Campaigners against a new nuclear power station in Suffolk have said it’s a “waiting game” after the Prime Minister called for more nuclear power in Britain but failed to elaborate on more detailed plans.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference on Wednesday, Mr Johnson said it was important that the country looked to "more wind and more nuclear power" and became "less dependent on hydrocarbons from abroad".
The PM said that changes to energy, amongst other policies, would help costs be "held down" and save the public money.
It had been expected that Mr Johnson may use the speech to commit to the construction of two new nuclear power stations, but this was not the case with the Prime Minister choosing to focus on other infrastructure projects.
To coincide with the PM’s speech the anti-Sizewell C group, Stop Sizewell C lit up the Manchester One building on Tuesday night.
The protestors projected messages including “Don’t Buy Sizewell C - Too damaging, too costly, too risky”, “Build Back Greener, Faster - we can’t afford to wait for Sizewell C” and “Sizewell C is a taxing issue - we’ll all pay the £20 billion construction cost”.
Speaking after the PM’s speech, Alison Downes from the group agreed with commentators that it had been “policy light”.
“I think we will have to wait to see what they have in mind,” she said.
She said it was hard to know what Government was thinking about sites like Sizewell and whether it would “hedge its bets” by reconsidering sites like Wylfa in north Wales, which has been labelled the "perfect location" and "best site".
“I think we will have to be very watchful for what may come in the weeks ahead,” she said.
A spokesman for EDF said: "‘Nuclear is needed because it’s available 24/7 and will balance a future low carbon energy system dominated by weather-dependent renewables.
"A system with nuclear will be much cheaper for consumers compared to a system based on renewables alone.
“Sizewell C is the only nuclear project ready to start construction in this Parliament. It has an approved design and will benefit from the experience gained at Hinkley Point C and provide thousands of local jobs and opportunities for people to gain new skills leading to rewarding long term employment.”
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