The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has promised £14bn of investment to build the Sizewell C nuclear power plant, kicking off what the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, says will be a ‘golden age for clean energy abundance’. But for critics, the technology’s high costs and lengthy construction times have always eclipsed the benefits of abundant low-carbon electricity. Ian Sample is joined by the Guardian energy correspondent Jillian Ambrose to find out why the UK government is backing nuclear and whether it will help Britain hit its target of net zero by 2050. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod