The British government announced on Thursday that it is considering another large nuclear power plant in the country in addition to the current Hinkley Point C projects under construction and Sizewell C under development, both developed by French energy company EDF, AFP reported. , quoted by Agerpres.

The British executive published a “nuclear energy road map” on Thursday, which includes, among other things, “exploring the construction of a major new power station”, according to a statement.

The UK, which aims to become carbon neutral by 2050 and has stressed energy security since the start of the war in Ukraine, is keen to accelerate the development of nuclear energy, which does not release CO2 into the environment.

London, which hopes to meet a quarter of its electricity needs from nuclear power by 2050, is building large conventional power stations but also wants to rely on small modular reactors – cheaper and therefore easier to finance but which still require years of development.

In October, six companies were selected by the executive as finalists in the tender to build these small nuclear reactors, including Britain’s Rolls Royce as well as EDF.

The French energy company, which has been the operator of an existing nuclear fleet across the English Channel since 2009, said in a statement on Tuesday that it “plans to invest a further 1.3 billion pounds (1.5 billion euros) in five nuclear power plants to produce in of Great Britain between 2024 and 2026.”

On Sunday, London announced the launch of the HALEU (High Assay Low Enriched Uranium) fuel program to power the next generation of nuclear reactors, which is so far produced commercially only by Russia, with an investment of 300 million euros (348 million euros).

Thursday’s announcement “offers some hope, but this roadmap must become a reality – and quickly – or we risk another energetic false start,” the GMB union said in a statement.

For its part, the non-governmental organization Greenpeace UK criticized London’s regular “grand statements” about nuclear power, hoping to attract investors to “fund this 20th century technology”.

But “the energy sector knows that the economic arguments in favor of slow (implementation) and expensive nuclear power simply do not hold up and that the future lies (behind) renewables,” added Doug Parr of Greenpeace UK.