Small modular nuclear reactors could be a crucial technology in the drive to decarbonise our energy system, according to Small Modular Reactors: The next big thing in energy? published by Policy Exchange, which says the increased take-up of electric vehicles, the general electrification of our energy system and the need to decarbonise all sectors of our economy “mean we need new low-carbon sources of electricity and heat to replace existing capacity and meet rising future demands”.

A leading ‘think tank’, Policy Exchange says the “diffuse and intermittent nature of solar and wind means that we cannot rely on them for 100% of our energy needs”, highlighting the fact that January typically sees at least one week where virtually no electricity is produced by either wind or solar.

“Buying in electricity through interconnectors from other Western European nations will be increasingly difficult, as our neighbours also turn to wind and solar and so have less capacity to export.

"We need a reliable and affordable low-carbon form of energy — small modular reactors have the potential to be that technology.”

Matt Rooney, Policy Exchange’s Energy and Environment Research Fellow, who wrote the report, said: “In the next decades, we are going to need previously unthinkable levels of new low-carbon electricity capacity for charging electric vehicles and to replace coal and gas.

“While there have been marked cost reductions in solar and wind power, their very nature means we can’t rely on them without investing huge amounts in storage technology, but to power our current electricity system for a typical five-day working week in January using batteries alone would require the capacity equivalent to about 200 million Tesla Power Walls, which would cost up to £1 trillion.

“There is no other low-carbon energy that can match nuclear power for scale and reliability.

“The failure of the nuclear industry to prove that it can finance and build large reactors on time and to budget means that the development of small modular reactors must be one of the central goals of the Government’s energy policy.”