A clear roadmap, a sustainable future

The UK needs a diverse, balanced, and sustainable energy mix. Britain’s five, current existing nuclear plants are ageing. Over the last three decades, it’s become clear that the importance of these new reactors cannot be underestimated as climate change and political landscapes prompt alternate decisions around energy supply.

Currently, there are 15 civil nuclear reactors in Britain. Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGR) at Torness, Dungeness, Hinkley Point B, Heysham 1, Heysham 2 and Hartlepool, and a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) at Sizewell B. A few of these have already stopped generating energy, and entered or are about to enter defueling the last phase of operations before decommissioning. In 2022, these reactors met 15.5 per cent of the country’s electricity needs but the units at four locations are due to be retired by 2028 (the government has confirmed that Sizewell C in Suffolk will go ahead, but is unlikely to come online in the next ten years).

Our nation needs more nuclear plants minireactors, too and tighter, more ambitious build plans. Modular construction is still uppermost in our minds as a future way to replicate best practice, at scale. Almost a year ago, at the end of March 2022, the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Act 2022 received Royal Assent. The Government’s commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 will hopefully be more achievable as a result. Progress at HPC signals momentum, and we believe Osprey can help to deliver the UK energy vision even more effectively building our gleaned insights into these ambitious plans.

These are the watchwords for Britain’s nuclear roadmap: effectiveness, efficiency, and of course safety. They are also the pillars on which we deliver our services to HPC. Every new plant (be it a mini-reactor or a major installation) prioritises QHSE during its construction, and we take the same approach throughout. By working this way now, looping our learnings into future templates for nuclear logistics, we can be sure of having a robust platform on which to explore the more innovative side of our work as nuclear comes on line over the next few years.

Progress – steady, safe, and secure

When commissioned, this RPV will create the heat needed to produce the steam powering the world’s largest turbines both RPVs working together will generate the electricity for almost six million homes. It’s the first of two such reactors at HPC, which will ensure the flow of coolant water around the reactor core and enable plant operators to monitor and control a safe, efficient, and effective operation.

The unit first arrived in Britain at Avonmouth Docks. Our barge team took safe possession and transported it to Combwich Wharf, there are multiple stakeholders and suppliers involved in transporting assets of this nature and value. The final leg of the journey was a 4.6 mile trip from the wharf up to the main construction area, where it will now be stored safely and securely until it’s installed in the Reactor Building itself.

We’re proud to be part of a cohort that’s delivering rapid progress towards Britain’s energy security for future generations. Many specialist milestones have been reached already in the construction of HPC we look forward to passing many more over the coming months.

Decision Time—The global race is gathering speed, will Britain keep up?

Our economic prosperity is tied to the availability of cheap energy. As our new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero observed, “the most successful economies in the world are the ones that have cheap energy prices.” In that paradigm, Grant Shapps said “my very simple objective is to create the economy with the cheapest wholesale electricity price by 2035. That’s what I’m going to be all about. Let’s have Britain with the cheapest energy in Europe.”

No system can be that cheap with clean, reliable, sovereign power underpinning it, as our current energy crisis well attests. We cannot achieve that objective, then, with a proper plan for new nuclear investment. The British Energy Security Strategy gives us a target, but not a plan.

The Budget is (or will have been) our window of opportunity to set out the beginnings of a plan and show investors that we are serious as our competitors about investment in nuclear. We sent a bolt of energy through the international industry by announcing a 24 GW new build ambition in March of last year, but since then we have not done much to turn the broad political support into action. Our allies, by contrast, have moved and moved decisively.

In the US, the Inflation Reduction Act authorises $369 billion in spending dedicated to clean energy. For nuclear specifically, there more than $30 billion set aside for operating plants, future plants, advanced nuclear technologies and advanced nuclear fuel. The US has put $4.5 billion into three advanced nuclear reactor demonstrator projects. The equivalent in the UK is £385 million in the Advanced Nuclear Fund, 10 times less. The US has put $700 million behind the develop of High Assay Low Enriched Uranium for advanced fuels as well— the UK Nuclear Fuel Fund as a whole amounts to £63 million, 10 times less.

Likewise, European countries now plan to deploy more than 90 GW of nuclear new build, and more than 90 GW of life extension work. This work will be covered by the EU Sustainable Investment Taxonomy, which includes nuclear. In the UK, we have only actually approved 6.5 GW of new build, with 1.2 GW of life extension work upcoming, and we have not published a sustainable investment taxonomy to access green finance. The EU is also planning its own response to the Inflation Reduction Act.

Looking at these factors, what investor would choose Britain first? That is the question a proper plan for nuclear deployment has to answer. That plan therefore must include:

● The “green labelling” of nuclear investment as sustainable to allow us to access the widest possible pool of capital and the cheapest possible rates. This is essential to keep us on a level playing field with the EU, and all of the science indicates that nuclear is green.

● The launch of Great British Nuclear (GBN) with the powers to set a strategic direction for the industry, including roadmaps for deployment every nuclear new build site in the country, and interim as well as final deployment targets.

● Funding for DESNZ and, subsequently GBN, to open negotiations in this Parliament with at least two, and preferably three projects, with a binding commitment to get them to FID in the next Parliament (2025-2030.)

○ The launch of GBN included a pledge to get at least two projects to FID in the next Parliament—it is essential to our credibility that we follow that through.

● A commitment to a programme approach to reactor deployment, and a clear commitment to building multiple units of whatever reactor designs are chosen through a selection process.

○ The “1 at a time” approach is a failure and should be explicitly rejected. All the international evidence shows that fleet deployment is the successful formula.

● Initiating negotiations on how we fund SMRs, so we do not fall further behind our competitors who are already initiating SMR deployment.

● Planning reform, including the swift imposition of a Net Zero duty on regulators, to accelerate a process that is far too slow for the urgency of the challenges we are confronting as a country.

We cannot hope for all of this to be included in the Budget, but we will have to see some elements of it, particularly the meaningful launch of Great British Nuclear. I am writing this piece before the Budget. You will be reading this after it, so you will be able to see how much progress we have made.

The NIA will be making the case as energetically as we can that if we want solutions for energy security, for net zero, and for levelling up this country, it has to be nuclear. If you want to be a part of making this case email lincoln.hill@niauk.org. We are always delighted to get members on board, and there has never been a better time!