UK eases nuclear rules to power data centres with small reactors

The reforms target opposition from “NIMBYs” and greenlight the development of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), which can be placed on or near data centre sites.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended the changes, vowing to “back the builders of this nation” and reject those who have “strangled our chances of cheaper energy, growth and jobs for far too long".

“This country hasn’t built a nuclear power station in decades. We’ve been let down and left behind,” the Prime Minister said. “I’ll take the radical decisions needed to wrestle Britain from its status quo slumber, to turbocharge our plan for change.”

The UK’s current rules on nuclear development restrict the country to just eight sites across England and Wales — with the ongoing Hinkley Point C project in Bridgwater set to be the first plant to be built in years.

The Starmer government’s planning overhauls would streamline planning processes, enabling developers to identify potential sites as early as the pre-application stage.

The reforms aim to speed up planning timelines, with previous projects suffering from being bogged down by local planning committees and extensive environmental surveys. Expiry dates on projects are also set to be scrapped, which would prevent applications from being stuck in limbo.

Developers will be allowed to develop SMR projects for the first time in the UK, enabling them to co-locate them with sites, including data centres. The government contended that SMR projects are “cheaper and quicker to build than traditional nuclear power plants”, enabling them to be placed in a wider variety of locations compared to traditional nuclear plants.

Prospective nuclear projects would still be subject to rules that would prevent projects from being installed near densely populated areas and places of military activity.

In addition to the reforms, the government will set up a Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce to propose legislative improvements to make it more attractive for companies to build in the UK.

“Build, build, build - that is what Britain’s clean energy mission is all about,” said Ed Miliband, the UK’s Energy Secretary. “The British people have been left vulnerable to global energy markets for too long and the only way out is to build our way to a new era of clean electricity.”

The UK was home to the world's first commercial nuclear power station, Calder Hall, which came online in 1956, before being decommissioned in 2003.

However, the UK’s last nuclear power station was built back in 1995, and the ongoing Hinkley Point C project has been mired with countless setbacks and red tape, including a 30,000-page environmental assessment just to obtain planning permission.

The Starmer government wants to reduce the red tape as part of Labour’s wider planning reforms, including allowing data centre operators to apply for status as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project to speed up their planning applications.

The government bemoaned the country's current nuclear output, highlighting that China is currently constructing 29 reactors while the EU has 12 projects in the planning stages.

“Investors want to get on and build reliable, cheap nuclear power, which will in turn support critical modern infrastructure, such as supercomputers to power the UK’s ambitions - but they have been held back,” a government statement read. “Today’s plan will shake up the planning rules to make it easier to build nuclear across the country – delivering jobs, cheaper bills in the long term, and more money in people’s back pockets.”

The project was welcomed by energy and nuclear groups, as well as hyperscalers like Microsoft, which has turned to nuclear energy to provide clean power to its data centres, including reviving the infamous Three Mile Island site.

Darren Hardman, CEO of Microsoft UK, said: “We welcome the government’s plans to accelerate the building of safe, modern nuclear as part of the energy mix. Economic growth will require increased energy supply for the UK, but we must not lose sight of our ambitions for a fully decarbonised grid.”

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