Prospect joins industrial consortium calling on the government to back Sizewell C

Prospect has joined a new British industrial consortium formed to ensure Sizewell C gets the go ahead.

 

The consortium is calling on the Government to back Sizewell C, the proposed new nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast.

Thirty two companies and organisations from all regions of the UK, including some of the UK’s biggest firms supporting clean energy, have come together to urge the Government to give the major infrastructure project the green light.

As well as Prospect and other unions the GMB and Unite, the Sizewell C Consortium includes Assystem; Atkins; Balfour Beatty Bailey; Bilfinger; Cavendish Nuclear; Doosan Babcock; EDF; Jacobs; Laing O’Rourke; Mott MacDonald; Mace, and a host of smaller businesses.

Sizewell C is a pre-packed stimulus project that will provide a major economic boost for the UK and set the country on the road to a green recovery. The Consortium intends to sign memorandums of understanding  with regions across the UK to guarantee British jobs and investment in the building of Sizewell C. Up to 70% of contracts for Sizewell C will go to British-based businesses, securing the future of the nuclear supply chain and creating tens of thousands of jobs across the UK.

Sizewell C will provide 3.2GW of always-on clean energy, enough to power 6 million homes. Approval of the project would be a major boost for the UK nuclear sector, which directly provides more than 60,000 highly skilled jobs, with another 160,000 jobs sustained across the wider supply chain.

However, without Government backing for Sizewell C soon, thousands of these jobs will be lost, which would seriously undermine the UK’s nuclear delivery capability.

Sue Ferns, Prospect senior deputy general secretary, said:

“If the Government is serious about levelling up the regions and meeting net zero then it needs to support Sizewell C and the nuclear supply chain. There are few infrastructure projects of this scale that are ready to go and which can provide an immediate Post COVID- 19 boost for jobs locally and nationally, including up to a thousand apprenticeships for young talent”.