Spending watchdog warns £38bn cost of Sizewell C nuclear plant is ‘risky’

Key points

• The cost of the government’s £38bn nuclear plant in Suffolk is subject to “significant uncertainty” and may outweigh the benefits for UK households until at least 2064, according to the government’s spending watchdog.
• The Audit Office (NAO) has warned that although the potential benefits of the Sizewell C nuclear plant are considerable, they remain uncertain.
• The risks, however, are “immediate, substantial and borne by the public”.
• The government claims the nuclear reactor, expected to generate the equivalent of enough low-carbon electricity to power 6m homes when it begins operations in the late 2030s, could save £2bn a year from the electricity system compared with using other low-carbon technologies.
• However, for households the overall savings could be outstripped by the cost of supporting its construction until almost halfway through its 60-year operational life.