© Supplied by Costain Over 60 years ago, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority was at the cutting edge of energy development in Britain. The propaganda basically said, welcome to the era of limitless, clean, cheap power.
Then along came North Sea oil and gas, and a heap of problems for our nuclear industry … massive construction cost overruns, accidents – civil and defence, reliability and the question of how to dispose of radioactive waste.
It was said at the time that the real reason for nuclear power was to produce military-grade plutonium for bomb manufacture.
Well, it is true that Calder Hall and Chapelcross were designed primarily for that purpose, electricity for the grid being their secondary purpose.
Most of the early plants have long since been shut down and have been the subject of endless decommissioning since.
© Supplied by AltradIn 2009, what was left of the British nuclear fleet was parcelled off by government under the brand British Energy to EDF for a reported £12.4 billion, of which the state’s stake was around 36%.
EDF took on seven Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) stations (Dungeness B, Hinkley Point B, Hunterston B, Hartlepool, Heysham 1, Heysham 2, and Torness) and one Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) station (Sizewell B).
Crucially, state-owned Electricite de France also intended to construct new nuclear power plants, including two EPR reactors at Hinkley Point C and two at Sizewell C.
Now, the acquisition by EDF was seen by the government as crucial for the development of new nuclear power stations in the UK, as it brought in a major player with the resources and expertise to invest in and operate these facilities.
© Supplied by Sizewell CRead the headlines and, since then, more than anything else, the EDF story in Britain has been one of failure.
Probably unfair, but the catalogue of problems and cost overruns on the Hinkley Point and Sizewell C projects has bordered on eye-watering.
At the start of this year, there was speculation that the Starmer Administration was in talks with its French counterparts about purchasing back three nuclear sites from state-owned energy giant EDF, as Whitehall looks to retake control of the upcoming expansion of nuclear power.
It was claimed that ministers were keen to buy back Bradwell B, Heysham and Hartlepool.
Whilst the French side acknowledged that there had been talks, the UK government sought to knock down the speculation. Since then, Politico has been hammering away at the issue.
Labour forges ahead with nuclear
Early this year, the Government set wheels in motion for the removal of restrictions on nuclear sites and created a regulatory taskforce to speed up the deployment of small nuclear reactors (SMRs).
Wind forward to June, and the Government stated that Britain will invest a further £14.2 bn to build Sizewell C, bringing conventional nuclear commitments to £17.8 bn.
The following day, the Government named Rolls-Royce SMR as the preferred partner for the state-backed initiative to develop small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), a move that could mark a significant expansion of UK nuclear energy.
© Supplied by Rolls-Royce SMRFirst Sizewell C, which will be based on two European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs). Whilst total capex has not yet been revealed, the ball-park number appears to be £20 bn, at least for now.
Importantly for the Brits, Sizewell C is the first British-owned nuclear power station to be announced in over three decades, with HMG as a majority shareholder alongside EDF.
The government claims: “Over 70% of Sizewell C’s construction value will go to UK companies, providing a massive boost for the British economy and a major move to reshore the country’s energy supply chains.”
Is British Nuclear British-made?
However, the elephant in the room question surely has to be: “How much of that supply chain is already in foreign hands or headed that way?”
Sizewell C was originally being developed by EDF and China’s General Nuclear Power Group, but the government bought out the Chinese firm’s stake in 2022 amid security concerns. The UK state’s stake then was 83.8% and EDF – 16.2%.
Now to the Rolls-Royce SMR news.
The decision is subject to final government approvals and the signing of contracts. The agreement will see three of the British firm’s 470MW modular reactor units deployed on a site that is yet to be determined.
© Supplied by Rolls-Royce SMRHowever, for many months, there was speculation that one of the RR SMRs would be located at Trasfynedd in North Wales, where the conventional nuke commissioned in 1965 was shut down in 1991, with decommissioning by Nuclear Restoration Service expected to take almost a century.
But, in 2021, the Welsh government arranged for Trasfynedd to be redeveloped using small-scale reactors and has had discussions with RR SMR.
As for Scotland, entrenched SNP politics currently stand in the way of meaningful discussions.
The UK government’s SMR project is being led by Great British Energy – Nuclear, formerly known as Great British Nuclear, which is one of two publicly owned companies created to drive the rollout of domestically produced clean energy.
The rebranding reflects its joint mission with Great British Energy to expand the UK’s low-carbon power generation. It has no lineal connection with the former British Nuclear.
And so a new UK nuclear power era begins, sort of. I wonder how much of a mess its players will make of the opportunity.
