It is good news that the government is bringing forward a “draft national policy statement” for small modular nuclear reactors (“Starmer vows planning reform to aid nuclear”, Report, February 6).
However, it is making a virtue out of necessity in trumpeting the decision not to limit SMRs to the eight sites currently designated for large nuclear power stations. Without government designation of specific sites as being appropriate, each project will need to justify its proposed location against multiple planning criteria such as safety, landscape, and traffic impacts. Making that case in the face of local opposition is never easy for any planning application regardless of how vociferously the new national policy statement supports SMRs.
Catherine Howard
Partner and Head of the Planning team in London, Herbert Smith Freehills, London EC2, UK