Why is nuclear important?
Nuclear power is low-carbon, affordable, dependable, safe and capable of increasing diversity of energy supply. New nuclear power stations would therefore help the UK address the twin challenges of climate change and security of energy supply.
The global nuclear renaissance provides a multi-billion pound opportunity for those industries involved in the supply of goods and services required for the construction, operation and maintenance, as well as decommissioning, of nuclear power stations.
Government policy
In January 2008, the nuclear white paper, Meeting the energy challenge (links to National Archives) was published. This said:
- new nuclear power stations should have a role to play in this country’s future energy mix, alongside other low-carbon sources
- it would be in the public interest to allow energy companies the option of investing in new nuclear power stations
- the Government should take active steps to facilitate this
The Coalition Government published its programme in June 2010, which set out its vision that nuclear should play an important role – alongside renewable energy and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) – in the UK’s future energy mix and that energy companies can build new nuclear power stations provided they are subject to the normal planning process for major projects and receive no public subsidy.
In a Written Ministerial Statement made to Parliament in October 2010, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change reconfirmed the Government’s policy that there will be no public subsidy for new nuclear power.
Facilitative actions on new nuclear
DECC has been taking a number of facilitative actions to reduce regulatory and planning risks for investors. These are:
- National Policy Statements: assessment of potential new build sites that are suitable on a strategic level. The Nuclear National Policy Statement was designated on 19 July 2011 and lists eight sites as suitable for the deployment of new nuclear power
- Regulatory Justification: a process required by European law to establish whether the benefits of new nuclear outweigh the health risks. The Secretary of State published his justification decisions on 18 October 2010 that the AP100 and EPR reactor designs are justified and that their benefits outweigh any health risks they may cause
- waste and decommissioning financing arrangements: ensures operators of new nuclear power stations put aside sufficient funds to pay for the future decommissioning of nuclear power stations and the disposal of any wastes they produce
- Generic Design Assessment (GDA): examines new reactor designs for safety and environmental clearance, taking into account the report published by Dr Mike Weightman on lessons learned for the UK nuclear industry following the accident at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Japan.
DECC is undertaking a programme of regulatory reform of the nuclear regulator, to ensure it remains capable of effectively addressing the regulatory challenges ahead. The Office for Nuclear Regulation was launched in April 2011.
DECC is also working with the supply chain and nuclear reactor vendors and operators to help create and support a globally competitive UK supply chain and is working to ensure that the UK has a workforce with the appropriate skills to deliver nuclear new build in the UK.
The aim is to have the first new nuclear power stations generating electricity from around 2018.
Indicative timeline for new nuclear (October 2011)
The indicative timeline shows in broad terms how the various workstreams in the new nuclear programme and other related activity fit together. The timeline is illustrative only, and all timings given are indicative.
Some elements of the plan are generic to all new nuclear power stations, whereas other elements are project-specific. The timing of project-specific activity in particular is subject to change and dependent on when prospective operators bring their plans forward. This activity will need to be repeated separately, at different points in time, for each new nuclear power station.
The accompanying narrative explains how the timeline has changed since the previous version was published in August 2010.
Nuclear consultation evaluation report
In May 2007, the Government launched The future of nuclear power: the role of nuclear power in a low carbon UK economy (link to National Archives), a major consultation exercise on the future of civil nuclear power in the UK.
An evaluation report of this consultation and its annexes was produced by Diane Warburton for the Government and published in October 2009:
New Nuclear Programme: Email updates
If you would like to receive email updates on new nuclear, please email ond@decc.gsi.gov.uk