Britain and the United States are expected to sign an agreement this week to help companies from one country to build nuclear projects in the other.
The British government is hopeful that reaching a deal with the United States will speed up what has, so far, been a halting effort to build nuclear plants in Britain. “Together with the U.S., we are building a golden age of nuclear,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement on Monday.
Mr. Starmer’s government favors construction of more nuclear plants despite their drawbacks. These facilities come with huge price tags and other risks, but they produce large volumes of steady energy with low emissions.
The industry’s advocates say that the benefits of having large domestic sources of power generation outweigh the negatives. “Replacing reliance on imports with domestic carbon-free power will contribute significantly to the U.K.’s energy security,” said Vincent C. Zabielski, a partner at the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in London who works on nuclear issues.
Building nuclear stations also creates jobs, an important consideration for the government, which is aligned with the trade unions. About 98,000 people already work in the industry in Britain, constructing, operating and decommissioning plants, according to the Nuclear Industry Association, a trade group.
Britain’s existing nuclear plants are gradually reaching the end of their lives, and the country is struggling to add new ones. The last nuclear station to be completed, Sizewell B in Suffolk, began generating electricity in 1995.
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