Inflation could be a factor in the supply chain and they are watching it closely - but they will look for work-arounds, says chief executive Nigel Cann.

He indicates that while the project is moving at pace, solutions can be found for issues such as higher transport costs in this earlier stage of construction.

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Nigel Cann CEO of Sizewell C talks about how the development is going. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Workers are currently busy building a temporary and much larger construction area behind the permanent one which will lie alongside Sizewell B.

Work is progressing "well" on both sites, he says. "We are on time and on budget. We are a year in, so we are doing well."

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Nigel Cann CEO of Sizewell C talks about how the development is going. On site at the Temporary Construction Site. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

The key area in the build-up is the Temporary Construction Area (TCA) where storage is being built and bulldozers are shifting materials to relevant areas. Construction on the main site is also under way.

The temporary and permanent sites are linked by a vital bailey bridge currently being built.

Beside it will sit a temporary bridge which will be used to haul items into their permanent positions at the new nuclear station.

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Nigel Cann CEO of Sizewell C talks about how the development is going. On site at the Temporary Construction Site. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Alongside that bridge, a permanent bridge will be built and the two together will provide a wide runway for hauling construction materials and plant to the main site.

Once the nuclear station is built, the temporary construction site - which for the next few years will be the focus of intense activity - is earmarked for demolition, along with the temporary bridge, leaving a single access road to the site flanked by fields restored to their natural state.

The firing up of conflict in the Middle East has sent shockwaves through markets and oil prices soared to 120 US dollars a barrel on Monday but have since fallen back.

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Nigel Cann CEO of Sizewell C talks about how the development is going. On site at the Temporary Construction Site. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Mr Cann is sanguine about the possible impacts.

"All of it is a potential threat for us but we have got a couple of years before we go into full-scale deliveries," he says.

"I'm expecting gas and diesel to go up," he adds, but they are working "very closely" with the Sizewell C supply chain on this.

"We are working with our supply chain to see where they can be in distress."

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Nigel Cann CEO of Sizewell C talks about how the development is going. On site at the Temporary Construction Site. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Most of the Hinkley Point C power plant at Somerset - which provides the blueprint for the Sizewell station - will be finished next year, he points out.

This makes Sizewell C a "much simpler model". "We want to embrace digital options - AI - anything we can to make us more effective and build as much buffer as we can," he says.

"We can do more off-site which gives us more certainty as well."

Nigel Cann CEO of Sizewell C talks about how the development is going. On site at the Temporary Construction Site. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

The project has been many years in the planning but the big breakthrough came last year with the announcement of a "final investment decision".

"I was scrutinised within an inch of my life," says Mr Cann of the grilling he received from potential investors.

The biggest backer of the project is the UK taxpayer at 44.9%, but big private investors have also got on board - EDF, La Caisse, Centrica and Amber Infrastructure - who have been reassured by the Hinkley experience.

"That's what attracted private investors to invest in this project," he says.

Nigel Cann CEO of Sizewell C talks about how the development is going. On site at the Temporary Construction Site. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Large elements of the Sizewell C are being manufactured off-site and don't need to be transported for a long while.

Companies belonging to French energy giant EDF - owners of Sizewell B and one of the co-owners of Sizewell C - has been given the contract to construct reactor pressure vessels and steam generators and they are built and ready in France, he says.

But the equipment - weighing in at around 600t - doesn't need to be transported for a long time.

Mr Cann - who steered the Hinkley project through the Covid pandemic - acknowledges that issues can emerge.

Nigel Cann CEO of Sizewell C talks about how the development is going. On site at the Temporary Construction Site. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

"You have to look at things slightly differently. You should never think there's nothing to come along to knock you off course," he adds.

He acknowledges that "it's a volatile world and things change", but feels the project itself is on a steady and predictable course - helped greatly by the experience that Hinkley provides.

Nigel Cann CEO of Sizewell C talks about how the development is going. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

"We are set up for success. I'm not particularly worried about anything," he says.

"I don't see anything at the moment that could potentially adversely affect us in our current position - so all systems go."

2008 - UK government decides new nuclear plants should replace its ageing fleet of nuclear plants.

2010 - UK government announces Sizewell as one of eight locations earmarked.

2012 - French energy giant EDF Energy - owner of Sizewell B - reveals a plan for two EPRs (European Pressurised Reactors) at Sizewell and launches first public consultation in Suffolk at Sizewell.

2015 - EDF Energy announces a heads of terms deal with China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) to develop new nuclear power stations at Sizewell in Suffolk and Bradwell in Essex on an 80%/20% basis.

2020 - EDF submits a development consent order application for the scheme, replicating Hinkley Point C, as it looks at ways to finance the project. It applies to the Office for Nuclear Regulation for a licence to build and operate it. Meanwhile the UK government publishes an energy white paper setting out how it would transition to net zero.

2022 - A planning application is approved and the scheme is given a Development Consent Order. The UK government buys CGN out of the project for £100m amid politicians' security concerns.

2024 - Construction of Sizewell C formally begins.

2025 - A Final Investment Decision is announced involving public and private finance - the final piece of the jigsaw to enable construction to go ahead in earnest.

2029 - Construction of nuclear buildings on the main site due to begin.

2030s - Construction due to be completed mid to late 2030s

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