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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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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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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