Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of Toshiba’s withdrawal from development of a nuclear power plant in Cumbria on the future delivery of a sustainable, secure and diverse energy sector.

This Government was the first to give the go ahead to a nuclear power station in a generation. The percentage of electricity generated by nuclear in 2010 was 16.4%, in 2017 it was 20.8% (DUKES, 2011 & 2018). We want to see a diverse range of sources for Britain’s energy production. Toshiba’s decision to withdraw from the Moorside project does not change this, and due to the long lead up time to the project it will not affect security of supply. Moorside still remains a potential site for new nuclear, and I am willing to meet with any viable proponents wishing to develop the site.