EDF set to extend life of UK nuclear plants as Government replacement plans falter
Power plants in Hartlepool, East Lothian and Heysham are set to have their lifespan extended before the end of the year .
By Ben Gartside, December 2, 2024, https://inews.co.uk/news/nuclear-plants-uk-edf-extend-replacement-3408994
Energy giant EDF is set to announce that it will extend the lifespan of four nuclear power plants across the country amid delays to replacement projects, The i Paper can reveal.
It is the second time EDF has asked to extend the lifespan of the plants in Hartlepool and East Lothian, as well as two in Heysham, despite safety concerns at at least two of the sites.
The decision by EDF is set to be announced before the end of the year. However, The i Paper understands that all four are set to be extended.
The scale of delays to the Government’s nuclear projects including Sizewell C and the Small Modular Reactor Programme, due to Brexit and rampant inflation, was revealed earlier this year.
It threatened to derail Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s plan to decarbonise the energy grid by 2030 before Labour even entered Downing Street.
The National Energy System Operator has raised doubts over the Government’s ability to deliver on its net zero grid commitments in just five years’ time.
The extension of the four power plants is likely to keep the grid cleaner in the coming years, while new nuclear projects await launch.
Heysham 1 and Hartlepool had been due to close in March this year, but were extended until 2026 by EDF in 2023. They have now been extended beyond 2026.
Heysham 2 and Torness nuclear power stations are currently due to close in 2028, but are set to be extended under the plans.
Torness, near Edinburgh, had its lifespan reduced by two years in 2021 due to cracking in the bricks, according to an Office for Nuclear Regulation report.
It has been reported that any extension to the Torness plant would have been conditional on EDF proving its ability to keep operating beyond 2028.
Meanwhile, a recent steam leak at Heysham 1 could have seriously injured staff according to an Office for Nuclear Regulation report, after a valve controlling stream from the reactor failed.
A number of safety notices have been given this year to EDF by the nuclear regulator, which some in the industry claim is a sign of the ageing power plants.
An industry source said that some of the reactors had already been “extended pretty far”, and that more issues would be likely.
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “The extension of any nuclear power station is a decision for the operator and the independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, based on safety and commercial considerations.
“EDF’s ambition is to further extend the lives of four generating nuclear power stations, subject to inspections and regulatory approvals, and a decision will be taken by the end of 2024.”
An EDF spokesperson said: “A decision will only be made after a rigorous review of all the technical factors involved in running these stations and future operation will always be subject to regular inspections and oversight from the independent regulator, the ONR.”
A spokesperson for the Office for Nuclear Regulation, said: “We are conscious of the nation’s energy challenges and government aspirations to achieve net zero and would constructively work with EDF should it have ambitions to extend the lifetime of any of its power stations.
“The ongoing safety of operations at any nuclear site must be fully demonstrated to us as part of ongoing regulation which will be informed though our extensive inspection and assessment regime.
“We will always endeavour to regulate in an enabling manner, but we would not allow any facility to operate unless we are satisfied that it is safe to do so.
EDF’s controversial River Severn saltmarshes plan should cease, says County Council leader
By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter,, Gloucester News Centre 30th Nov 2024
EDF’s controversial plans for saltmarshes linked to Hinkley C nuclear power plant should cease immediately.
That is the view of Gloucestershire County Council’s Conservative leader Stephen Davies (Hardwicke and Severn) who has written to energy, security and net zero secretary Ed Miliband expressing his opposition to the schemes.
Bosses at the French-government owned energy firm have been severely criticised for their environmental improvement plans by residents in Rodley near Westbury-on-Severn and Arlingham on the other side of the river.
Their original plan for Hinkley Point in Somerset was to install an acoustic fish deterrent system to scare fish away from the site as the Bristol Channel is home to numerous species such as eels, herring, salmon and sprats.
However, EDF feel this will no longer be viable and have instead drawn up alternative plans to create salt marshes along the River Severn.
They have identified the two Gloucestershire sites along with Kingston Seymour in Somerset, Littleton Upon Severn in South Gloucestershire as areas for salt marshes.
And they have been in touch with landowners. But villagers strongly oppose the proposals which they fear will destroy the Severn Vale.
Cllr Davies says in the letter, which has not been signed by the other group leaders at GCC, that the authority welcomes the Government’s commitment to delivering net zero.
But he expressed significant concerns regarding the scale of the impact the nuclear power station will have on the migratory fish population in the Severn Estuary special area of conservation which will result from the massive water abstraction at Hickley Point C of 120,000 litres of seawater a second from the Severn for 60 years.
He believes this will be made significantly worse by their intention to remove the required acoustic fish deterrent system at the plant.
And is concerned over the significant impact the emerging salt marsh proposals would have as it would see hundreds of acres of farmland lost.
“This would not only include farmland, but also farms, houses, businesses, roads, footpaths, heritage assets, etc.
“EDF representatives have already confirmed to local residents that they would use compulsory purchase orders in future if need be as well as currently attempting to access privately-owned land for ecological surveys.”
Cllr Davies calls for the acoustic fish deterrent to be installed as originally planned and for appropriate ecological compensation be delivered to address the impact on the Severn Estuary. He is also calling for EDF to be instructed to immediately cease plans to create the new salt marshes along the Severn.
Campaign group Save our Severn Vale do not believe that the proposed location of a saltmarsh in either Rodley or Arlingham is viable from a salinity perspective or compensatory habitat when looking at the species EDF say they want to save………………………….. https://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk/edfs-controversial-river-severn-saltmarshes-plan-should-cease-says-county-council-leader/
‘No plans’ for specific nuclear test veteran compensation
By George Allison, UK Defence Journal, December 1, 2024
Liz Saville Roberts MP (Plaid Cymru – Dwyfor Meirionnydd) recently
questioned the Ministry of Defence (MoD) about the possibility of
establishing a dedicated financial compensation scheme for nuclear test
veterans and their families.
These veterans were involved in the UK’s
nuclear testing programme from 1952 to 1967. Responding to the inquiry,
Luke Pollard, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence,
confirmed that “The Ministry of Defence has no current plans to develop a
specific compensation scheme for either Nuclear Test Veterans or their
families.”
However, Pollard highlighted that veterans who believe they
have been adversely affected by their service can apply to the War Pensions
Scheme. This “no-fault scheme provides compensation for Service personnel
who are disabled or die due to injury caused or made worse by service in
the UK Armed Forces before 6 April 2005.” He also noted the availability
of supplementary pensions and allowances for dependants through the same
programme.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/no-plans-for-specific-nuclear-test-veteran-compensation/
Just Don’t Mention (or Measure) the Pu (Plutonium)
Cs-134 usually appears (at first) in similar amounts as Cs-137, as both are fission wastes………. With regard impact on human health cesium–134 (Cs-134) is extremely serious along with cesium-137 (Cs-137) the longer lived isotope which also present on Cumbrian beaches
By mariannewildart, Radiation Free Lakeland 30th Nov 2024, https://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2024/11/30/just-dont-mention-or-measure-the-pu-plutonium/
Josh MacAlister MP for Sellafield (sorry Whitehaven and Workington) bigs up the “Good” status of Seascale and “Excellent” status of St Bees bathing water sites.
The bad news is that the criteria for bathing water quality in the UK does not include radioactive pollution – a bad case of the three wise monkeys “see no evil..”
Our own citizen science findings indicate radioactive wastes are a now an insidious and homogeneous part of West Cumbria’s beaches courtesy of the nuclear industry’s routine and accidental discharges to the Irish Sea.
Our own surveys and testing has shown that Caesium 134 is present along with Americium 241. Cs-134 has a short half life of only 2 years which is counter to the already disingenuous claims that the discharges (some very long lived) are “historic..” Cs-134 usually appears (at first) in similar amounts as Cs-137, as both are fission wastes. This implies that this Cs-134 was produced in a nuclear reactor about eight years ago. With regard impact on human health cesium–134 (Cs-134) is extremely serious along with cesium-137 (Cs-137) the longer lived isotope which also present on Cumbrian beaches. In nature, caesium exists only as a non-radioactive (or stable) isotope known as cesium-133. Americium 241 does not exist in nature and is a decay product of Plutonium.
The UK Health Security Agency have stated the risk of the public encountering a radioactive particle is “very low” but this is contested . In reality the ongoing risks are unacceptable and set to increase with new development plans such as proposed new nuclear and a Geological Disposal Facility for heat generating nuclear wastes both of which would cause likely disruption to the fragile Cumbrian Mud Patch through subsidence and induced earthquakes.
Campaigners point out that children and young women of childbearing age are most at risk of health impacts from encountering a radioactive particle. “Inadvertent ingestion of a particle will result in the absorption to blood of a small proportion of the radionuclide content of the particle. The subsequent retention of radionuclides in body organs and tissues presents a potential risk of the development of cancer.” Health risks from radioactive particles on Cumbrian beaches near the Sellafield nuclear site by John D Harrison et al 2023.
Hunterston ‘industrial revolution’ on our doorstep
Drew Cochrane, Largs & Millport Weekly News 29th Nov 2024
When politicians of every hue have been popping up in promotional photos in recent weeks to pronounce the pathway to thousands of jobs for Hunterston in the next five years you know it’s for real.
The bad news for those in Fairlie who are of a protesting disposition (God forbid) is that the projects, spearheading Scotland’s mission towards Net Zero, will not be stopped.
First Minister John Swinney risked a nose bleed by travelling way down south to London to welcome the Highview Power plans to create the world’s largest liquid air energy facility at Hunterston which will store as much as five times Scotland’s current operational battery capacity for locally produced renewable energy.
One thousand jobs in the construction phase and 650 jobs in the local supply chain by its completion in 2030 are the headlines.
Labour’s UK Energy Minister and Scottish MP Michael Shanks visited Hunterston this month to see the ‘Converter’ station at the site of the forthcoming XLCC sub-sea cable production factory which promises 900 permanent well-paid jobs, including, crucially, 200 apprentices. Again, contractors and suppliers will also number hundreds in support work.
Electricity is being supplied from the local site to Wales by sub-sea cable as a precursor to the XLCC plan to bring renewable energy from the Sahara, via Morocco, once the production factory bursts into action by 2029, work scheduled to start in March. We also carried the story and picture of the first apprentices being trained.
Local SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson visited Clydeport which has released 350 acres of the land, designated as National Development Status by the Scottish Government. He, like myself, does not buy the argument from some quarters, that the value of properties in Fairlie will fall; quite the reverse when staff move into the area.
It won’t entirely be a smooth transition, particularly, with heavy traffic on the A78 but as I’ve said before on this page this is our biggest industrial revolution since the decades of IBM and nuclear power on our proverbial doorstep……https://www.largsandmillportnews.com/news/fairlie/24745296.drew-cochrane-hunterston-industrial-revolution-doorstep/
Security planning for small modular reactors ‘not where it should be’, academic says.
28 Nov, 2024 By Tom Pashby
The security planning for the forthcoming wave of small modular reactor (SMR) developments in the UK is “not where it should be” according to an academic who supports the industry.
SMRs have risen up the agenda with Great British Nuclear’s (GBN) competition for developers to get access to government support for deployment making progress, as well as other novel
nuclear energy companies like Last Energy UK saying it will deploy
micro-reactors in Wales by 2027.
Big technology companies like Google,
Amazon and Oracle have said they want SMRs to power their AI data centres,
to overcome grid power constraints.
And in the UK, the Civil nuclear:
roadmap to 2050 stated: “To deliver energy security while driving down
costs our long-term ambition is the deployment of fleets of SMRs in the
UK.” Proponents of SMRs, such as big tech companies, want them because of
the additional flexibility they offer in location. They don’t need to be
built far away from people because of their size, or near water because
SMRs can be air-cooled.
This opens up questions about appropriate security
arrangements, because traditional gigawatt-scale nuclear sites in the UK
benefit from having long sight lines and layers of physical security such
as fences, patrol paths and armed guards.
New Civil Engineer 28th Nov 2024 https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/security-planning-for-small-modular-reactors-not-where-it-should-be-academic-says-28-11-2024/
Only 20% of Great British Nuclear staff employed permanently
Just 30 of 140 currently staff at Great British Nuclear (GBN) are employed
on permanent contracts, it has been revealed. GBN is the government body
running the competition for selecting SMRs to receive taxpayer support for
deployment.
However, its responsibilities in the wider UK nuclear picture
are unclear and criticism has been made about how it interfaces with Great
British Energy. GBN chair Simon Bowen was asked by House of Commons Energy
Security and Net Zero select committee chair Bill Esterson on 20 November
2024 about the proportion of permanent staff at GBN. Bowen said: “The
headcount currently runs at about 140, 30 of which are permanent
employees.”
Explaining why only roughly one-in-five (21%) of the staff
are permanent, he added: “It took us many, many months to get a pay
agreement through the various government processes, understandably, which
really slowed down our recruitment, but we’re now starting to accelerate
and to bring people into the organisation.”
New Civil Engineer 29th Nov 2024
https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/only-20-of-great-british-nuclear-staff-employed-permanently-29-11-2024/
Civil and military nuclear programmes: will they be derailed by skills shortages?
Because of the continuing problems, efforts are increasing to share resources and costs between the civilian and military nuclear programmes [11]. Rolls Royce is promoting ‘modular’ nuclear power stations with reactors similar to those used in submarines. Also the new industry recruitment website ‘DestinationNuclear.com’ abandons the old pretence that civil nuclear power is separate from the production of nuclear weapons:
It is time for a nuclear reality check.
it looks likely that in future the contribution of nuclear power to UK energy supplies will be small.
Scientists for Global Responsibility 27th Nov 2024, https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/civil-and-military-nuclear-programmes-will-they-be-derailed-skills-shortages
Alasdair Beal takes a look at the UK nuclear industry – and finds that the proposed expansion has a workforce problem.
The incoming Labour government has inherited two major nuclear programmes – new power stations and new Trident missile submarines. Both are behind schedule and over-budget but the government says it wants them to continue. This article looks at the difficulties mobilising the skilled workforces required.
Nuclear programmes off-track
In 2010, the Conservative-led government announced its aim for work to be started on eight new nuclear power stations by 2025 [1]. Plans and timetables have been repeatedly revised since then but, currently, only one is actually under construction – Hinkley Point C (HPC) in Somerset. The 2024 ‘Civil Nuclear: Roadmap to 2050’ [2] stated that the aim is now to “secure investment decisions to deliver 3-7GW [gigawatts] every five years from 2030 to 2044, to meet our ambition to deploy up to 24GW of nuclear power by 2050.” This would amount to up to eight more plants the size of HPC. Even this appears unrealistic, given the serious problems building current reactor designs [3].
The military nuclear programme is also in trouble. Recently, Vanguard class submarines – armed with Trident nuclear missiles – have three times operated sea patrols lasting over 6 months, setting new Royal Navy records [4]. These occurred because two submarines were out of service for repairs, leaving only two in seaworthy condition. Numerous other problems have also been reported, including a faulty depth gauge leading to a nuclear-armed submarine taking a potentially catastrophic “unplanned dive” [5], and a major fire in the building used to assemble new submarines [6].
Construction of the Vanguard class submarines started in 1986 and they entered service between 1993 and 1999 with a design life of 25 years, later extended by 5 years. Construction of the replacement Dreadnought class began in 2016, with the first planned to enter service in 2028. However, this has now been delayed to “the early 2030s”, [7] which will require the existing submarines to operate until they are 40 years old, i.e. 15 years longer than their original design life and 10 years beyond their extended design life.
Major skills shortages
Skills shortages could also be a problem for both projects. In 2015, a government document [8] stated that to construct five or more new power stations by 2030, decommission existing power stations, and develop new nuclear missile submarines, “the workforce must grow by 4,700 people a year over the next 6 years. Over the same period 3,900 people are expected to leave the sector, mostly due to retirement. This means that the sector must recruit 8,600 people every year.”
Since then the schedule for new power stations has been delayed but there is now also a contract to construct new SSN-AUKUS nuclear-propelled ‘attack’ submarines. According to a House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee 2023 report [9]:
“If the UK is to achieve a contribution of 24GW of nuclear power by 2050 it will need to plan for, and achieve, a massive increase in the nuclear workforce … 50,000 full time equivalent employees would need to be recruited by 2040, even without an expansion of nuclear power … Under a scenario which envisages 19GW of nuclear capacity by 2050 … 180,000 workers will need to be recruited by 2050 – including an average of 7,234 recruits each year until 2028, compared to the current inflow of around 3,000 a year. Recently, vacancies in the nuclear sector are running at twice the rate of the general engineering and construction sector.”
With existing vacancies unfilled and recruitment insufficient to maintain present staff numbers, let alone those required for government expansion plans, the potential shortage of skilled staff is serious.
However, the situation is actually worse than the bare numbers suggest: those retiring will include many knowledgeable people with experience of designing and constructing previous nuclear submarines or power stations, or else of working with those who did. New recruits can fill the vacant seats but they cannot replace the loss of knowledge. Books, training courses and videos can help but in advanced engineering work nothing beats the passing on of accumulated knowledge and experience directly between generations of engineers.
Experience counts
I am a professional civil and structural engineer and after graduation I worked on long-span bridge design with the engineers who had designed and supervised construction of some of the biggest bridges in the world. I learned a lot from them – not only about stress calculations but also about the thinking required to produce a successful design. Much of this could not have been learned from courses or books.
The case of Rolls Royce in 1971 illustrates why this is important. Problems with their new RB211 jet engine had forced the company into liquidation and it had to be nationalised. To rescue the situation , the new directors had to persuade retired former senior engineers to return to work to lead the process of redesigning the engine to overcome the problems.
This issue may also be contributing to current problems at HPC. Existing UK nuclear engineers have only limited experience of Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) construction and in any case they are likely to be fully occupied decommissioning the UK’s old AGR reactors and dealing with historic nuclear waste. Therefore construction of HPC depends heavily on French expertise.
French companies have constructed 58 nuclear power stations based on the Westinghouse PWR design, the last of these being ordered in 1990. No more were ordered for 15 years until Finland ordered a power station based on the new European Pressurised Water Reactor (EPR) design in 2005. By then many of the engineers and other workers who constructed France’s PWRs are likely to have retired or changed occupations, making it difficult to assemble teams with the necessary knowledge and experience to build a new power station to a new design. Maybe we should not be surprised that major problems have been encountered constructing the EPRs at Olkiluoto in Finland, at Flamanville in France – each of which has taken 17 years to build [10] – and at HPC.
Similar problems may also be affecting construction of the new Dreadnought submarines. By the time these were ordered in 2016, many of the engineers with experience of designing and constructing their predecessors would have retired or be close to retirement, taking their knowledge and experience with them.
Because of the continuing problems, efforts are increasing to share resources and costs between the civilian and military nuclear programmes [11]. Rolls Royce is promoting ‘modular’ nuclear power stations with reactors similar to those used in submarines. Also the new industry recruitment website ‘DestinationNuclear.com’ abandons the old pretence that civil nuclear power is separate from the production of nuclear weapons:
“Nuclear plays a vital role in shaping the UK’s future in broader ways. Nuclear power produces carbon-free electricity that lights homes, fuels businesses, and keeps the economy moving.
The impact of nuclear goes beyond power grids. The expertise within the sector plays a crucial role in ensuring the strength and effectiveness of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, contributing to global peace and security. Nuclear is not just an energy source; it’s a critical part in building a secure future for the UK.”
While the claims made in this statement can be criticised on many grounds, most relevant for this article is the apparent assumption that people who are concerned about climate change are also likely to be enthusiastic about nuclear weapons – which could trigger a catastrophic ‘nuclear winter’ if used [12]. If they are, then public acknowledgement of the link between the civil and military nuclear programmes is a clever move and will boost recruitment. However, if they are not, this strategy could backfire badly.
Time for a rethink
It is time for a nuclear reality check.
In 1994, the UK had 16 functioning nuclear power stations (total capacity 12.7GW) but in 2024 there were only 5 (total capacity 5.9GW) and by the end of 2028 there will be just one: Sizewell B (1.2GW) [13]. Completion of the HPC first unit (1.6GW) is now expected between 2029 and 2031, with its second unit following some years later [14]. When the effects of potential skills shortages are considered alongside the problems of current nuclear reactor designs, the idea of achieving anything like 24GW capacity by 2050 seems like a fantasy. Given the rapid growth of renewable energy and related technologies – which is set to continue – it looks likely that in future the contribution of nuclear power to UK energy supplies will be small.
Meanwhile, the programme for new Trident nuclear missile-armed submarines is a gamble based on two risky assumptions: (i) despite industry skills shortages, there will be no further delays in completing the new submarines; and (ii) the existing submarines will be able to continue operating for at least 10 years after the end of their design life. If either assumption proves incorrect then, after all the arguments over ‘unilateral’ or ‘multilateral’ nuclear disarmament, we could end up instead with a rather British outcome: ‘Unintentional Nuclear Disarmament’. At that point, the government would finally have to face up to the dangerous flaws in the idea of ‘nuclear deterrence’ and plan instead for a nuclear-free future.
The conclusion is clear: current plans for new nuclear power stations and new nuclear missile-carrying submarines should both be cancelled and the resources diverted to:
(a) reducing energy consumption and accelerating the development and deployment of alternative renewable energy supplies; and
(b) supporting international arms control and disarmament initiatives, such as the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Alasdair Beal BSc CEng FICE FIStructE is a chartered civil engineer, based in Leeds, and a former member of SGR’s National Co-ordinating Committee.
References : …………………………………………………………………………………………..
Plans to turn land in Somerset into a saltmarsh should be scrapped.
Plans to flood 1500 acres of farmland along the Severn Estuary to create
saltmarsh won’t be effective in saving fish affected by a nuclear power
station – that’s according to ecosystems expert Dr Mark Everard of the
University of the West of England. EDF is building the station at Hinkley
Point in Somerset and had agreed to install and maintain an acoustic fish
deterrent to prevent fish being sucked into the site’s cooling systems. But
they now say it’s dangerous to build and the technology is untested, and
want to flood farmland instead to create saltmarsh habitats. Dr Everard
says most fish – including migrating salmon – won’t benefit from this, and
the deterrent system is already used effectively worldwide.
BBC Farming Today 25th Nov 2024, https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0025cyx
Hinkley Point C: Hundreds down tools over concerns
By Seth Dellow, Bridgwater Mercury 28th Nov 2024
HUNDREDS of workers at Hinkley Point C have stood down today over unresolved concerns.
The action short of strike began at 9am this morning with workers claiming it concerns fingerprint scanners in a small area on site. They have claimed there are only five scanners serving 13,000 workers on site but this is strongly denied by EDF which runs the Hinkley Point site. Electricians, pipe fitters and welders are all said to have walked out.
The number of affected workers could be up to 1,600 as the action only involves some of the MEH workers on site. MEH has contracted staff doing work on the Hinkley Point site.
Earlier, workers claimed between 2,000 and 6,000 workers had walked out.
One electrician, who spoke anonymously to the Bridgwater Mercury, said that workers were “being taken advantage of.”
The nuclear power station is already behind schedule and is expected to be operational between 2029 to 2031.
Workers are planning on taking full strike action on Monday, December 2, 2024, as they say they will be blocked from entering the site because of their actions today.
It follows recent strike action which saw EDF workers walk out over pay concerns. ………………
https://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk/news/24757425.hinkley-point-c-6-000-workers-walk-concerns/
Channel Islands sign nuclear incident agreement
The Channel Islands and France have agreed to share information in the
event of a nuclear or radiological incident. The agreement was signed
during a meeting between Guernsey and Jersey ministers joined by French
representatives on Monday. It meant if a nuclear or radiological incident
was to occur in France’s Cotentin Peninsula, the Channel Islands and France
would provide information for emergency planning purposes, officials said.
BBC 26th Nov 2024,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2e79x12m4po
Very ambitious’: regulator’s view of 2027 Bridgend nuke power plant plan
25th November 2024, https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/very-ambitious-regulators-view-of-2027-bridgend-nuke-power-plant-plan/
Despite the hype from American developer Last Energy, this was the verdict of the Office for Nuclear Regulation in response to a question posed by the NFLA Secretary about the company’s plan to have a micro nuclear reactor plant licenced and operational at Bridgend by 2027.
Last Energy remains optimistic, boastful even, that it will be able to secure permission to install four of its 20-megawatt pressurised water micro modular reactors on the 14-acre site of the former Llynfi power station site within three years.
But there are still many hoops through which for the company must jump; historically, nuclear power projects have been delivered significantly behind schedule.
The Nuclear Installations Act 1965 places the primary responsibility for the safety of a nuclear installation on the licensee. The Office for Nuclear Regulations ‘regulates the design, construction and operation of any nuclear installation in Great Britain for which a nuclear site licence is required’ under the act.
To obtain a Site Licence, Last Energy must demonstrate ownership or secure tenure of the site, the safety of their design, their plans to safely, securely and efficiently manage operations throughout the whole lifecycle of the plant from inception to post-closure, and their organisational capacity to so. This includes having detailed plans in place for the management and disposal of radioactive waste and around emergency planning[i].
A Site Licence comes with 36 Standard Conditions, covering design, construction, operation and decommissioning, against which Last Energy will continue to be monitored by the nuclear regulator.[ii]
In its guidance handbook, ‘Licensing Nuclear Installations’, under Section 83, the ONR has identified that ‘it might take several years from site licence application to the completion of our assessment. This is subject to adequate and timely submissions from the applicant and the level of maturity of implementation of the applicant’s arrangements’.[iii]
Last Energy will also need to secure an operating permit from National Resources Wales, working with the Environment Agency, and planning approval from the Welsh Government with sign off from a Minister.
As well as the regulatory challenges, Last Energy also faces some practical ones.
Michael Jenner, Chief Executive of Last Energy UK, is reported recently to have said in an interview with New Civil Engineer[iv] that the PWR-20 reactor comprises around forty modules that are manufactured off-site, trucked to the site, and assembled within twenty-four months. But to the best of the NFLA’s knowledge the company has yet to build an operating prototype and there is no manufacturing facility in place to fabricate the parts, even in the USA. We have written to Last Energy to provide them with an opportunity to correct us.
In a welcome development, Last Energy has affirmed its commitment to consult with local communities, and has announced the first two public consultation events to run as follows:
- A drop-in public engagement on Wednesday 27th November 2024 from 9.30am until 5pm at the Bettws Life Centre, Bettws Road, Bettws, Bridgend CF32 8TB
- A project presentation followed by questions and answers on Thursday 12th December 2024 from 7pm to 9pm at the main lecture theatre at the Steam Academy, Bridgend College, Pencoed Campus, Bridgend CF35 5LG
This is a project that the Welsh NFLAs will continue to want to watch.
Ends:// For more information, please contact NFLA Secretary Richard Outram by email to richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk
[i] https://www.onr.org.uk/media/30nh5c0f/licensing-nuclear-installations.pdf
[ii] https://www.onr.org.uk/media/gixbe2br/licence-condition-handbook.pdf
[iii] https://www.onr.org.uk/media/30nh5c0f/licensing-nuclear-installations.pdf
[iv] https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/interview-micro-reactor-developer-optimistic-about-connecting-south-wales-project-by-2027-08-11-2024/
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Mystery drone spotted over British aircraft carrier
A mystery drone has been spotted following a British aircraft carrier at
sea after unmanned aerial vehicles were seen hovering over three air bases
in England.
An unidentified 1.5 by 1.5 metre drone appeared to tail the
Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth as it entered the port of Hamburg,
in Germany, on Friday. The German military positioned guards around the
port and attempted to target the drone with HP-47 jammers before it flew
away, the German newspaper Bild reported.
On Saturday, the US Air Force
also revealed that “small unmanned aerial systems” flew over RAF
Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, in Suffolk, as well as RAF Feltwell, in
Norfolk, last week.
Telegraph 24th Nov 2024, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/11/24/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest-news58/
East Suffolk Council offering grants to convert homes to accommodate nuclear workers.
By Dominic Bareham, East Anglian Daily Times 23rd Nov 2024
Homeowners in east Suffolk are being offered the chance to access grants of up to £7,000 to provide accommodation for workers at the new Sizewell C nuclear power station.
Two new grant schemes, administered by East Suffolk Council, are set to open soon – with the first, the Renovation Grant, supporting the conversion of homes, spare rooms, annexes or non-residential buildings into safe and suitable accommodation for Sizewell C workers.
Under this scheme, up to £7,000 is available per bed space to cover structural works, electrical wiring, heating installation, windows and doors, plumbing, installing kitchen and bathroom facilities and additional parking………………………………………………….
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/24745238.east-suffolk-council-offering-grants-convert-homes/
Consultation, full disclosure, and an environmental audit: Nuclear Free Local Authorities’ triple demand of Australian government over nuke sub waste dump down under
the NFLAs have raised our fundamental objections to any siting of nuclear powered, and possibly nuclear armed, submarines at Garden Island as a violation of Australia’s legal commitments as a signatory to the Treaty of Rarotonga, which established a South Pacific nuclear free zone. The proposal will increase military tensions with China and make Rockingham a target for a counterstrike should war break out.
a White House paper states that Australia ‘has committed to managing all radioactive waste generated through its nuclear-powered submarine program, including spent nuclear fuel, in Australia’.
NFLA 22nd Nov 2024
With an international outlook and solidarity in mind, in response to a consultation by the Australian Federal Government, the UK / Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities have posted their objections to plans to station nuclear-powered subs and establish a waste dump in Western Australia.
As part of the AUKUS military pact established between Australia, the United Kingdom and United States, Australia intends to acquire a fleet of nuclear powered submarines, powered by reactors built by Rolls-Royce in Derby, as well as permitting Royal Navy and United States Navy nuclear submarines to operate from Australian naval bases.
In March 2023,the AUKUS Nuclear-Powered Submarine Pathway was announced by the three partners centred on the HMAS Stirling Naval Base on Garden Island in Western Australia’s Cockburn Sound. The Australian Government has allocated AUS $8 billion for base improvements.
Under the AUKUS ‘Force Posture Agreement’, from 2027, US Virginia Class submarines are to be stationed here, with British Astute submarines joining them on rotation in the 2030’s. Around this time, the base will also become the home port of Australia’s first nuclear powered submarines, with three and up to five Virginia Class submarines being purchased from the US (subject to Congressional approval).
The Federal Government has passed new legislation to allow for the domestic storage of nuclear waste from all these submarines, and in July after a limited consultation the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) issued a licence to the Australian Submarine Agency to prepare a nuclear waste storage site at the base. Without it, visiting United States and British nuclear-powered submarines could not undertake maintenance in Australia, so the nuclear dump is seen as essential to the pact.
The extent and nature of the waste to be stored, and for how long it would be stored, remains unclear. The Conservation Council of Western Australia (CCWA) complained to the regulatory authorities that: ‘The consultation documents provided no details about the volume of waste or how long it would be stored at the island. They also made confused and misleading claims about the types of low-level waste that would be accepted’.
Whilst regulators insist that it would be low-level waste, this claim has been refuted by critic Australian Green Senator David Shoebridge who said the Federal legislators were told in a Senate Estimates Hearing by the Australian Submarine Agency that it would include intermediate waste. It is also contradicted by a White House paper which states that Australia ‘has committed to managing all radioactive waste generated through its nuclear-powered submarine program, including spent nuclear fuel, in Australia’.
This waste would include US Virginia-class submarine reactors, which each weigh over 100 tonnes and contain over 200 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. Ian Lowe, an expert on radiation health and safety, told The Conversation in March 2023 that when the first three AUKUS submarines are at the end of their lives — 30 years from when they are commissioned — Australia will have 600 kilograms of ‘spent fuel’ and ‘potentially tonnes of irradiated material from the reactors and their protective walls’. The fuel being weapons-grade will require ‘military-scale security’.
Australian campaigners have also complained bitterly that the submarine base and the storage site are located in the wrong place.
Mia Pepper, Campaign Director at the CCWA, said that ‘Garden Island in one of the most pristine and diverse environments in the Perth region’ and that ‘This plan for both nuclear submarines and nuclear waste storage will inevitably impact access to parts of Cockburn Sound and Garden Island’.
And when responding to ARPANSA, the CCWA stated that the facility is ‘within an area of dense population’ and in the vicinity of ‘important and diverse heavy industrial facilities, including a major shipping port’. The CCWA also raised the ‘unaddressed community concerns regarding an accident’ on the site and complained about the ‘lack of transparency and rigour’ throughout the regulatory process.
Nor is there any long-term solution to storage. Garden Island would be seen as a temporary store, but it is unclear for how long. A Federal Government proposal to establish a nuclear waste dump at Kimba was resisted by local Indigenous people who launched a successful legal challenge to defeat the plan.
In its response to the consultation being conducted by the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, the NFLAs have raised our fundamental objections to any siting of nuclear powered, and possibly nuclear armed, submarines at Garden Island as a violation of Australia’s legal commitments as a signatory to the Treaty of Rarotonga, which established a South Pacific nuclear free zone. The proposal will increase military tensions with China and make Rockingham a target for a counterstrike should war break out.
We also called on the Federal Government to conduct a proper consultation and make a full disclosure of the facts, and requested that officials conduct a full environmental audit of the likely impact of the waste storage site…………………………………………. https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/consultation-full-disclosure-and-an-environmental-audit-nflas-triple-demand-of-australian-government-over-nuke-sub-waste-dump-down-under/
1 This Month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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