Addleshaw Goddard has won a mandate to provide legal support to the UK government’s nuclear energy programme.
The firm will act as legal adviser to the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) Advanced Nuclear Policy and Delivery Team.
The contract runs until August 2029, as the government looks to attract private capital and accelerate new low carbon, stable, nuclear developments. The contract could potentially earn the firm up to £8.75m in fees and can be extended by an additional year.
Appointed on 23 August, the firm will work for the government department on all aspects of nuclear development. Those include project financing, as well as helping to develop clear legal policies and regulations.
Lawyers from Addleshaw Goddard’s energy and utilities, infrastructure, projects, public law and government teams will assist with the mandate, following the successful bid from partners Sara Gilmore, Karen Rowe and Rory Connor, who will lead.
Gilmore said the UK government is seeking to deliver “one of the most ambitious nuclear programmes seen in the UK for decades”.
It is not the first time the firm has worked on such matters. The team advised the UK National Wealth Fund as lender on its £36.6bn debt financing for flagship project Sizewell C, its first foray into nuclear energy, alongside support from French export credit agency Bpifrance Assurance Export.
The project is set to be located close to the existing Sizewell B facility on the Suffolk coast, with a new twin reactor nuclear power facility deploying two European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) with total planned capacity of 3.2 gigawatts. The project claims that it will provide up to 70,000 jobs and power 6 million homes while avoiding 9 million tonnes of carbon emissions from fossil fuel power generation.
The Addleshaw Goddard team on the Sizewell C project was led by Rory Connor and Richard Goodfellow, alongside Sara Gilmore, Bruce Chen and William Morrison.
In February, DESNZ introduced its advanced nuclear framework with the aim of regaining control of the UK’s energy future by increasing nuclear power capacity.
Lord Vallance, UK minister for science, innovation, research and nuclear, wrote in the policy paper: “We are acting now to deliver a cleaner, more secure, and more affordable energy system for the long term.
“That means accelerating the transition to homegrown, low‑carbon power that we can rely on, protecting consumers from price shocks, and consolidating Britain’s position as a global leader in clean energy.”
The UK’s existing nuclear infrastructure is ageing and is set to be decommissioned in the coming years. The six remaining advanced gas-cooled reactor plants in operation are scheduled to be completely shut down by 2028, including Hinkley Point B which was closed in 2022 and is currently being decommissioned.
In place, the government intends to support a series of modern small modular reactors (SMRs), advanced modular reactors and micro modular reactors. And for the first time, UK legal policy will encourage outside developers into the country.
Bill Gates-backed US nuclear company TerraPower has announced intentions to develop a natrium-based nuclear energy site in the country, following regulatory clearance for the technology. There are also plans to build the UK’s first SMR project in Anglesey, Wales, with generation expected in the mid 2030s.
Addleshaw Goddard is currently ranked in tier two for power electricity and nuclear in the UK by Legal 500.
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