High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors

Lord Spellar Excerpts

Monday 19th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

I think public opinion is changing, and it has changed quite a lot in the past few years, but the noble Lord is right that there remain a lot of obstacles to moving fast in this space. That is why the Fingleton report, with its 47 recommendations, is so important. We will be responding fully to that within the three-month period—that is, by the end of February—and will propose to drive that forward as fast as we can, for exactly the reasons he has raised.

[Lord Spellar (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Lord Trefgarne (Con)]

My Lords—

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, it is the turn of the Labour Benches.

[Lord Spellar (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government’s impetus on the nuclear programme is extremely welcome, but would it not be even better for the nations and regions of this country, and for our important manufacturing industry, if our world-leading position were being reinforced by doing the maximum amount of engineering for the construction of these projects here in the UK?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

The short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is that, as we move towards contract completion with Rolls-Royce for the small modular reactors, we want to ensure that 70% of the supply chain, both onsite and offsite, is through British construction.