Sizewell C 'could get final go-ahead within weeks'

Ministers could give the go-ahead to the new Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk within weeks, according to reports.

- Jillian Ambrose

Keir Starmer is expected to give the final nod to begin construction of Britain's second new nuclear power project in a generation, alongside the French nuclear developer EDF, at a Franco-British summit next month.

The final approval for Sizewell C, first reported by the Financial Times, would mark the end of a 15-year journey to secure investment for the plant since the site was earmarked for new nuclear development in 2010.

The government is understood to be in the final stages of securing billions of pounds of investment from the private sector to back the project, which follows the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, which is under construction in Somerset.

Ministers are expected to use the government's spending review on 11 June to set out the UK's investment in the project, which will ultimately rely on a mix of funding from taxpayers and via energy bills.