Miliband speaking at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he signed an agreement for US-UK collaboration in accelerating the development of advanced nuclear technologies. Credit: Getty Images Europe.

Speaking at the Nuclear Industry Association’s annual conference, Nuclear 2024, the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, emphasised that the nuclear industry “provides a model for the way our economy can work”. 

In his ministerial keynote speech, Miliband argued that the nuclear sector has consistently produced “well-paid, highly skilled, unionised jobs” that support local communities across the UK, which the government sees as “an essential part of a modern workplace”. He highlighted EDF data showcasing how, from 2011, Hinkley Point C, currently under construction in Somerset, contributed to a 25% increase in the number of young people living in the region. 

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Given its history of “social partnership and valuing the role of trade unions”, Miliband emphasised that the nuclear industry should be seen as “a model for elsewhere in the economy”. 

“In a broader sense, the truth is that the nuclear industry gives us a glimpse of what the clean energy economy can offer on the grounds of energy security, jobs and climate,” he added. 

Miliband also expressed his enthusiasm for SMRs and AMRs, which he sees as crucial components of the UK’s clean energy future.  

He noted that the ongoing SMR competition presents a “massive industrial opportunity” for the country, citing this as the reason that “the work of Great British Nuclear will remain an independent sister company to Great British Energy”, while stressing the potential of AMRs to help decarbonise difficult sectors such as heavy industry. 

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He believes that modular reactors, in which interest has been “supercharged by the rise of AI”, can lead the way in supplying clean power for a high-tech economy. 

“Of course, it is early days, but we should be open to the potential of modular reactors to power the fourth industrial revolution, just as coal powered the first,” he concluded. 

At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Miliband signed an agreement with US Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk to collaborate in accelerating the development of advanced nuclear technologies. 

Commenting on this deal, Miliband said: “Coming back from COP, spending time talking to international colleagues, I am constantly struck by the excitement there is around SMRs and AMRs in the international community – that should give us real encouragement.”