UK opens £120mn nuclear fund

Fund aims to kickstart projects and attract private investment

The UK has opened its £120mn ($146mn) Future Nuclear Enabling Fund, which aims to support the government’s ambition to approve eight new reactors this decade. The fund will provide targeted, competitively allocated grants for the construction of projects—including small modular reactors. “Our new £120mn fund will push forward our plan to deploy a new fleet of nuclear power stations as part of a British nuclear renaissance,” says UK business and energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng. Nuclear forms a key part of the UK energy security strategy released last month. The government aims to reach 24GW of nuclear capacity by 2050—accounting for 25pc of projected energy demand by that year. But while the g