The British government says that it plans to spend £14.2 billion ($19 billion) to build a new nuclear power station that would provide energy to an estimated six million homes. 

According to BBC News, the money will go toward the planned Sizewell C facility on the Suffolk coastline. Sizewell C was identified by the government in 2010 as one of eight sites suitable for a nuclear power station. Two years later, French-owned energy provider EDF launched a public consultation to gather feedback from residents of the area, before submitting a development consent application eight years after that. The government approved EDF's application in 2022, despite the country's Examining Authority recommending the order be rejected over environmental concerns.

The U.K. government expects the Sizewell C plant to create 10,000 new jobs, as well as thousands more for firms supplying the facility. In a statement to BBC News, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said that the £14.2 billion investment is needed to usher in a "golden age of clean energy," while Chancellor Rachel Reeves praised the project as "the biggest nuclear building program in a generation."

That said, opposition group "Stop Sizewell C" has asserted that the project is "too slow and expensive" to address the growing risks posed by climate change, and that construction will have a "devastating impact" on the coastal Suffolk region. In a June 9 statement, the group also claimed that there has been "no transparency" regarding the true cost of the plant.