A huge 700hp steam engine that once powered hundreds of weaving machines in Lancashire; an automatic calculator from Charles Babbage’s laboratory as one of the earliest precursors to the computer; a Black Arrow rocket from the British space program that launched satellites into their orbits in the 1970s: all examples of British engineering on display at London’s Science Museum.
Energy Minister Grant Shapps chose this framework in order to make clear the British government’s ambitions for a “renaissance” of nuclear power. At the heart of the new program is Great British Nuclear, a new agency designed to coordinate and co-finance research and projects related to nuclear power in the country. Grants totaling £157m (€183m) are already up for distribution.
“Britain has a long history as a pioneer in nuclear power. This is where the civil use of nuclear energy has begun, and I’m proud to be spurring another surge and putting our country back at the forefront of innovation,” Shapps said Tuesday.
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One of the focal points is the development of so-called Small Modular Reactors (SMR), relatively small modular reactors that can be built much faster and are cheaper than conventional power plants.
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Not only could they mean plentiful clean, reliable domestic energy and reduce household electricity bills across the country. “This is how we ensure that Britain can never again be blackmailed by tyrants like Putin on energy issues,” Shapps said.
As early as spring of last year, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson made nuclear energy the center of the country’s energy strategy in response to the Russian attack on Ukraine. Nuclear energy in the country is now to be massively expanded in the coming years, and by 2050 a quarter of the electricity is to come from domestic nuclear power plants – and thus also help to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to zero, as required by law. In 2021 it was still 19 percent.
Just one new project in 13 years
In recent decades, Great Britain has been able to significantly reduce its emissions by shifting the energy mix from coal to natural gas and, above all, by significantly expanding wind energy. This potential has now been largely exhausted.
Unlike in Germany, phasing out nuclear energy was never an option in Great Britain. But the plans for new power plants in the country have suffered from numerous setbacks and delays for years. Only one project, Hinkley Point C in Somerset in the South West, has started since 2010.
Under the management of the French EDF group and with investments from CGN from China, construction has now been delayed by more than ten years. Completion is now scheduled for 2027. The original calculation of £18 billion has now grown to almost £33 billion.
Cost risks have caused several of the major projects to fail altogether. Japan’s Hitachi and Toshiba had already made firm commitments for power plants in the country and prepared for construction. Five years ago they withdrew again with reference to the costs.
Another major power station, Sizewell C on the Suffolk coast, received a £700m investment last year. Nevertheless, the project, which is also led by EDF, has a financial gap of around £20 billion.
A mix of debt and equity financing is planned. The interest is very high, Shapps told the Financial Times. “We started pre-screening and I’ve had a great response – very, very positive – after speaking to at least half a dozen very serious investors.”
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The major projects are not being shaken within Great British Nuclear. In order to alleviate the financing problems, however, the development of the SMR should be pushed ahead. Like large plants, these smaller reactors work on the principle of nuclear fission.
Rolls-Royce, one of the companies working intensively on the technology, estimates their capacity at only around one tenth of today’s modern nuclear power plants. The smaller version can be assembled from centrally prefabricated components, which promises considerable time savings and cost advantages.
A first key project for the agency is a competition for companies working on these modular reactors. An interim decision should be made by autumn, and those selected will then be offered state co-financing.
Existing solutions are more promising
Rolls-Royce sees Shapps well positioned for this, the company has already received a good 200 million pounds of government funding for the area. The US companies GE Hitachi and X-energy are considered other promising potential participants.
The competition underscores a willingness to support innovative technologies and create new opportunities for the country’s industrial supply chain, said Tom Greatrex, executive director of the Nuclear Industry Association. Shapps does not expect the use of modular reactors before the 2030s either.
However, critics point out that these new nuclear models are still a long way from solving the problems of their predecessors. “SMRs are far from marketable, at best they will be as uneconomical as the existing technology,” said Stephen Thomas, professor of energy policy at the University of Greenwich in London.
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In the worst case, the technology could not even be implemented. In order to reduce emissions to zero, it is better to rely on existing solutions such as energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Great British Nuclear would merely cost attention and time that could be better spent elsewhere.
The grants already promised are primarily intended to support nuclear research in the UK, including the development of new designs and advances in high-temperature reactors.
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