UK's Nuclear Power Choices

Implications: UK Government hope that privately financed nuclear power stations will be built to provide low carbon, firm electricity generation to increase security of supply. Around 13GW of coal and oil fired power stations will close by 2015 together with up to 6GW of nuclear capacity. UK's long term carbon dioxide emissions targets and aspirations will be impossible to meet without new build nuclear, as renewable technologies cannot be built quick enough or provide firm generation capability. Because of the long planning, construction and commissioning cycle for nuclear plants, an early start is necessary for new plants to be in service before 2015 to 2020

Analysis: The first of a new fleet of nuclear stations will have advantage in being in pole position for later nuclear plants. There are at least five nuclear power designs designs offered by a range of global manufacturers.:
    Areva NP (PWR)
    Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (CANDU)
    General Electric Energy (Boiling water reactor)
    Westinghouse Electric Co. (PWR)
    Pebblebed Reactor.

The UK nuclear regulatory authority is the Nuclear Installation Inspectorate (NII), part of the Health and Safety Executive. NII said ealier this year that it can only evaluate three nuclear designs for licensing, and to add a fourth to the list would add an extra two years to the planning and licensing period. This is due to well known resource problems at the Agency. If UK government is not wanting to sink public money into new nuclear plants, it should allow promoters of new nuclear stations to have some choice in the designs that they will finance and construct. By limiting the nuber of reactor designs considered for licensing, UK is already into "picking winners" a disasterous trap that UK fell into in the 1960's when it developed gas cooled nuclear reactors when the rest of the world were concentrating on water cooled reactors.