The United Kingdom faces a decisive decade for its energy future at a time when most of its nuclear fleet is nearing the end of its lifespan due to aging. Currently, the country generates approximately 15% of its electricity from nuclear power, thanks to an installed capacity of around 6.5 gigawatts, generated by nine reactors at four plants. But all but one must be decommissioned by 2030. This has forced the British government to accelerate a political and financial commitment to a new generation of power plants, a commitment that is fraught with controversy and challenges. Currently, the UK is building two major projects: Hinkley Point C in Somerset and Sizewell C in Suffolk. Both, the first new plants built since 1988, symbolize both the ambition and the difficulties of the British nuclear model. With estimated costs reaching €54.57 billion for the first and €43.23 billion for the second, these plants have become some of the most expensive energy infrastructure projects in the world, as the Working Group on Nuclear Regulation, established by Keir Starmer the previous February, warned at the end of November of last year. The cost overruns and delays have been so significant that EDF, the French state-owned company in charge of building Sizewell C, has accumulated multimillion-euro losses and has demanded that the British government assume almost all the financial risk for the project to move forward. Hinkley Point C is expected to come online between 2030 and 2031; Sizewell C, in 2035-36. The Working Group also warned that the UK has become the most expensive country in the world to build a nuclear power plant, not so much because of the technology used, but because of an accumulation of environmental, safety, and administrative processes that, according to the report, often do not provide real benefits in terms of public health or environmental protection. The document denounced a regulatory culture that is excessively risk-averse, which has resulted in thousands of pages of environmental impact assessments and increasingly lengthy and unpredictable planning processes.

Endesa, Iberdrola, and Naturgy have sent a letter to the Ministry for Ecological Transition expressing their "willingness" to extend the useful life of the Almaraz nuclear power plant in Extremadura, which is scheduled to close in 2027, as explained by sources from this department. The ministry, headed by Sara Aagesen, explains that this Friday they received a letter from the three owners of Almaraz, in which they "exclusively" convey their "willingness" to extend the closure schedule. The same sources explain that "no specific action is being notified or anticipated."

Endesa and Iberdrola have made moves to extend the useful life of nuclear power plants, including the Almaraz I plant in Cáceres, which is the first to be shut down, in November 2027. For now, however, the attempt has been derailed. Both companies have submitted a proposal to the Ministry for Ecological Transition, which the Ministry has rejected—according to sources from this ministry who spoke to ARA—because it "does not meet the red lines" that Pedro Sánchez's administration has put on the table for assessing the extension of the useful life of this technology. Specifically, the Spanish government's three red lines are: ensuring safety for people and security of supply, and ensuring that the decision does not entail additional costs for citizens.