nuclear-news

X-Energy threatens to pull out of building nuclear plants in Britain

Developer backed by Amazon demands clarity on financial and regulatory
support before building advanced modular reactor in Hartlepool.

X-Energy, based in Maryland in the United States, is in discussions with EDF, the
French state-backed energy group, over a project to build one or more units
on the site of the Hartlepool nuclear power plant in Co Durham, a
large-scale reactor that is due to be decommissioned in 2027.

The company, which is also backed by Dow, the American industrial group, is developing
its first advanced modular reactor at one of Dow’s manufacturing sites on
the Texas Gulf Coast, with support from the US government. Another project
for Amazon is also planned in Washington state.

While its preference was to
build its first European Xe-100 reactors in Britain, Clay Sell,
X-Energy’s chief executive, said that without greater clarity from the
government on financial and regulatory support mechanisms it would look to
other markets. “We would like to go big in Europe from a base in the UK
but we don’t have to do a base in the UK. We’ve got to get real and
we’ve got to get going, otherwise we’re going to go someplace else,”
Sell said.

A clear framework included sites being made available for
advanced modular reactors, some government support for early development
work for the first plant alongside private capital, and funding for
construction through the so-called regulated asset base model, which is
levied on electricity bills. Unlike the existing designs operating in the
UK, X-Energy’s technology uses helium as a coolant rather than water to
divert heat away from the core. It has also developed its own fuel, which
it claims can withstand four times the temperature of typical nuclear fuel.

 Times 17th Feb 2025, https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/x-energy-threatens-to-pull-out-of-building-nuclear-plants-in-britain-hk99djbps

February 19, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs