Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

A day before we hear Chancellor Rachel Reeves' much-anticipated Spending Review, the government has announced £14.2bn for a new nuclear power station.

The Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk (on an existing nuclear site) is expected to start supplying power in the mid-2030s.

Reeves said the new plant would power six million homes, employ 10,000 people during construction, and support thousands more jobs across the UK.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, though, warned that Sizewell would not be given "a blank cheque" - and today's funding only covers the next four years of what will be at least a decade-long construction.

We've heard the concerns of locals in Leiston around rising rent costs and the potential impact on their local environment. Others, though, welcome the investment.

And - while Sizewell C has taken the headlines - the government also announced £2.5bn for a small modular reactor programme. Our reporter Kate Stephens looks at where and when we might see them.

We're now bringing our live coverage to a close, but you can find key details in our news story, and our explainer on nuclear power is here. Thanks for reading.

Kate Stephens
Senior science producer

Image source, Getty Images

Alongside the £14.2bn for Sizewell C - a conventional nuclear power plant - the government also announced £2.5bn for a small modular reactor programme.

The idea with small modular reactors (SMRs) is they will be not only quicker and cheaper to install but they will be smaller and more flexible in where they can be sited - so closer to people where energy demand is greatest.

If Rolls Royce (the government's preferred bidder in the programme) can turn the designs into reality, and Great British Nuclear approves further funding in 2029, then the government says the equivalent of around three million homes could be provided with clean, secure homegrown energy.

They could also be beneficial for companies who could site an SMR nearby.

Microsoft, Amazon and Google - with their power hungry data centres - have signed deals in the US to use the reactors when they become available.

Richard Daniel
BBC Look East

Image source, Martin Giles/BBC

Throughout our coverage today, we've heard from a range of local people affected by the Sizewell C plant - including the swimming club getting funding for a coach; to the farmer who says the plans "beggar belief"; to the trainee paramedic who says the plans are creating a "buzz" in the local area.

Anne-Marie Robb, who lives in Eastbridge at the western edge of RSPB Minsmere, says while some people did not want the project to go ahead, they were "resigned to the fact it was coming".

"We cannot leave our parish without seeing evidence of the way the environment has been absolutely scalped with tree-cutting, soil removed, hedgerows gone, diggers, HGV lorries everywhere," she explains.

"It really is an assault on this part of Suffolk."

Mark Poynting
Climate and science reporter

UK nuclear generation has been falling since the late 1990s, and all but one of the UK’s ageing nuclear plants are due to retire in 2030 or earlier.

So nuclear output will drop further in the short term until new plants begin operating.

Hinkley Point C in Somerset and Sizewell C in Suffolk are currently expected to come online in 2029-31 and the mid-2030s respectively. They will have each have a capacity of about 3.2GW.

For context, current UK nuclear capacity is about 6GW – so these are sizeable developments.

The previous Conservative government announced it was aiming to increase nuclear power to 24GW by 2050 – equivalent to about a quarter of the UK’s expected electricity demand by then.

Earlier this year Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said he shared this “spirit of ambition” for nuclear, but stopped short of committing to that concrete goal.

He warned that speculative targets without proper plans could undermine investor confidence.

Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor

Scotland had a pioneering role in nuclear power, at Dounreay in the far north and Chapelcross in the far south.

But the SNP Scottish government has put a planning block on approval of any new developments, for environmental reasons. It doesn't like nuclear waste.

That means it loses out on the immense investments which are going to the south of England. But new large nuclear was only likely to be built in the south, near the largest population centres.

The future of Britain's electricity supply is looking to the north to provide wind power, where the wind blows more strongly and more reliably than the southern North Sea.

Smaller nuclear plants, which are being put into the mix, could be constructed in more locations, and that may put pressure on the Scottish government to ease its restrictions and allow some baseload electricity supply to be located closer to home.

But for now, it remains firmly opposed.

• Read our full story on the Scottish government's energy policy here

The Sizewell nuclear power stations site is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths National Landscape, external, part of the country legally designated, external as an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Sizewell itself is a small village with a shingle beach, pub and caravan park.

It is between the relatively affluent seaside holiday towns of Aldeburgh and Southwold, where a beach hut in the latter can cost you upwards of £100,000.

The BBC's Springwatch nature programme has been based at neighbouring RSPB Minsmere in previous seasons.

Further down the coast in Essex is the Bradwell-on-Sea Magnox nuclear plant which, like Sizewell A, is being decommissioned, having stopped generating electricity in 2002.

Kate Stephens
Senior science producer

In February 2025, external, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he would cut planning red tape to make it easier for developers to build the new smaller nuclear reactors on more sites across the country.

Certain criteria would have to be met. No sites will be approved close to airports, military sites or pipelines. It would also be ruled out if the site was valuable to nature or risked flooding.

Great British Nuclear, a public body with statutory powers to push through the government's nuclear plans, and which ran the SMR competition, aims to announce a site by the end of 2025.

It is likely the preferred location would include old industrial sites such as former nuclear plants or old coal mines close to the grid.

A final investment decision on whether to take the Rolls Royce design forward will be taken in 2029 with the aim is to see the first one operational by the mid 2030s.

Alice Cunningham
BBC News, Suffolk

Image source, Vikki Irwin/BBC

Ashley Shorey-Mills, 42, is the supply chain engagement director at Suffolk Chamber of Commerce which is helping Sizewell C with its commitments to businesses in and around the area.

He told BBC Radio Suffolk's breakfast show that aside from the £14.2bn investment announced by government today, the Sizewell project "has made commitments of over £4.5bn to be spent on local businesses and regional businesses in the east through construction".

"What we're able to do is support those businesses, based here in Leiston, to work on this project and be ready for what's coming."

Mr Shorey-Mills believes the construction industry will benefit first from Sizewell C before others see rewards from the project's legacy.

"Sizewell cannot just be seen in isolation; it is a catalyst for lots of businesses to upskill, retrain and develop to be able to handle projects like Sizewell, but also handle the multitude of energy and infrastructure opportunities that are coming to this part of the world."

Alice Cunningham
BBC News, Suffolk

Image source, Vikki Irwin/BBC

Labour MP for Ipswich, Jack Abbott, said he was "delighted" by the funding announcement and said it had been something he had pressed the government on "for some time".

“It is a critically important project, one which will help deliver our Plan for Change and achieve our missions to boost growth and strengthen Britain’s energy security," he said in a statement.

“The chancellor’s decision will be a major catalyst to the growth of our local, regional, and national economy, kick-starting the creation of thousands of well-paid, skilled, and secure jobs and generating billions of pounds for our economy."

Abbott, who won the seat back from the Conservatives in last year's general election, previously signed an agreement that Sizewell C would guarantee jobs for 500 Ipswich residents.

Why don't we have more nuclear power, like the French?published at 13:12 British Summer Time 10 June

13:12 BST 10 June

Mark Poynting
Climate and science reporter

France uses nuclear to generate most of its electricity - about two-thirds. This dates back to the 1970s, when it sought to rapidly expand nuclear capacity in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis.

In the UK’s case it only accounts for 14.2% of the electricity we generate.

That’s still above the global average of 10%, but why haven’t we followed France’s example? After all, advocates say nuclear provides a reliable source of low-carbon energy that isn’t dependent on the wind blowing or the Sun shining, and would help to wean the UK off fossil fuels.

Well for a start, nuclear projects are very expensive and take a long time to build. Opponents argue the money could be better spent on clean energy projects that are faster to come online.

Solar and wind, for example, generally have much lower costs per unit of electricity. At present the battery storage technology we need for these to really take off is at early stages, but this is changing.

Ben Parker
BBC News, Suffolk

Image source, Luke Deal/BBC

The government claims 10,000 jobs will be created as Sizewell C is being built.

Sizewell C, external says during construction there will be a peak of 7,900 workers on site and they say a third of those will come from the East of England.

Kevin Keable, from the trade body East of England Energy Group, says local jobs need to be created.

"It's important to upskill people right now; welders and pipe fitters are going to be needed forever, so we need to be training people in that technology," he says.

Image source, UK Parliament

Shadow minister Nick Timothy now stands for the Conservatives.

He begins by describing how "successive governments" allowed the UK to fall behind in leading the world in nuclear energy production.

Moving onto Sizewell, he asks Ed Miliband for a "precise date" when Parliament will hear the total government investment in the project - as well as the amount being invested by private donors.

(The government's £14.2bn announced today is just for the next four years).

Timothy also asks Milliband to commit to a new nuclear plant at Wylfa in Anglesey - where the original nuclear power station ended electricity generation in late 2015.

He is also critical of "the government's rush to decarbonise the grid in just five years" by "betting" on unreliable renewable sources.

"We need the energy secretary to focus on the possible, not stake the future our country's future and people's bills on ideology," Timothy adds, before sitting down.

Miliband now turns to other parts of the government's nuclear strategy, saying Rolls Royce will take on the creation of small modular reactors.

He says that in tomorrow’s Spending Review, the government will earmark £2.5bn in funding for SMRs.

"Our aim is to develop one of Europe’s first SMR fleets," he says.

He adds: "Taken together, the steps I have announced today will kick off the biggest nuclear building programme Britain has seen in half a century," Miliband says.

Miliband now describes how he initially identified Sizewell for a new site back in the late 2000s as energy secretary.

"It has taken 16 years but I am incredibly proud that we are today announcing £14.2bn public funding for this spending review period to build Sizewell C," he says.

The energy secretary then lauds the partnership with France and EDF, and praises local MPs for their work on nuclear energy.

He repeats some of the job benefits of Sizewell C, and reiterates that it will provide energy to six million homes.

"This project is good value for money for the taxpayer because there will be a clear economic return on the investment," he says.

Image source, UK Parliament

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband says Russia's invasion of Ukraine - and the energy crisis that followed - threw into focus the need for locally-produced power.

Britain "must shift as fast as possible to home-grown power", Miliband says, adding we need "all the low carbon systems" available.

He says that advice on reaching net zero is clear: nuclear is necessary to meet the UK's climate obligations.

"We're taking decisive steps to usher in a new golden age" in British nuclear, Miliband adds.

You can see the statement from the energy secretary by pressing watch live at the top of the page.

Vikki Irwin
BBC Radio Suffolk political reporter

Image source, Getty Images

I have spent the morning in Leiston, as the government announced its latest investment into the nuclear power plant at Sizewell C.

Leiston is the nearest town to the existing Sizewell A and B nuclear plants. The money, £14.2bn, won't cover the full costs of the project - and one person working locally felt the funds could be better spent elsewhere.

On the whole though there's a feeling in the town that this was always going to happen.

One resident told me this was the third power station to be built here in her lifetime. She told me this next few years of the construction phase would be the worst bit, then the community would start to see the benefits of the jobs, the new further education college funded by Sizewell C, and improved roads.

Opponents to the project are worried this part of Suffolk will never be the same again - despite reassurances that after the construction phase is over, many areas will be returned to their original states.

Ben Parker
Reporting from Suffolk

Image source, Johnnie Wright/BBC

The town of Leiston, just west of Sizewell, will host some of the thousands of workers needed for the nuclear power station's construction (the government says construction of the site will create 10,000 jobs).

Earlier this year, one local estate agent said that had seen some landlords seeing "pounds signs".

Luke Vale, who owns the Hamilton Smith estate agent, said: "If I put a house up for sale in Leiston, nine times out of 10 the viewing will be with someone who wants to buy it and rent it out per room."

Another estate agent told the BBC that family homes in the area that were normally rented for £1,500 a month were now being let for as much as £3,000 a month.

• You can read our full story from February here

Alice Cunningham
Reporting from Suffolk

Image source, Vikki Irwin/BBC

As part of the plans, Sizewell C has committed to funding community projects in and around the area.

Leiston and District Swimming Club, external is a volunteer-based club based at Leiston Leisure Centre and has benefited.

Tom Pawle, head coach, explains the club has already been given £38,000 to use including hiring a director of swimming among other things - and it will receive a further £50,000 over the next three years.

More now from Keir Starmer, who's visiting Suffolk.

Speaking to our business editor Simon Jack, Starmer says his government is not writing a "blank cheque" with taxpayer money to fund Sizewell C.

The £14.2bn investment "carries with it 10 years' worth of jobs for 10,000 people," alongside energy independence and security for the UK, he says.

"It's setting out a course for the future which means that we have control over our own energy," Starmer says.

He adds that it also ensures that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot put his boot on our throat" with prices.

Jack puts it to him that the funding announced only covers four years of a decade-long project - where will the rest of the money come from?

Starmer says the government has been "absolutely clear" about what it wants to achieve. He notes that the last time there was a project like this was 30 years ago.

"I want to invest in our future. China [and] France are doing this, and I want to be right up there with them," Starmer adds.