By Paul Homewood

http://ift.tt/2BGNHRh

The Government is due to make an announcement on the future of small modular reactors (SMRs) this week, but, as the Telegraph reports, companies in the sector fear it might no go far enough:

A push for new nuclear power was announced by George Osborne two years ago, with up to £250m on offer for technologies that could help guarantee security of supply for the UK’s power needs. Mr Harrington has acknowledged a policy announcement is long overdue.

However, sources close to companies involved in SMRs fear the announcement from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will not provide the strong signal or required funding needed to push ahead with work.

“The mood music coming out of BEIS is that they are just kicking the can down the road ,” said on nuclear industry source. “Rather than a great announcement it looks like they are just buying time.”

The source described a “deep frustration” within industry at government delays on SMRs, adding: “There’s an absence of understanding of the scale of the challenge on energy in the UK.”

http://ift.tt/2BGNHRh

And so, apparently, our energy policy continues to drift.