Interview: Sarah Williamson - Civil programme director for Sizewell C

On January 15, 2024, Sizewell C initiated its Development Consent Order (DCO), clearing the way for formal construction of the new 3.2GW nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast. Just a week later, French energy giant EDF reported that Hinkley Point C (HPC) – Sizewell’s EPR (European Pressurised Water Reactor) forerunner - could be delayed until 2031, with costs rising to £35bn.

Squaring these two announcements, barely seven days apart, is no easy feat. It’s indicative perhaps of the UK’s apparent unflinching commitment to nuclear energy, seen by many as an essential pillar of net zero strategy and the only viable low carbon way to deliver baseload energy. To emphasise the point, January also saw the UK government firm up its civil nuclear roadmap, outlining plans for 24GW of nuclear capacity by 2050, including a third megawatt-scale power station to complement Hinkley and Sizewell C.

If a third EPR plant - likely to be sited at Wylfa on Anglesey - does go ahead, there’s a good chance one of the first engineers on the ground will be Laing O’Rourke’s Sarah Williamson. Currently acting as Construction Performance Director at Sizewell C, Williamson is an EPR veteran, though doesn’t yet exhibit the thousand yard stare one might expect of such traumas.