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Shelved nuclear power plans leave UK government’s energy policy in hot water, Chemistry World BY MATTHEW GUNTHER, 20 Feb 19, The UK government’s nuclear energy policy is in disarray after the Japanese company Hitachi stopped work on a proposed plant in Wylfa last month. The move comes just months after fellow Japanese firm Toshiba shelved plans to build a nuclear power station in Cumbria.On 17 January 2019, Horizon Nuclear Power, the Hitachi-owned subsidiary responsible for the Wylfa project, put all construction at the site on hold. The £15 billon 2.9GW nuclear power plant was to have a 60-year operational life. Hitachi also scrapped plans for another reactor at Oldbury.

Hitachi has already invested around £2 billion into the Wylfa project prior to the announcement, with the UK government offering to invest £5 billion. But spiralling costs led to doubts that the project would survive through financing negotiations. F

‘Negotiations had been going on for about six months,’ explains Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association. ‘Although the UK government has got to a point of what it would agree to, and Hitachi got some investment in place, there wasn’t enough.’

Simon Taylor, an economist with the Energy Policy Research Group in Cambridge, UK, agrees with Greatrex, but says it is unclear why the Wylfa project has ultimately stalled. ‘I can only assume that they wanted the government to take more of the risk – particularly the construction risk,’ he says.

The recent troubles at Toshiba may also have encouraged Hitachi to limit the risk it was exposed to, according to Taylor. Last year Toshiba announced it would end all new global nuclear projects, including a planned site at Moorside in Cumbria. The company had invested £400 million in Moorside before pulling out in response to its US nuclear division filing for bankruptcy.

Such failures highlight one issue with a new nuclear project, explains Taylor: ‘[It] is extremely expensive and it involves a lot of risk.’

Striking a deal

Financial risk is an inevitable part of large infrastructure projects, but the nuclear industry has a unique set of challenges to overcome. Taylor explains that even if a firm’s reactor has a proven track record, it must make design modifications to satisfy local regulators. This forms part of the UK’s Generic Design Assessment (GDA) – a rigorous review process that can last years. The GDA for Hitachi’s Wylfa reactor was completed within four.

Once the GDA is signed off and the site approved, only then can a firm begin to build its power plant. But, under current UK policy, the high costs associated with construction lie solely with the company. The final construction bill for the Wylfa plant was to be an estimated £15 billion……….https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/shelved-nuclear-power-plans-leave-uk-governments-energy-policy-in-hot-water/3010136.articleEBRUARY 2019