The government is approaching international nuclear builders & operators for another try at reviving nuclear generation on the island. Britain purchased the site this year from Hitachi for £160 million, after the Japanese firm in September 2020 cut its losses of £2 billion, incurred over its twelve years of attempting revive nuclear generation on the island.

Hitachi had intended to build two advanced boiling water reactors (ABWRs), with a combined capacity of 3GW on a site to the south of the existing Wylfa complex. The company’s plans foundered for reasons including concerns about a Contracts for Difference funding model of their venture.

in December 2015 the second of Wylfa’s two earlier Magnox reactors, each capable of 0.49GW, were shut down, forty four years after the plant was first commissioned.

This morning’s statement by energy secretary Claire Coutinho hails the Wylfa decision as part of the Sunak government’s biggest expansion of British nuclear generation for 70 years. Quadrupling the source before mid century by up to 24GW will be achieved through a mix of large-scale traditional plants and small modular reactors, which are quicker to build, said the minister.

A revived Wylfa will fall in the same supra-3GW capacity bracket as Hinkley Point C and the planned Sizewell C.

The government’s development entity Great British Nuclear, tasked with delivering the world’s fastest small modular reactor competition, recently secured Wylfa and Oldbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire as possible sites for new nuclear projects. It was the first time the government acquired land for nuclear since the 1960s.

“Anglesey has a proud nuclear history. It’s only right that, once again, it can play a central role in boosting the UK’s energy security”, Coutinho declared.  Wylfa would contribute clean reliable power to millions of homes, she claimed, adding that it could create thousands of well-paid jobs.

Her cabinet colleagu Welsh secretary David TC Davies added: “Alongside the revival of Wylfa, recent measures we have announced include a freeport for Anglesey, £17 million in Levelling Up money for Holyhead and electrification of the North Wales rail line. These show that the UK government continues to deliver for Anglesey and for North Wales”.

Sam Richards, CEO of regeneration lobbyists Britain Remade, added: “News that Wylfa is a preferred site for a new gigawatt scale power station will come as a huge relief to local islanders who are crying out for a new reactor”.

“It’s critical that the planning red-tape that has slowed down building Hinkley Point C, and added huge costs, are quickly addressed by government.

“With the announcement of new nuclear at Wylfa, the case for a third Menai crossing is stronger than ever. The governments in Westminster and Cardiff should now work together to deliver.”

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The decision was made following an assessment of the nuclear site licence application made by Sizewell C Ltd, EDF’s applicant body.  The supervising authority concluded that the application has met all the requirements set out in regulatory guidance.

Today’s move follows grants of a development consent order in January by East Suffolk district and Suffolk County councils.

Last September, the government, Sizewell C and EDF launched an equity raise process to attract private investors into the project. While triggering the DCO and entering the construction phase is not dependent on a final investment decision, discussions with potential investors are ongoing and a final investment decision is expected later in 2024.

In its initial assessment in 2022 the ONR identified two matters requiring resolution before a licence could be granted. They related to the shareholders’ agreement and ownership of land at the site. Both snags have now been resolved to ONR’s satisfaction.

In addition, the regulator has concluded that progress made since 2022, relating to both Sizewell C Ltd’s organisation and the suitability of the proposed site, do not undermine ONR’s other findings from the earlier nuclear site licence assessment.

Although the granting of a site licence is a significant step, it does not permit the start of nuclear-related construction on the site.

ONR’s regulatory responsibility starts at the point of granting of a nuclear site licence. Now granted, it is able to use the powers within that  licence to require Sizewell C Ltd to request our permission for starting nuclear-related construction.

Similarly, the licensee is required to seek ONR’s  permission to proceed to subsequent key construction and commissioning stages up to the start of commercial operation and beyond.

Mark Foy, the ONR’s chief executive & chief nuclear inspector, said: “I am pleased to confirm that following extensive engagement and review by the ONR team, our assessment of the Sizewell C application is complete and a nuclear site has been licence granted.

“The licensing process is fundamental in confirming that operators of a nuclear site are ready and able to meet their obligations under the nuclear site licence, to protect their workforce and the public.

“The granting of this licence is one step in ONR’s process, allowing us to provide greater regulatory oversight, advice and challenge to the licensee as they progress their plans.

“We will continue working with Sizewell C to ensure that the highest levels of quality, safety and security are met.”

By commencing formal construction, a £250m package of funding for the local community will become available during the construction phase of the project, including £23m for community projects, £100m for the environment, £12m to support local tourism, and a £12m housing fund.

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The project spans 57km between National Grid’s new Shurton substation on the Hinkley Point C site in Somerset and its existing Seabank substation in Avonmouth. 48.5km of that is made up of overhead lines – mostly T-pylons – while an 8.5km stretch of underground cable runs through the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Stringing was completed with the fixing of conductors to a T-pylon near the village of Yatton, north Somerset. With each T-pylon supporting 12 conductors, National Grid and its contractor Balfour Beatty have installed a total of 460km of power lines between the T-structures – enough to stretch from Bridgwater to Paris.

T-pylons’ unique design sees six conductor spans attached to each diamond earring-shaped insulator on either side of the structure, with wires installed in sections of up to a dozen T-pylons at a time – a job that can take two weeks for each section.

Conductors were transported to each stringing site on large drums weighing up to seven tonnes and standing eight foot tall. Engineering teams then set about hoisting the wires across the T-pylons.

With the help of a steel braided guide rope and circular running blocks suspended from the insulators, the heavy conductors are winched back through the running blocks, with engineers controlling the speed to precisely guide them into position and fix them to the insulators.

In total, around 1,288 tonnes of overhead conductor has been strung between the T-pylons – equivalent to three International Space Stations.

Steven Haskayne, project director for National Grid, said: “With the T-pylons fully strung, our Hinkley Connection Project is really starting to take shape. It’s a proud moment for all the teams involved, from our National Grid colleagues to our contractors, all of whom have helped us reach this milestone safely and on schedule.

“We’re grateful to all of the local communities we’ve been working alongside for their patience as our project team continues its work, which is moving us closer to a resilient and secure low carbon energy supply for millions in the region.”

Tony Wilson, managing director of Balfour Beatty UK Power Transmission and Distribution, said:

“The efficient delivery of overhead power lines for the Hinkley Connect Project is a testament to our technical capabilities and reinforces our close partnership with National Grid to secure and deliver sustainable energy solutions.

“As we look ahead, we remain committed to supporting National Grid projects, contributing to the creation of a resilient and secure low carbon energy supply for communities across the UK.”

T-pylons make up the majority of the Hinkley Connection Project’s 57km route through Somerset, with shorter sections of traditional lattice pylons at each end of the route at Shurton and Avonmouth – the latter to ensure safe height over the Port of Bristol area.

The energisation last year of an initial section of the route means high voltage electricity is already flowing through 36 T-pylons, a new National Grid substation at Sandford, and the underground cables through the Mendip Hills. All the remaining T-pylons will be energised by the end of 2024.

As part of the project, National Grid is also removing 67km of existing overhead lines and pylons – 249 in total – from the Somerset landscape. Over 30 pylons running parallel to the new undergrounded section in the Mendip Hills are being taken down, which will leave the landscape pylon-free for the first time in nearly a century.

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Decomissioning the closed nuclear site on the Ayrshire coast has taken more than a decade.  Hunterston A operated from 1964 to 1999.

Britain’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority reckons Hunterston A holds the largest inventory of solid ILW ( intermediate level waste ) across all its sites.

The Hunterston store consists of contaminated metallic components, debris removed from spent fuel elements and 30,000 fuel element graphite sleeves.

Mark Blackley, Hunterston A’s site director, said: “This is a fantastic achievement which has safely and compliantly reduced one of the most significant hazards on site. Over 85% of the ILW inventory has now been retrieved.  This is a tremendous testament to everyone who has been involved.”

“The remaining 15% of ILW inventory are residual sludges from the spent fuel storage ponds and acids. These are in the process of being recovered and treated.

Gareth Taylor, performance improvement director at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, said: “This is a significant milestone in our mission to safely and securely decommission our legacy nuclear sites. It is fantastic to see the culmination of many years of hard work and planning.

“It’s a collective achievement that the whole team are rightfully proud of, and we will be looking to take forward the lessons learned and apply them across our other sites.”

The waste was transported via underground tunnels and stored in one of five above-ground concrete bunkers, constructed onsite between the 1960s and 1980s.

The Solid Active Waste Bunker Retrieval project was established to remove the waste and empty the five bunkers in sequence, by breaking through the walls one by one.

The initial breakthrough at bunker five was conducted manually in 2014 using core drills and wire saws to remove an 800mm deep concrete slab. Then a remotely operated vehicle broke through the remaining 400mm depth to create the first full opening.

Remotely operated vehicles were used to recover the waste to a purpose-built facility built on the side elevation of bunker five. The waste was then loaded in to three metre cube size stainless steel boxes. The filled boxes were then transported to the site’s ILW store pending future encapsulation at the solid intermediate level waste encapsulation facility, before being returned to the ILW store for long term storage in line with the Scottish Government’s higher activity waste policy.

ILW becomes a site’s highest radiological hazard when all the spent fuel has been removed and is often located in hard-to-reach areas. This means that the task of retrieving the waste is a complicated business requiring, in some cases, many years of engineering work before it can begin in earnest.

Stuart Blair, waste operations manager at Hunterston A, commented: “The process to empty the bunkers has not been without its challenges. The team has overcome many technical challenges throughout, employing operational experience and innovation to progress the waste recoveries safely and efficiently.”

“This represents a major milestone for the entire site with all colleagues across functions and departments playing a key role in supporting this achievement”.

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Joint recipients today of £3.34 million from the Future Nuclear Enabling Fund are a wholly-owned UK offshoot of privately held US nuclear technologists X-Energy Reactor, and Cavendish Nuclear, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Babcock International.  X-Energy will chip in an equivalent sum.

The pair want to develop a 12-reactor plant on Teesside, to be ready by the early 2030s. They see Hartlepool as the first of up to 40 of X-Energy’s small modular Xe-100 reactors in the UK.

Besides high skill jobs in construction & operations, the partnership’s wish list sees such a fleet as generating 3,200 MW of electricity, enough to power six million homes, or 8,000 MW of versatile high temperature heat and steam to support zero-carbon manufacturing and industrial processes.

The companies plan to engage with the UK nuclear regulators to evaluate approaches to licensing X-Energy’s proprietary Xe-100 AMR design, pictured.  It is already progressing through early assessments by nuclear regulators in Canada and the US.

“The government is backing innovation in nuclear – from building large-scale plants better to encouraging new advanced technologies – to achieve our ambition for a quarter of our electricity to come from nuclear power by 2050,” said Andrew Bowie MP, minister for nuclear & renewables.

“This funding supports the next step in the development of advanced modular reactors”.

The two companies will use the funds to develop UK-specific deployment plans including an assessment of domestic manufacturing and supply chain opportunities, constructability and fuel management.

X-energy and Cavendish Nuclear also announced a partnership with Kier, the leading infrastructure builder, to support supply chain analyses.

Kier joins steel producer and engineer Sheffield Forgemasters and the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC) to support X-energy and Cavendish Nuclear in completing the scope outlined in their proposal. The companies’ goal is for 80% of the value of the Xe-100 projects to flow to UK firms.

Last year X-energy and Cavendish Nuclear signed a memorandum of understanding with Howden, the Glasgow-based gas circulation component manufacturer. They will also work with Nuclear Waste Services to review the approach to spent fuel management.

“We are delighted to receive this FNEF award from the Government. It reflects the readiness of our advanced technology to contribute to the UK’s energy needs in the next wave of new nuclear,” said Carol Tansley, X-energy’s UK market leader and Vice President of Projects. “Building on X-energy’s initial deployment with Dow on the U.S. Gulf Coast, we can create both jobs and long-term energy security in the UK with clean, reliable advanced nuclear power.”

The funding is intended for potential nuclear projects with mature technologies that could be in a position to take a Final Investment Decision (FID) within the next parliament. It aims to help industry reduce project risks so they are better positioned for future investment decisions.

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Through its Electricity Market Reform Settlement (EMRS) division, Elexon will now administer a levy to fund the government’s nuclear Regulated Asset Base (RAB) approach.

Nuclear advocates say the industry’s expansion is critical if Britain is to reach Net Zero by 2050.

Last month power ministry D-ESNZ authorised a change to the Balancing and Settlements Code, which administers regulated payments made between licensed suppliers.  From 29 February, EMRS can for the first time perform the new role of RAB settlement services provider to Britain’s nuclear generators.

The change is authorised by the Nuclear Regulated Asset Base Model (Revenue Collection) Regulations, which came into force in March last year. A new direction widened cross-subsidy powers, allowing nuke developers such as EdF to receive funding from all licensed electricity suppliers, for purposes of funding new reactors.

RAB payments to relevant nuclear developers would be funded by all Britain’s licensed electricity suppliers.  Elexon’s EMRS was made responsible for delivering processes to calculate each supplier’s payments and collecting the funds they owe, according to each supplier’s market share.

Elexon’s EMRS will do so on behalf of a revenue collection counterparty, the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC). The LCCC is an arms-length government agency, which will make the payments to the relevant nuclear companies.

Elexon chief executive Peter Stanley, said: “Elexon is a trusted, independent delivery partner for LCCC, government and Ofgem. We are pleased to be supporting the nuclear RAB scheme, which will play an important part in encouraging development of the low carbon generation GB needs to meet Net Zero.

“We have significant experience in delivering support schemes such as this, as since 2015 we have been successfully delivering similar functions to support suppliers’ funding of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) and Capacity Market schemes.”

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The Imperial College Reactor Centre (ICRC) at Silwood Park, Ascot closed in 2012. It was delicensed by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) after more than a decade of work to defuel and then decommission the facility.

Part of Imperial College London, the ICRC has now been assessed by ONR as posing no danger to the public, and no longer requires ONR regulatory controls.

It is the first UK reactor site to be completely delicensed under modern regulatory controls, in April 2022.

The Imperial centre is only the third UK reactor site in history to be fully decommissioned, and its land has now been returned for alternative use.

ONR inspectors recently assessed the site’s final Environmental Management Plan and are content that the concluding decommissioning work, including asbestos surveillance and landscaping, has been completed.

As a result, ICRC is no longer subject to regulations under the Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning Regulations (EIADR) 1999.

Ian Phillips, ONR’s Head of Safety Regulation for Decommissioning, Fuel and Waste sites, said: “This is a milestone in UK nuclear decommissioning history, as well as a testament to the hard work that has been put in at the Imperial College Reactor Centre to reach this final end state.

“It represents the conclusion of a 65 year journey for the ICRC. It can now be recognised as the country’s first ever fully decommissioned reactor site under modern regulatory controls – a fantastic accomplishment.

“Our regulatory oversight ensured that all necessary conditions involved in the defueling, decommissioning, demolition, and delicensing process were realised to meet the high standards we demand in order to maintain the ongoing safety of workers and the public.”

The ICRC was constructed in the early 1960s and the consort reactor achieved criticality in 1965.

It was a small research reactor (100 kW) which was moderated, cooled, reflected, and partially shielded by light water.

Following a significant decline in the volume of research conducted in the facility, the reactor started being shut down 13 years ago.

Defueling was completed in 2014 and 31 fuel elements were removed and transported to Sellafield in Cumbria for interim storage pending reprocessing.

Decommissioning of the reactor and surrounding bioshield was completed in February 2020, and the demolition of all building structures, removal of the base slab and below ground services finished in April 2021.

Trevor Chambers, former head of the centre, said: “Imperial College London is indebted to the Reactor Centre team who provided deep technical and operational oversight throughout the project, as well as support contractors and the site Nuclear Safety Committee for their dedication.

“Releasing the site from regulatory control has created a recreational space at the heart of Imperial’s Silwood Park eco-campus, which may now be used without restriction by staff and students at the forefront of biodiversity science and policy.

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The incident occurred on 23 December 2023 while Reactor 1 was being returned to service when a valve controlling the flow of superheated steam from the reactor failed, resulting in a steam leak.

The ONR confirmed nobody was injured as a result of the incident, and there was no risk to nuclear safety, the public or the environment.

However, the watchdog identified the potential for serious personal injury, if people had been present in the area near the valve.

Mike Webb, ONR’s superintending inspector for reactors, said: “Our investigation found that EdF had failed to ensure that the valve system was properly maintained and, by failing to do this, EdF had put at risk the safety of their employees.

“We will engage with EdF during the period of the improvement notice to ensure positive progress is made to address the shortfall.”

ONR has issued the improvement notice to EdF under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (PSSR) Regulation 12 (Maintenance) and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 Section 2(1).

EDF has until 30 April to comply with the improvement notice.

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Preparatory works began after the project was granted permission to build in July 2022, but certain obligations had to be fulfilled before construction could commence under the DCO.

Those obligations, set out in a Deed of Obligation document signed with East Suffolk Council and Suffolk County Council are now fulfilled and the formal construction phase of the project can begin.

Nuclear minister Andrew Bowie MP today visited the construction site to meet the project team, local business leaders, and representatives from local authorities.  Protesters announced a counter-demonstration.

Bowie announced: “This is a major milestone for Sizewell C and our ambition to deliver up to 24GW of low-carbon nuclear power by 2050. It comes after we announced the biggest expansion of nuclear power for 70 years which will help to bring down bills and bolster our energy security. East Anglia will benefit from thousands of new jobs and apprenticeships as a result, demonstrating the local rewards of backing new nuclear.”

In September 2023, the government, Sizewell C and EDF launched an equity raise process to attract private investors into the project. While triggering the DCO and entering the construction phase is not dependent on a final investment decision, discussions with potential investors are ongoing and a final investment decision is expected later in 2024.

By commencing formal construction, a £250m package of funding for the local community will become available during the construction phase of the project, including £23m for community projects, £100m for the environment, £12m to support local tourism, and a £12m housing fund.

Sizewell C is expected to deliver 1,500 apprenticeships and support thousands of jobs across the country, with at least one third of the peak construction workforce of 7,900 coming from the local area. Sizewell C said the project will invest in local skills to ensure there is a pipeline of talent to build and operate the power station.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said:

“Commencement of formal construction is good news for Britain. Construction at Sizewell C means tens of thousands of jobs on site and across the country and billions in investment for the region. The project will drive much needed work into British industry and sustain the skills we need for a new nuclear programme. Sizewell lays that foundation for jobs, clean power and energy security for the rest of this century.”

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Construction every five years of at least one new station equivalent to the 3.2GW Hinkley C or Sizewell C stations now being prepared by operator EdF, is contemplated. Advancing new technology too in small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced fuels, delivered under the banner of holding entity Great British Nuclear, is also confirmed.

Today’s outline presents the government’s hopes of nuclear taking up to 25% of power by mid-century, against around 15% today.

Plans presented today as the UK’s Civil Nuclear Roadmap put more detail on aspirations flagged two years ago under the Johnson administration. The blueprint is designed to give investors long-term certainty, building on the government’s confirmation delivered two years ago that Sizewell C should go ahead.

In keeping with Rishi Sunak’s proclaimed focus on long-term decisions for British infrastructure, today’s statement quantifies an ambition to secure sufficient investment every five years from 2030 to 2044 to add between 3 and 7GW worth of new nuclear projects.

The former nuclear site in Wylfa, Anglesey as well as Moorside, Cumbria are believed to be forerunners for major projects.

Boosting development of advanced nuclear fuels, including a derivative known as HALEU (high assay, low emission uranium), is central to Whitehall’s plans.  Only this week the government pledged up to £300 million to prime UK production of the fuel, currently produced commercially only in Russia.

Seeking output early next decade from a planned hub in the North West, ministers want the UK to lead the way in HALEU.  It will complement uranium conversion at the Springfields nuclear fuel site in Preston.

An additional £10 million will be provided to develop the skills and sites needed to produce other advanced nuclear fuels in the UK, helping to secure long term domestic nuclear fuel supply.

“Nuclear is the perfect antidote to the energy challenges facing Britain”, said Sunak. “It’s green, cheaper in the long term and will ensure the UK’s energy security.

“This is the right long-term decision and is the next step in our commitment to nuclear power, which puts us on course to achieve net zero by 2050 in a measured and sustainable way”.

Green power advocates remain sceptical.  From the REA, policy director Frank Gordon said ministers had been “exploring” new private-led nuclear plants for years.

He added: “We need to accelerate the deployment of all clean energy sources, especially renewable power from diverse sources, plus supporting the roll-out of the much-needed clean technologies, energy storage working at all scales and duration.”

Delays and cost over-runs continue to dog current nuclear expansion.  EdF’s latest estimate for Hinkley C – pictured – is £33 billion, up 50% on its projected cost seven years ago. First output announced for summer 2027 is also believed to be in doubt.

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A £300 million investment announced this week by ministers is part of plans to help deliver up to 24GW of clean, reliable nuclear power by 2050 – a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs.

The government funding will support production focused on north West England of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), the specialist fuel required to power the next generation of nuclear reactors. Most advanced reactors require this fuel that is currently only commercially produced in Russia.

An additional £10 million will also be provided to develop the skills and sites to produce other advanced nuclear fuels in the UK, helping to secure long term domestic nuclear fuel supply and support international allies.

This builds on the UK’s status as a world leader in the production of nuclear fuels, with domestic capability in uranium enrichment and in fuel fabrication in the North-West of England.

Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho, said:

‘’We stood up to Putin on oil and gas and financial markets, and we won’t let him hold us to ransom on nuclear fuel.

‘’Britain gave the world its first operational nuclear power plant, and now we will be the first nation in Europe outside of Russia to produce advanced nuclear fuel.

This will be critical for energy security at home and abroad and builds on Britain’s historic competitive advantages.

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Generating the same amount of electricity instead from gas-fired stations would have required over 180TWh of gas, the ECIU found. That amount could heat as many as 15.5 million UK homes.

Renewable generation increased in each quarter of 2023, the ECIU researchers found, compared to 2019, their pre-Covid baseline. Output rose by around a quarter and a fifth respectively in last year’s first and final quarters.

Using gas power plants instead to meet such generation levels would have required around 120TWh more gas, equivalent to almost 10 million homes’ annual gas demand, or equal to the contents of around 140 LNG tanker ships, says the ECIU.

Gas-fired electricity fell by up to 30% in each quarter of the year, compared to equivalents in the 2019 baseline.

“Every turn of an offshore wind turbine’s blades reduces our dependence on gas“, declared Jess Ralston, the ECIU’s head of energy.

“As the North Sea continues its inevitable decline, we’ll need to import ever greater quantities of gas, undermining our energy independence.

“The choice for the UK is stark. Boost British renewables or import more gas at a price we cannot control”.

Britain has the highest gas dependency of any European country the ECIU repeats in its latest Power Tracker analysis. Forty per cent of our power and 85% of our home heating come from the high carbon source.

Nuclear, biomass and other networked sources such as low-carbon CHP contributed around posted falls over 2023 registering a combined 60TWh.

Several big wind farms stand in developers’ pipelines.  Last month alone, Orsted announced investment approval for its 2.9GWp Hornsea Three project.

The Danes’ confirmation lifted gloom after the government failed in September to secure any new bids for offshore wind in its latest Contracts for Difference auction.

By belatedly unfreezing the CfDs’ administrative strike price for the latest bidding round later this year, civil servants have sparked hopes of a recovery in new turbines at sea.

The ECIU’s report note concerns too about grid infrastructure and the need for connection grants to keep pace with the rate of renewables buildout.  Ofgem and the National Grid Future System Operator have committed to accelerating the process for grid connections. Both the Conservatives and Labour parties have made faster grid connection a priority ahead of the General Election anticipated this year.

The British researchers cite the International Monetary Fund as their authority that the nation’s gas dependency, combined with Britain possessing western Europe’s most energy wasteful housing stock, has left UK households worst hit across the continent by rising energy costs.

The report came as multinational energy company RWE confirmed that it will acquire a UK-based offshore wind portfolio totalling 4.2GW.

RWE will secure the projects for £963 million from Vattenfall, subject to approval by the Crown Estate and regulatory approvals.

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The Planning Inspectorate, Whitehall’s body overseeing new strategic infrastructure, must have an explicit remit towards Net Zero, says the all-party Nuclear Energy Parliamentary Group.

The PI has in the past turned down development of both Wylfa and Sizewell C,  on what the committee brands ‘minor environmental technicalities’.   The PI and related approval bodies must be adequately resourced to meet ‘the urgent need for more clean energy’, say the MPs.

They set out their steps to boost next generation atom-splitting in Made In Britain: The Pathway to a Nuclear Renaissance.  The report’s recommendations are angled to ensure the UK meets government targets for 24GW from the source by 2030.  A roadmap is expected from government before January.

The remit of Great British Nuclear, the public industry body advocated by Rishi Sunak’s administration, is central to the MPs’ recommendations.   They question uncertainties lingering around it, including the extent of its ownership or control of nuclear sites, whether it will apply for or hold individual operating licences, and how it will source funds for the industry.

The body will need to draw on ‘dozens’ of new small modular reactors (SMRs), part-assembled in factories, to secure nuclear’s clean generation potential, the study says. Rolls Royce leads advocates for the stripped-down models, pictured, adapted from its own submarine engines.

National Planning Statements touching on new nuclear must be rapidly updated and adopted, the APPG adds.

Reacting to present government intentions, the report notes Sunak’s pledge to reach a final investment decision for Sizewell C before the next general election, and for two other as-yet-unidentified projects to reach the same stage before 2029.  Even that timeline, in the committee’s view, will “leave Britain 21 years, 12GW and billions of pounds short of our ambition”.

The MPs urge the government to commit to giving GBN the funds to take equity shares in SMR-scale projects as required.

The prevailing regulated asset base (RAB) model, combined with direct equity investment via the Treasury or arms-length public bodies, should be established as the government’s preferred funding model for future projects, they recommend.

Assigning development SMR sites to technology partners as early as March next year will help preserve British technologists’ lead over in stripped-down generation, says the committee, reflecting the view of its sponsors among nuclear operators and manufacturers.

Plans to revive the Wylfa site, closed since 2015, foundered three years ago when Hitachi pulled out of funding new technology.  Selecting the right generation method and appropriate investors for the venture is more urgent than ever, say the MPs.

The site on Anglesea is the best in Europe for a large-scale nuclear plant and “thus ideal for realising the fleet effect of multi-unit replication”.   The government must buy both the site and rights to Hitachi’s proprietary generation technology, in order to fulfil the plot’s potential, says the committee.

Full text of the report is here.

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Under it, UK and US scientists will come together to address technical challenges and share nuclear fusion research and development facilities.

Nuclear fusion involves heating two light hydrogen nuclei to extreme temperatures, causing them to combine into a large nucleus that releases heat to generate electricity.

Fusion differs from the more conventional fission, where a heavy nucleus is split into two larger ones. Fusion is considered safer than than its forerunner, because fission produces big quantities of toxic, long-lasting nuclear waste needing great care in its handling. Waste concerns have triggered protests against nuclear power in the UK.

Bowie said: “International collaboration is key for advancing fusion and achieving our ambition of getting a commercial fusion reactor grid-ready by 2040. The UK and the US are world leaders in this technology, and pooling our resources will unlock new private sector investment.”

This is the first formal international fusion collaboration since the launch of the UK Government’s £650m ($794m) Fusion Futures Programme in October. The programme aims to train labour in the practice of fusion technology and accelerate the development of the industry.

In addition to this funding, the government previously allocated £700m to UK fusion energy programmes for the period 2022–25.

The fusion programme is part of the wider Great British Nuclear policy launched in March. Nuclear is thought to play an important role in the UK’s goal of sourcing 95% of its electricity from “low-carbon” sources. The government is aiming for 25% of the country’s energy to come from nuclear sources by 2050.

From the MAST-U tokamak in Oxfordshire to the DIII-D tokamak in California, American and British institutions have long collaborated on fusion research. The new partnership goes further and builds on the UK’s Fusion Strategy. It will:

• bring together scientists and engineers from the UK and US to address the technical challenges of delivering commercially viable fusion energy
• allow shared access for facilities and stimulate new R&D opportunities
• standardise international regulatory frameworks and codes of practice
• develop resilient supply chains for fusion materials to support the industry long-term promote skills development for a robust talent pool in the coming decade

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Dutch nuclear consultancy ULC-Energy and Danish fuel cell developers Topsoe have signed co-operation understandings with the Crewe-based world brand, in the next stages of what Britain’s government sees as a renaissance in the cumbersome, overcentralised technology.

Topsoe contribute proprietary know-how in building electrolysis cells based on solid oxide materials SOECs.  Low-carbon nuclear heat released at very high temperatures by their reactors of their British partners could contribute the energy needed to split green hydrogen from water.

Smaller than the atom-splitters of over-budget, always delayed leviathans such as Hinkley Point C, SMRs promise to be less expensive. Modular designs using components made offsite to a template and at lower cost indicate, or so government and investors hope, faster and further deployment of SMRs.

Initially focused on demonstrating synergies between SMRs and SOECs in a conceptual study, the three companies will also evaluate the potential operational flexibility of the combination in a future energy market based primarily on renewable power.

ULC-Energy CEO Dirk Rabelink said: “Hydrogen will play an increasingly important role in balancing future energy markets.

“We expect nuclear energy, especially in combination with high temperature electrolysis, to be able to produce zero-emission hydrogen competitively on a stand-alone basis. Additional value associated with the operational flexibility will further enhance the business case for this solution.”

Nuclear energy combined with SOEC technology could produce hydrogen more cheaply than alternative electrolysis processes because of the high temperatures, which means less electricity is needed, the partners said. Nuclear power plants can provide energy up to 95% of the time, far higher than other sources.

Topsoe’s Sundus Cordelia Ramli added: “With our SOEC technology, we can produce more hydrogen relative to influx of renewable power input when compared to competing electrolysis technologies. To enable net zero by 2050, we need to look into all possible technologies, and we’re confident that our electrolysis technology will be one of the key components.”

“SMR power plants will also be able to switch to deliver power to the grid when needed, providing back-up to variable power sources when they are not available. “This is expected to be a competitive solution compared to alternatives, like long duration energy storage solutions or hydrogen combustion for electricity generation,” the parties declared.

Harry Keeling, Rolls-Royce SMR’s head of industrial markets, said: “The production of low-cost hydrogen is a critical step on the pathway to decarbonising our wider society.

“Our agreement with ULC-Energy and Topsoe is an exciting step toward unleashing the potential of the Rolls-Royce SMR. Its ability to flexibly provide thermal and electrical energy supports a wide range of industrial applications, chief amongst these being the large-scale generation of low-cost hydrogen.”

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