LONDON: Britain and the United States will sign a deal to work together on boosting nuclear power during US President Donald Trump’s state visit this week, the British government said, helping secure investment to fund new plants.
Britain’s government has launched a major push to expand nuclear power in recent months, pledging to invest 14 billion pounds ($19 billion) in a new plant at Sizewell C and advancing plans for a Rolls-Royce unit to build the country’s first small modular reactors (SMR).
Trump arrives in Britain for a two-day visit on Tuesday, during which he and Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce the nuclear power tie-up. The collaboration aims to speed up new projects and investments, including plans expected to be announced by US nuclear reactor company X-Energy and Britain’s Centrica to build up to 12 advanced modular reactors in northeast England.
An 11 billion pound ($15 billion) project to develop advanced data centers powered by SMRs in central England at the former Cottam coal-fired power station set to be announced by US company Holtec International, France’s EDF and real estate partner Tritax, is also on the cards, the statement added.
“These major commitments set us well on course to a golden age of nuclear that will drive down household bills in the long run,” Starmer said on Monday.
Trump and Starmer discussed working more closely together on SMRs when they met at the US president’s golf resort in Scotland in July.
“Today’s commercial deals set up a framework to unleash commercial access in both the US and UK,” US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in the statement.
The new tie-up will cover nuclear regulation, meaning if a reactor passes safety checks in one country, the other can use the findings to support its own checks, cutting licensing time to two years from three to four years at present.
Commenting on its new partnership deal with X-Energy, Centrica’s Group CEO Chris O’Shea said it would build a resilient, affordable, low-carbon energy system, while X-Energy’s CEO J. Clay Sell said Hartlepool was the right place for it to scale its technology in Britain given its experienced workforce and local services.
Holtec chair and CEO Kris Singh said its plan with EDF would create thousands of local jobs while drawing on the lessons from its Palisades project in Michigan, while Simone Rossi, CEO of EDF in the UK, said the plan would benefit energy security.
In a related announcement, Rolls-Royce said it had entered the US regulatory process for its SMR, paving the way for potential new jobs and investment in the US
Among the other investments expected to be announced is a deal for UK-based Urenco to supply an advanced type of low-enriched uranium to the US market.
Britain and US to sign nuclear power pact during Trump’s visit
https://arab.news/8vuu9
Britain and US to sign nuclear power pact during Trump’s visit
- Among the other investments expected to be announced is a deal for UK-based Urenco to supply an advanced type of low-enriched uranium to the US market
Tarique Rahman-led BNP set to form Bangladesh’s next government after major election win
- Jamaat-e-Islami, banned during Hasina’s government, won 68 seats
- Majority of Bangladeshis endorsed sweeping reforms in national referendum
DHAKA: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, is set to form the country’s next government after securing a more than two-thirds majority in the first elections since a student-led uprising in 2024 ousted ex-prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
The BNP has won at least 209 seats out of the 299 contested, according to the latest election results released by the Election Commission on Friday, paving the way for Rahman to become the country’s next prime minister.
Jamaat-e-Islami, banned during Hasina’s 15 years in power, has registered its best performance yet, winning at least 68 seats and emerging as the main opposition party.
The National Citizen Party, which was born out of the 2024 protests, was in third place with six seats, including for its leader Nahid Islam, while Hasina’s Awami League was barred from participating in the elections.
The majority of Bangladeshis also reportedly voted “yes” in a national referendum on the “July National Charter” that was held alongside the general vote on Thursday.
Named after the month when the uprising that toppled Hasina began, the charter is aimed at achieving sweeping democratic reforms to prevent authoritarian administrations, including term limits for premiers, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence, while also proposing increased representation of women in parliament.
The BNP-led government is likely to follow the commitments made under the charter, said Prof. A.S.M. Amanullah, vice chancellor of the National University in Dhaka, adding that the implementation of the July charter was also included in the party’s election manifesto that covers reform of the state and rebuilding of the economy.
“Mr. Tarique Rahman is a highly trained politician, highly sensitive politician, and he takes decisions based on facts. I believe he prepared himself to run this country locally and play a role internationally,” Amanullah told Arab News.
Rahman is the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President Ziaur Rahman. He returned to Bangladesh late last year after nearly two decades of self-imposed exile in the UK, and assumed BNP’s leadership days later, following his mother’s death from a prolonged illness.
In an interview with Arab News earlier this week, the 60-year-old pledged to pursue accountability for the former leadership and meet the political and economic expectations of the youth movement that brought about the change.
The new government is likely to be a mix of young and old politicians, Amanullah said, with Jemaat-e-Islami set to balance out the BNP’s rule.
“This is a very good size of opposition to press the issues or to challenge the government on different issues, different policies and decisions of the government. I’m hopeful about Jemaat,” he said.
“The way the people voted for these major two parties, the BNP and Jemaat, I think if they could work jointly, Bangladesh should see a stable political situation in the near future.”
Mohiuddin Ahmad, a political analyst and researcher, described Jemaat-e-Islami as “the most organized party” in Bangladesh and that it would therefore play an “instrumental” role as the opposition party.
Voter turnout averaged 59.44 percent, the EC said, with many Bangladeshis considering this week’s vote as their first “free and fair” election after more than 17 years.
“Such a result of an election we haven’t actually experienced before,” Muhiuddin Iqbal, a history student at Dhaka University, told Arab News.
“The festive feeling has not gone yet, so we’re very much excited about it and hopeful for the future.”
