FROM THE EDITOR
challenge
Energy policy and the nuclear
Nuclear power is renowned for its exceptional lifespan and long-term reliability. What is less reliable are the political frameworks that can support an industry over the decades
ne of the key characteristics of nuclear power – and a major benefit of nuclear technology – is its longevity. More than two thirds of the world’s 400 or so power reactors are already more than 30 years old and many are already well past their initial 40- year design life. Indeed, around
a quarter of the global fleet of operable reactors have already had their operating licenses extended at least once. With the possible exception of hydropower, nuclear is unique in its quiet delivery of baseload power day after day and year after year for many decades. Counter-intuitively, nuclear power plants actually even become more reliable over time. IAEA figures indicate that worldwide load factors are better now than they have been in at least two decades, even as the average age of the fleet has ticked ever higher. It is no surprise then that lifetime extension
programmes are a central feature of the modern nuclear power landscape. Today, operational lifespans of 60 or 80 years are not out of the ordinary and life spans of a century are certainly being entertained. Rosatom, for example, believes that the VVER-1200 reactors currently being built at El Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt could potentially see a service life of 100 years. A plant built in 2026 might then still be operating in 2126. Considering a
century of technical and cultural development throws this idea into sharp relief. In 1926 John Logie Baird conducted the world’s first demonstration of the television and Robert Goddard launched the very first liquid-fuelled rocket. Greta Garbo starred in her first major movie and Calvin Coolidge was president of the United States. In the same year Italian genius Enrico Fermi published his first great contribution to nuclear physics with his paper on Fermi-Dirac statistics exploring what are now known as Fermions and which include the neutron. Of course, television, liquid-fuelled rockets, Fermions and even Garbo’s films are still part of the fabric of modern life, but it is extraordinarily difficult to put the political achievements of Coolidge in the same category. And this highlights perhaps one of the greatest challenges of nuclear power development – the longevity of the political horizon and its impact on energy policy. Very few political leaders think much beyond the four or five years of their current term and that has profound implications for nuclear. In the UK, for example, the final investment decision on Hinkley Point C was made in 2016. Since then, there have been six UK prime ministers. Even so, Unit 1 at HPC is currently not expected to begin operating before 2030 – time for at least two more administrations between the final go-ahead and production of the first kWh. And it is a matter of fact that one of the fundamental barriers for nuclear development today has been a lack of nuclear development in the past 30 years – HPC will be Britain’s first new reactor since the 1980s and the start of construction at Sizewell B. Much of the delay and cost increase for HPC has been attributed to the challenge of creating what is effectively an entirely new industry from the ground up around a single large project. But the UK is far from alone in this respect. Only a few nations have sustained nuclear momentum and those exceptions are now far and away the global leaders. Today, that long-term vision is paying strategic dividends in terms of nuclear exports, security of energy supply and even the capability to quickly ramp up nuclear new build in response to geopolitical events. For policymakers the message is clear – like nuclear projects, energy policy should be considered over a span of decades or even centuries rather than terms of office. How different things might have been if a reactor project had started once every 10 years instead of once in a generation. ■
David Appleyard
www.neimagazine.com | June 2026 | 3
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