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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of rising temperatures on the capacity of nuclear reactors to maintain adequate levels of cold water.

All UK nuclear reactors take their cooling from the sea, which is largely unaffected by short-term peaks in ambient temperature. Heatwaves will not lead to unexpected reactor outages.

The independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (the ONR), requires all of its nuclear site licensees to demonstrate resilience against external hazards like extremes of temperature. This must be updated regularly to reflect the latest evidence and climate projections.

The ONR would not allow a nuclear installation to operate if it judged that it was not safe to do so.