Jamie Mulhall is a Conservative councillor in Derby, Chairman of the LGBT+ Conservatives, and a former Parliamentary Candidate for Derby South.
Every great leap in human prosperity has been powered by one thing, abundant energy.
The Industrial Revolution was not simply the triumph of steam engines or spinning jennies. It happened because Britain unlocked the immense energy contained within coal, multiplying human productivity on an unprecedented scale. Today, another industrial revolution is gathering pace. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing, electric vehicles, advanced manufacturing and hydrogen all have one insatiable appetite: electricity.
The nations that generate vast quantities of cheap, reliable power will dominate the twenty-first century. Those that cannot will simply import their prosperity from those that can. Britain therefore faces a choice. We can continue arguing over how to divide a stagnant economy, or we can build the infrastructure that allows it to grow. That is why Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) could become one of the most important economic investments Britain has made in decades.
The numbers should concentrate minds. A single AI search already consumes around ten times the electricity of a conventional internet search. UK data centres currently account for around 2.5 per cent of national electricity demand, but that figure is rising rapidly.
The National Energy System Operator forecasts data centre demand could reach 22 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030 and as much as 71 TWh by 2050. Meanwhile, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology estimates Britain will require at least 6 gigawatts of AI-capable data centre capacity before the end of the decade.
This is not a niche issue for the technology sector. It is becoming the foundation of economic growth. Alongside “drill, baby, drill“, Conservatives should also be saying “build, baby, build“.
Electricity is becoming the new strategic resource. If Britain cannot provide it in abundance, investment will simply flow elsewhere. Data centres will be built in Virginia or Dublin. Advanced manufacturers will expand in Ohio or India.
Growth follows energy.
Unlike many fashionable industrial strategies, nuclear energy plays directly to Britain’s strengths.
For more than sixty years, Rolls-Royce has designed, built and maintained the reactors powering the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet. They are a proven British engineering success backed by decades of experience.
Britain also benefits from a world-class nuclear engineering workforce, internationally respected regulation through the Office for Nuclear Regulation, advanced manufacturing capability and an established domestic supply chain stretching across the Midlands and the North.
Rather than attempting to create an entirely new industry, we should expand one where Britain already possesses a genuine competitive advantage.
Large conventional nuclear stations such as Hinkley Point C remain essential, but they cannot meet Britain’s future energy needs alone. SMRs represent a fundamentally different approach. Instead of constructing each reactor almost entirely on-site, major components are manufactured in factories, transported to their destination and assembled far more quickly. It is the same manufacturing revolution Henry Ford brought to the motor industry: standardisation, repetition and economies of scale.
Each Rolls-Royce SMR will generate around 470 megawatts of continuous electricity enough to power roughly one million homes for an operating life of around sixty years. More importantly, building reactors in fleets rather than individually transforms the economics. The first reactor is inevitably expensive. By the tenth, manufacturing processes improve dramatically. By the thirtieth, supply chains mature, productivity rises and costs fall significantly.
That is why Britain should stop thinking in terms of approving one or two demonstration reactors. Instead, Government should commit to deploying a national fleet of around 30 to 40 Rolls-Royce SMRs over the coming decades.
Such certainty would encourage manufacturers to invest, suppliers to expand production, apprenticeships to grow and highly skilled engineers to remain in Britain rather than seeking opportunities overseas.
Recent energy shocks exposed the risks of relying heavily on imported fuel. When global gas prices surged, household bills exploded and taxpayers ultimately carried much of the burden through government support schemes. Nuclear power offers something different a reliable, weather-independent baseload electricity.
Unlike intermittent renewable generation, reactors continue producing power regardless of whether the wind blows or the sun shines. Nuclear fuel is extraordinarily energy dense and can be stockpiled years in advance, reducing Britain’s vulnerability to international crises or geopolitical pressure. A nation capable of generating most of its own electricity enjoys greater economic resilience, stronger national security and far more predictable energy prices.
The benefits extend well beyond electricity generation. Industry estimates suggest a substantial domestic SMR programme could contribute up to £54 billion to the UK economy while supporting around 40,000 highly skilled jobs by 2050. Crucially, these are precisely the kinds of jobs Britain needs: engineers, designers, welders, manufacturers and technicians working in Derby, Sheffield, Warrington, Yorkshire, the Midlands, North Wales and Scotland.
These are long-term careers creating wealth in communities that have often watched advanced manufacturing gradually disappear.
Britain’s greatest economic successes have always been built on exporting world-leading engineering. We gave the world steam engines, railways and the jet engine. SMRs could become the next chapter. Many countries require reliable low-carbon electricity but lack the capital, grid infrastructure or geography needed for giant conventional nuclear stations.
A factory-built 470-megawatt reactor offers a far more practical solution. If Britain becomes the first nation to manufacture SMRs at scale, we could export them across Europe, North America, the Commonwealth and beyond, creating an entirely new high-value export industry while strengthening Britain’s global influence.
Modern Britain too often hesitates. We consult, delay and postpone while other countries simply build. The Victorians thought differently. They built railways, docks, bridges and telegraph networks because they understood that infrastructure creates prosperity.
We should show the same confidence today. Backing a fleet of British-built Rolls-Royce SMRs would deliver long-term price stability, stronger energy security, tens of thousands of highly skilled jobs, a globally competitive export industry and the electricity needed to power the AI revolution. Britain invented the steam engine. Britain invented the jet engine. Now Britain can go big on nuclear.
All we need is the confidence and the political courage to start the production line.
Jamie Mulhall is a Conservative councillor in Derby, Chairman of the LGBT+ Conservatives, and a former Parliamentary Candidate for Derby South.
Every great leap in human prosperity has been powered by one thing, abundant energy.
The Industrial Revolution was not simply the triumph of steam engines or spinning jennies. It happened because Britain unlocked the immense energy contained within coal, multiplying human productivity on an unprecedented scale. Today, another industrial revolution is gathering pace. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing, electric vehicles, advanced manufacturing and hydrogen all have one insatiable appetite: electricity.
The nations that generate vast quantities of cheap, reliable power will dominate the twenty-first century. Those that cannot will simply import their prosperity from those that can. Britain therefore faces a choice. We can continue arguing over how to divide a stagnant economy, or we can build the infrastructure that allows it to grow. That is why Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) could become one of the most important economic investments Britain has made in decades.
The numbers should concentrate minds. A single AI search already consumes around ten times the electricity of a conventional internet search. UK data centres currently account for around 2.5 per cent of national electricity demand, but that figure is rising rapidly.
The National Energy System Operator forecasts data centre demand could reach 22 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030 and as much as 71 TWh by 2050. Meanwhile, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology estimates Britain will require at least 6 gigawatts of AI-capable data centre capacity before the end of the decade.
This is not a niche issue for the technology sector. It is becoming the foundation of economic growth. Alongside “drill, baby, drill“, Conservatives should also be saying “build, baby, build“.
Electricity is becoming the new strategic resource. If Britain cannot provide it in abundance, investment will simply flow elsewhere. Data centres will be built in Virginia or Dublin. Advanced manufacturers will expand in Ohio or India.
Growth follows energy.
Unlike many fashionable industrial strategies, nuclear energy plays directly to Britain’s strengths.
For more than sixty years, Rolls-Royce has designed, built and maintained the reactors powering the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet. They are a proven British engineering success backed by decades of experience.
Britain also benefits from a world-class nuclear engineering workforce, internationally respected regulation through the Office for Nuclear Regulation, advanced manufacturing capability and an established domestic supply chain stretching across the Midlands and the North.
Rather than attempting to create an entirely new industry, we should expand one where Britain already possesses a genuine competitive advantage.
Large conventional nuclear stations such as Hinkley Point C remain essential, but they cannot meet Britain’s future energy needs alone. SMRs represent a fundamentally different approach. Instead of constructing each reactor almost entirely on-site, major components are manufactured in factories, transported to their destination and assembled far more quickly. It is the same manufacturing revolution Henry Ford brought to the motor industry: standardisation, repetition and economies of scale.
Each Rolls-Royce SMR will generate around 470 megawatts of continuous electricity enough to power roughly one million homes for an operating life of around sixty years. More importantly, building reactors in fleets rather than individually transforms the economics. The first reactor is inevitably expensive. By the tenth, manufacturing processes improve dramatically. By the thirtieth, supply chains mature, productivity rises and costs fall significantly.
That is why Britain should stop thinking in terms of approving one or two demonstration reactors. Instead, Government should commit to deploying a national fleet of around 30 to 40 Rolls-Royce SMRs over the coming decades.
Such certainty would encourage manufacturers to invest, suppliers to expand production, apprenticeships to grow and highly skilled engineers to remain in Britain rather than seeking opportunities overseas.
Recent energy shocks exposed the risks of relying heavily on imported fuel. When global gas prices surged, household bills exploded and taxpayers ultimately carried much of the burden through government support schemes. Nuclear power offers something different a reliable, weather-independent baseload electricity.
Unlike intermittent renewable generation, reactors continue producing power regardless of whether the wind blows or the sun shines. Nuclear fuel is extraordinarily energy dense and can be stockpiled years in advance, reducing Britain’s vulnerability to international crises or geopolitical pressure. A nation capable of generating most of its own electricity enjoys greater economic resilience, stronger national security and far more predictable energy prices.
The benefits extend well beyond electricity generation. Industry estimates suggest a substantial domestic SMR programme could contribute up to £54 billion to the UK economy while supporting around 40,000 highly skilled jobs by 2050. Crucially, these are precisely the kinds of jobs Britain needs: engineers, designers, welders, manufacturers and technicians working in Derby, Sheffield, Warrington, Yorkshire, the Midlands, North Wales and Scotland.
These are long-term careers creating wealth in communities that have often watched advanced manufacturing gradually disappear.
Britain’s greatest economic successes have always been built on exporting world-leading engineering. We gave the world steam engines, railways and the jet engine. SMRs could become the next chapter. Many countries require reliable low-carbon electricity but lack the capital, grid infrastructure or geography needed for giant conventional nuclear stations.
A factory-built 470-megawatt reactor offers a far more practical solution. If Britain becomes the first nation to manufacture SMRs at scale, we could export them across Europe, North America, the Commonwealth and beyond, creating an entirely new high-value export industry while strengthening Britain’s global influence.
Modern Britain too often hesitates. We consult, delay and postpone while other countries simply build. The Victorians thought differently. They built railways, docks, bridges and telegraph networks because they understood that infrastructure creates prosperity.
We should show the same confidence today. Backing a fleet of British-built Rolls-Royce SMRs would deliver long-term price stability, stronger energy security, tens of thousands of highly skilled jobs, a globally competitive export industry and the electricity needed to power the AI revolution. Britain invented the steam engine. Britain invented the jet engine. Now Britain can go big on nuclear.
All we need is the confidence and the political courage to start the production line.