Government must turn nuclear energy ‘wish list’ into a strategy, MPs warn
Government plans to revive the country’s nuclear ambitions are more of a ‘wish list’ than a strategy, a leading Westminster panel warned in its new report on the flagging industry.
The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee argues that government hopes of building a new reactor every year lack the comprehensive detail and strategy needed to meet such lofty ambitions – particularly those around funding and skills.
It is now calling for a comprehensive nuclear strategic plan to be drawn up, consulted on and ratified before the end of the current parliament next year.
This has to include a clearer role for industry vehicle Great British Nuclear (GBN) beyond its task of selecting small, modular reactor developers and more clarity over the country’s future mix of generation including SMRs, GW plants, advanced reactors.
There are also concerns over the government’s funding arrangements, with the committee pushing the government to clarify the projected costs for taxpayers before signing contracts for new gigawatt-scale nuclear plants.
Under the regulatory asset base model approved in parliament, the public takes on construction risk in a bid to lure private backing later on in the project.
However, the funds involved have not been specified.
There will also need to be a more than doubling of the current nuclear workforce from 65,000 to as many as 215,000 people.
This will require coordinated actions across the whole sector including government, existing nuclear operators, developers, regulators and educational institutions.
Meanwhile, the report also says the government should continue to back nuclear fusion – with £970m of research and development spent since 2010 on the nascent technology, even though it is unlikely to contribute to net zero ambitions.
Historic challenge to ramp up nuclear
Greg Clark, conservative MP and chair of the committee, said the government is right to target a ramp-up in nuclear generation but labelled its ambitions as “stretching.”
“The only way to achieve this is to translate these very high-level aspirations into a comprehensive, concrete and detailed nuclear strategic plan which is developed jointly with the nuclear industry, which enjoys long term cross-party political commitment and which therefore offers dependability for private and public investment decisions.
“Done right, the UK can be in the vanguard of delivering nuclear innovation, jobs and clean, affordable and reliable energy. But there is now an urgent need to turn hopes into actions,” he said.
Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, added: “The UK is well positioned to become a global hub for nuclear investment, with world-class sites, a competitive funding model, and in GBN, a body that can help deliver projects. If we don’t act now, we will lose out on energy security, environmental sustainability and jobs for our people.”
Downing Street’s target of ramping up nuclear generation from 7GW to 24GW over the next three decades is nearly double the highest installed capacity UK nuclear has ever reached.
It is particularly challenging with 85 per cent of the country’s current nuclear generation set to go offline in the next 12 years.
The latest push from Westminster for the government to speed up its nuclear hopes comes amid renewed industry criticism from Sir John Rose, the former chief executive of Rolls-Royce.
He told the Daily Mail that the decision to launch a competition for SMRs was “depressing” – with Rolls-Royce potentially facing a wide range of competition including Hitachi, the Bill Gates-backed Terra Power, Newcleo, and Copenhagen Atomics.
In his view, the competition was a “good example” of the government failing to understand the needs of British industry.
When approached for comment, a department for energy security and net zero spokesperson confirmed the government plans to publish a nuclear roadmap and consult on alternative routes to market by the end of the year.
They said: “Nuclear has a vital role to play in reaching net zero and boosting energy security – just last week we launched GB Nuclear which will help generate billions for the UK economy and support thousands of jobs. As part of this, we launched a fair and transparent competition that will provide a range of companies the opportunity to help us develop the best SMR technologies in the world.”