Britain and US to sign nuclear power pact during Trump’s visit

Britain and the United States will sign a deal to work together on boosting nuclear power during U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit this week, the British government said, helping secure investment to fund new plants.

Britain’s government has launched a major push to expand nuclear power in recent months, pledging to invest 14 billion pounds ($19 billion) in a new plant at Sizewell C and advancing plans for a Rolls-Royce RR.L unit to build the country’s first small modular reactors (SMR).

Trump arrives in Britain for a two-day visit on Tuesday, during which he and Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce the nuclear power tie-up. The collaboration aims to speed up new projects and investments, including plans expected to be announced by U.S. nuclear reactor company X-Energy and Britain’s Centrica CNA.L to build up to 12 advanced modular reactors in northeast England.

An 11 billion pound ($15 billion) project to develop advanced data centres powered by SMRs in central England at the former Cottam coal-fired power station set to be announced by U.S. company Holtec International, France’s EDF and real estate partner Tritax, is also on the cards, the statement added.

“These major commitments set us well on course to a golden age of nuclear that will drive down household bills in the long run,” Starmer said on Monday.

Trump and Starmer discussed working more closely together on SMRs when they met at the U.S. president’s golf resort in Scotland in July.

“Today’s commercial deals set up a framework to unleash commercial access in both the U.S. and UK,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in the statement.

The new tie-up will cover nuclear regulation, meaning if a reactor passes safety checks in one country, the other can use the findings to support its own checks, cutting licensing time to two years from three to four years at present.