Nuclear appears to be a possible solution for providing power to the booming data centre sector because it is a round-the-clock source of electricity, but there has been “a bit too much hype” and government policy should not be based on unrealistic forecasts of demand and costs for untested nuclear technologies, a professor of energy policy at a London university told NucNet.

Stephen Thomas, of the University of Greenwich Business School, said UK nuclear expansion policies have always been based on an “over-forecast” of electricity demand.