It's the first anniversary episode of The Infrastructure Podcast and today we are going to talk about nuclear power!
When I first jumped ship from civil engineering to a new life as a journalist with New Civil Engineer 30 years ago, the magazine was gearing up to celebrate the Sizewell B project which was being commissioned as the first of a new breed of UK nuclear power stations - albeit somewhat over-budget.
So my eye was drawn to last month’s announcement by French power firm EdF that the new Hinkley Point C reactor in Somerset – set to be the UK’s only new nuclear power station since 1995 - will now not open before 2029 – possibly not until 2031 - and could see costs climb to perhaps £46bn against an £18bn original budget.
It certainly puts Sizewell B’s project delivery achievements into context, which 30 years ago saw costs inflate by 135% but is now producing around 3% of the UK power needs, having taken a mere seven years to build.
The good news is that after decades of dithering, the UK government is now firmly behind nuclear power as a key element in our transition away from fossil fuels, with the Energy White Paper of 2020 demanding at least one large-scale nuclear project to reach Final Investment Decision during this Parliament.
Since then public money has been committed to the Sizewell C project, the government’s 2020 10 point plan included a £385 million Advanced Nuclear Fund, its 2021 Net Zero White Paper committed to a new £120m Future Nuclear Enabling Fund; and in July last year we saw the rebirth of Great British Nuclear, a government owned body designed to coordinate the UK nuclear industry renaissance and drive the development of the small modular reactor market.
But as is always with UK nuclear, it all seems to move at a glacial, hugely expensive pace and continues to beg the question – what on earth is going on with our nuclear and energy transition policy?
Fortunately, I have with me today one the UK’s authorities on the subject,
Tim Stone, chairman of the Nuclear Industry Association and more recently a non-exec director on the new
Great British Nuclear team, who I am hoping will shed some light.
Tim is speaking with his NIA chairman’s hat on today.
