Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 1:50 pm on 30 March 2022.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 1:50, 30 March 2022

Well, my favourite right honourable is the Rt Hon Elin Jones, and I'd much prefer that she were our focus, rather than Boris Johnson. 

I really feel the UK Government are not learning the mistakes of the past. You've just criticised the energy system for being dependent on Russian oil and gas and we're now racing into the arms of Chinese investors to be committed to large nuclear builds. They're the only game in town hitherto when it comes to nuclear. Do we really want to put ourselves in the hands of yet another volatile international partner? I suggest that we don't.

As I've said, our nuclear policy is well-established. We do have proposals through Cwmni Egino and preceding that to look at the development of new nuclear technology at existing sites, and we've set up a company to explore that. We do think there are economic advantages to doing that in the short term. But, as I said, our energy policy focuses primarily on renewables because we think that has both a minimal environmental impact as well as producing energy resilience. And if we do it right, we'll capture the economic benefits entirely in Wales, rather than continuing to leak out funding, as indeed nuclear risks doing. 

I fear that the party opposite, despite their commitment to net zero and commitment to economic development in Wales, are making all the same mistakes all over again.