The UK government has announced a £200m deal aimed at fuelling innovation and diversity in the civil nuclear industry while bringing down build costs. East Anglian industry leaders say the Nuclear Sector Deal, launched as new build projects including the proposed Sizewell C and Bradwell B plants take shape, has the potential to bring “great benefits” to the region, which has already built up nuclear expertise from its existing plant, Sizewell B.
Ipswich Star 28th June 2018 read more »
Mike Middleton, Strategy Manager, Nuclear, The Energy Technologies Institute, said: “We welcome the news of a new sector deal for nuclear, another step in the government’s ambition to deliver clean growth as part of its Industrial Strategy. Our view is that nuclear should be part of the mix of technologies that provide the opportunity to decarbonise the UK energy system. Large light water reactors like EDF’s Hinkley Point C and Hitachi’s planned ABWRs for Wylfa can make a substantial contribution in decarbonising baseload electricity production. The delivery of a potential pipeline of projects will be influenced by a number of factors – not all technical. In addition, Small Modular Reactors using light water technology could fulfil an additional role by delivering combined heat and power helping to decarbonise energy use in buildings.
Politics Home 29th June 2018 read more »
A £200m Nuclear Sector Deal set to drive down the costs of nuclear energy has been announced by the government, just days after it rejected plans to build the £1.3bn Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon on grounds of cost. The tidal lagoon could’ve been the world’s first tidal lagoon power plant, so comparing it to nuclear energy – of which the UK has much more experience – is difficult, but the potential benefits it could’ve brought cannot be ignored. Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon was reportedly going to be able to generate power for 155,000 homes over the next 120 years, with the cost to UK households annually from the project estimated at just 20-30 pence. In a response to the lagoon rejection, Chair of Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon, Keith Clarke said that the decision made a “mockery” of the government’s Industrial Strategy; comparatively, the Nuclear Sector Deal announcement was made as part of the Industrial Strategy. The lagoon was set to see an investment of £316m into the Welsh economy in the first year of the build and £76m every operational year after; Wylfa Newdd states on their website that “local investment [would be] in the region of up to £200m.”
The Manufacturer 29th June 2018 read more »
£200m boost to UK’s nuclear industry welcomed. The government is spearheading a push to bring more women into the UK’s civil nuclear industry. A MULTI million pound deal for the nuclear industry has been welcomed by a former parliamentary candidate. Simon Fell, who ran against John Woodcock in the 2017 general election, said a £200m stimulus package announced by the government was a “welcome boost” for Barrow’s industry. Now the spokesman for the Conservative Party in Barrow, Mr Fell said securing the future of the civil nuclear industry was vital. He said: “Nuclear energy doesn’t just keep the lights on, it fuels local jobs, wages, economic prosperity and drives UK innovation.
NW Evening Mail 29th June 2018 read more »
Rachel Reeves, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, has commented on the Nuclear sector deal announced by the Business and Energy Secretary of State Greg Clark today. “This is a welcome commitment to the UK’s civil nuclear industry and to jobs and innovation. I hope the Secretary of State will ensure that the Government’s commitment on nuclear will be matched in the future by sector deals for the cheapest low-carbon technologies. The Government must take these steps to ensure they deliver on the goal to decarbonise the UK at least cost so that energy bills for consumers are as cheap as possible …This support for nuclear needs to be matched by action to ensure there is seamless transition from Euratom to a UK safeguards regime. It is clear that there are serious outstanding concerns, including regarding recruitment and funding, which need to be urgently addressed’”.
Parliament 28th June 2018 read more »
China’s largest nuclear power producer has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the UK Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) to help deepen its links with Britain’s supply chain. CGN, the developer of the Bradwell B project, hopes to develop its expertise and knowledge, as well as improve commercial and academic connections. The wide-ranging deal includes working out how UK businesses and universities can prepare themselves to participate in the project and how these organisations can add value to CGN’s nuclear operations in China and elsewhere.
Energy Live News 29th June 2018 read more »
Neglected Large-Scale Value for Money Issues in Public Accounting for Costs of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise :Written evidence a review of issues that are of direct relevance to the core topic of the National Audit Office (NAO) report of 2018 concerning ‘the Defence Nuclear Enterprise’ (henceforth ‘NAO Report’). The material summarized here supplements and updates evidence published by the PAC Inquiry of October 2017. The authors believe on grounds of many years of research at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex that the matters documented here raise large-scale, long-run value for money issues of pressing national importance, which remain seriously neglected in work to date either by the NAO, the PAC or any other official bodies – and which are therefore gravely under-scrutinized by Parliament or wider UK policy debates
Parliament 19th June 2018 read more »
