NEW BUILD | UK REVIVAL
UK sets out nuclear revolution plans
The UK government wants to provide an investment environment that will bring forward a pipeline of new nuclear projects. To do so it is willing to sweep away some longstanding industry assumptions
THE UK GOVERNMENT HAS RESTATED nuclear as “a central pillar of our future energy mix, with ambitions to deliver up to 24 GW of capacity by 2050” – enough to meet around a quarter of the country’s projected demand. It has published a Roadmap to expanding the industry and it said: “The purpose of this Roadmap is to send an unambiguous signal to the nuclear sector and investors, setting out how we expect UK nuclear deployment to happen, a timeline for the key decisions and actions, and clarity over the role government and industry should play in supporting and enabling this delivery.” It said it wanted to reach final investment decision on the
UK’s next plant, Sizewell C, “by the end of this parliament”, which would mean by the end of this year. In an interview with the Financial Times newspaper energy minister Andrew Bowie said the government was “on track” to raise around £20 billion from debt and equity investors alongside £1.2 billion already committed by the government. Asked if the full amount would be raised, Bowie told the FT: “It’s a phenomenal sum of money but we are genuinely very pleased and very positive about the reaction we have had through the capital-raising process so far.” Potential investors are thought to include a UAE sovereign wealth fund alongside some large institutions.
The UK also promised a list of actions “over the next
twelve months” and published a number of documents that “will lay the foundation of long-term strategy in the nuclear sector” based around the new delivery body Great British Nuclear, but aiming to remove some key blockers to new nuclear build. Among these will be timelines and processes for a further GW-scale reactor, as it aims to secure investment decisions to deliver 3-7 GW every five years from 2030 to 2044. Two key consultations (see below) sought feedback on a new approach to allocating sites for new build and on new ‘routes to market for advanced reactors that are smaller and offer products (such as heat) instead of, or alongside, providing grid electricity. Alongside these ambitions it highlighted:
● A nuclear skills taskforce report and a ‘Defence Nuclear Enterprise Command Paper’.
● Plans to complete technology selection on which small modular reactor (SMR) technology will be supported to achieve final investment decision (FID) by 2029.
● A response to a recent consultation on nuclear decommissioning and managing radioactive substances, including radioactive waste.
Above: Hinkley Point C is one of only two UK new build reactors to be consented 34 | March 2024 |
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