissioned. It really does take—it takes a village of various different people with various different skill sets and I think nuclear touches a lot of people that never thought it would and I am the perfect example, you know, never thought I would work in the nuclear industry and yet here I am, so, it's fantastic.

Jordan Houghton The other thing that's really cool is a lot of these positions are going to places outside of London, like coastal and northern communities that have had historically fewer economic opportunities. So, it's bringing economic transformation to these areas as well. What's that like for the communities?

Millie Beaver I genuinely would say it is life changing. And naturally you will always have some people in the communities that don't agree with the construction, but the fact that the most supportive communities for new nuclear development are those that have nuclear already there is the biggest indicator that the local communities are who feel the benefits the most. As I said, you know, long-term, well-paid, and highly skilled. But it also drives money into the local town, the shops, the pubs, hospitality, you know, workers are gonna go out for dinner on the weekends, they're going to want to go to the pub after work, they're going to want to buy new clothes, and it really injects a group of people, a lot of people, hundreds of thousands of people into a local area that doesn't normally get those benefits like a large city would like London, Manchester, Nottingham. And it allows younger adults to stay in their hometowns if they want to. And we're increasingly seeing that actually, a lot of young people do want to stay close to home. And if they want a job in construction or if they a job, you know, in infrastructure projects, a lot of them would like to stay nearby and they want to raise their families where they were raised. And this allows them to do that. And there's a big part of that again, going back to the SMRs in Wales, there are so many Welsh workers that work at Hinkley Point C that would love the opportunity to go home. And it really unlocks that opportunity where you don't have to travel to somewhere big and glitzy and sparkly to earn well, you know, it can come to your doorstep. So, it's absolutely fantastic.

Jordan Houghton I love that. That's just such a great part of the story!

Millie Beaver It is, isn't it?

Jordan Houghton And it's—by the way, it's the same here in the U.S., the strongest supporters are the communities where there are existing nuclear plants already. They love it, so many people in those communities spend their entire careers in those plants, and other family members can grow up and grow into the industry. So, they're a great, like, recruitment group for other communities to bring nuclear because they're able to show firsthand the impact it can have.

Millie Beaver Absolutely. They really are the best case study.

Jordan Houghton Yeah, and so the final investment decision for Sizewell C triggered a hiring boom in supply chain companies. You've talked a little bit about the importance of that, but talk about that, why that momentum is so critical for sustaining the growth.

Millie Beaver I always say to parliamentarians when we're explaining why we need government certainty, it's always almost the chicken and the egg issue. The government want to know that the supply chain is mature and can handle decisions that they make, whereas the supply chain wants to know that the government are actually taking this industry seriously and they are meaning what they say about approving more projects before they then spend money hiring more people and training more people so we kind of have this sticking point where the industry is saying unless you show us that you are serious about making nuclear development a priority for the country, we are not going to invest more. And we've really shown, actually, that we do mean it, so if you show momentum we respond. And that's exactly what happened with Sizewell C. The fact that we had a 10,000 person increase between 2024 and 2025 is in large part because this Labor government came in, everyone was a little bit nervous about whether or not projects would change because of it, and they approved Sizewell C's final investment decision and they concluded the Great British Energy Nuclear, so GBE-N's, SMR competition, and then the industry said, right, perfect we've got our momentum we will now respond by hiring more people. So, now we're in a nice flow and it just took that few decisions from government to show the industry, ok, government is serious, and now we are responding, you know, full throttle, everyone wants to hire to make sure that they're competitive in the bidding process for contracts.

Jordan Houghton Are there other projects in the pipeline? Are there discussions to keep the momentum going? What are you looking toward in the future?

Millie Beaver So, a big thing for us is, we can see that this government is trying to create a legacy. They are trying to show that they were the government that made the decision to get nuclear, new nuclear, back on the map in the UK. So, they have put something out called the Advanced Nuclear Framework, which is essentially a way in which advanced nuclear technology, so your AMRs—otherwise your micro-reactors, they are sometimes known—can apply to get government approval to then start privately developing in the UK. So, that's really big and we're seeing a lot of projects now starting to come out of the woodwork. X-energy, for example, with Centrica in Hartlepool, which obviously has one of our large-scale reactors there, they're now going to build AMRs there, Centrica alongside X-energy technology. We have other projects that are in the works. Again, sometimes they are in nuclear sites, others are in ex-industrial sites, they're looking at ex-coal-fired power stations, things like that. So, for us, making sure that that advanced nuclear framework works is really important. And for us it's also now making sure that the regulation is right to make sure that everything can flourish, because if we get this right and we get the private investment, the support that it needs and the tick boxes it needs ticked, then this can become its, kind of, self-functioning ecosystem with less government investment needed, so that's kind of where we're looking at the moment. And there is still talk of a third large-scale site in the UK before the election, literally I think the day before the general was announced, the Conservative government had said that a gigawatt scale site would be developed at Wylfa. So now we are obviously having the SMRs being developed at Wylfa, so the Labour government have switched that a little bit, but what they have said is they tasked GBE-N with producing a large-scale siting study so we can see where else in the UK could host a large scale reactor. Now, this is where the devolve administrations kind of come into it. One of the best places for a large-scale site will be Torness in Scotland, but the Scottish Government are anti-new nuclear development and they currently have a planning ban in place. So, it will be really interesting to see how we develop as we move forward.

Jordan Houghton I was going to ask you about challenges. That was a good one that you flagged. Are there any others that NIA is tracking and working through?

Millie Beaver For us at the moment, it’s making sure the Nuclear Regulation Bill is introduced into Parliament and it proceeds with pace. So, this was off the back of, we had someone called John Fingleton undertake a nuclear review and he basically put forward over 40 recommendations to government to say we have lost our way here with the amount of regulations that the nuclear industry is having to jump through these hoops to get online, and we are harming our potential. And that's our biggest hurdle. It remains to be that regulatory landscape for major infrastructure projects. So, the NIA put together a number of working groups to basically ensure that regulatory outcomes are proportionate to the actual risks and benefits of nuclear operations while supporting the strategic interests of the nation. And a big sticking point is a lot of the regulations don't reflect modern designs and standards and operations, so they're really outdated. And another thing that again we kind of run into is this proportionate application of the habitat regulations. The greatest threat to our environment is climate change. So, nuclear helps combat climate change, but what we have is a very disproportionate approach right now where companies are having to pay millions of pounds to protect a very, very, very small amount of fish, for example—you may have heard of the fish disco fiasco with Hinkley Point C, you know—that is a perfect example of how disproportionate this regulation has become. So, we're really pushing on making sure that regulation is improved, regulation is improved, so that all of these fantastic projects that are in the pipeline can proceed at pace.

Jordan Houghton I'm curious, beyond the jobs and the energy production, are you hoping for the UK's nuclear investment to prove anything else or model anything else for the rest of Europe?

Millie Beaver For me, it actually takes me back to when I worked for Tobias Howard for the Defense Committee. Sovereign energy is so important. And I think we're really proving that with nuclear as a baseload energy. It's always on, you can turn it up or down, and it is something that is a constant. And we need that in a time of such international uncertainty, political uncertainty. There is so much that causes price shocks to the UK and Europe and everywhere else that would be better prevented or at least the level of which it's felt by consumers and households that are trying to ensure that they have enough money, and their energy bills don't skyrocket, and nuclear and sovereign nuclear—but sovereign energy as a whole is just so important to that, and I think there are other impacts when energy spikes, and when there's uncertainty, and when the price of oil goes up, mortgage rates go up. Everything is very interconnected, and I think if you have sovereign energy and you know that you can keep your lights on, that is a very powerful card to have in your back pocket as a country, and that has been so, so highlighted in the last six years that we can't lose sight of that alongside everything else.

Jordan Houghton Millie, your organization, NIA, is doing such great work. If people wanna learn more about it, where can they go?

Millie Beaver So listeners can go to www.niauk.org to see essentially all about us, our membership, who to contact if you want to learn more. And if you're a member you get such wonderful benefits, like a weekly newsletter that we put out with all of the industry's latest updates, various events, like Nuclear Week in Parliament, and so much more. And genuinely, if anyone is interested to find out more from the parliamentarian side of things or the government affairs side things, they're more than welcome to reach out to me and find me on LinkedIn, I'm sure we can have a good chat about all things nuclear!

Jordan Houghton A great place to end it on, but I do have one more question for you that we're asking all of our guests this season. What is your favorite place you have traveled to and why?

Millie Beaver I would say Rome. I had the best time in Rome, like, three years ago and I just think it is most beautiful city, and who doesn't love Italian food?

Jordan Houghton I was in Rome for the first time last fall, and agree, it was gorgeous, and I ate and ate and ate and then I shopped and shopped and shopped, which is what I do.

Millie Beaver It was an expensive long weekend! But I just think the history there, the landscape, I think it's absolutely gorgeous. And I'm a fidgety person, so I need a city break. I need to be wandering around and sightseeing, so, Rome is definitely up there for me.

Jordan Houghton Did you have like a favorite meal that you had there? That—or, they were just all good?

Millie Beaver I mean, I think I ate pizza every day, possibly twice a day, while I was there, and all the ice cream. I mean, everything is just done to such a wonderful standard there. It just put—it put my home cooking to shame.

Jordan Houghton I love that. So, we've been asking our guests this season their favorite place you've traveled to. I love Millie's answer about Rome, but as long as we're on the UK focus episode, I'm gonna answer the question myself, because my favorite place that I've ever traveled to is the UK. London is my favorite city, hands down. So, I'm really excited we got to do this episode. I'm ready to book another ticket to go. Just listening to Millie and her lovely, sophisticated British accent, I'm like. Let's go, time to plan a new vacation there. So, if you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to follow Fissionary on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. And while you're there, leave us a rating or review. It helps others discover the show. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on Fissionary. Cheers!