U.S. offers support for U.K. new nuclear buildNuclear NewsPower & OperationsJune 16, 2020, 9:26AM|Nuclear News StaffCiting reports that China has recently threatened to pull its support for new nuclear build in the United Kingdom, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on June 9 offered assistance from the United States and vehement criticism of Beijing.Pompeo responds: "The United States stands with our allies and partners against the Chinese Communist Party’s [CCP] coercive bullying tactics,” Pompeo said in a statement. “In the latest example, Beijing has reportedly threatened to punish British bank HSBC and to break commitments to build nuclear power plants in the United Kingdom unless London allows Huawei to build its 5G network. Shenzhen-based Huawei is an extension of the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance state.”Pompeo continued, “Beijing’s aggressive behavior shows why countries should avoid economic overreliance on China and should guard their critical infrastructure from CCP influence. Australia, Denmark, and other free nations have recently faced pressure from CCP interests to bow to China’s political wishes. The United States stands ready to assist our friends in the U.K. with any needs they have, from building secure and reliable nuclear power plants to developing trusted 5G solutions that protect their citizens’ privacy. Free nations deal in true friendship and desire mutual prosperity, not political and corporate kowtows.”Why it matters: The China General Nuclear Power Group has partnered with EDF Energy on U.K. nuclear construction projects at the Hinkley Point and Sizewell sites. Newswire readers may recall that workers at Hinkley Point C recently completed the 49,000-ton base for the station’s second reactor, Unit C2, while EDF Energy in late May submitted a development consent order application to the U.K. government’s Planning Inspectorate to build the Sizewell C power station.CGN and EDF Energy are proposing to build a reactor at the Bradwell nuclear site in Essex. Although the project is still in its infancy, the United Kingdom’s Office for Nuclear Regulation in February completed step three in a four-step generic design assessment review of the proposed Bradwell B reactor technology—the United Kingdom’s version of China’s Hualong One design.Tags:bradwellcgnedf energyhinkley pointsizewellShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
Hinkley Point B to be retired earlier than plannedHinkley Point B, in Somerset, England. Photo: EDF EnergyEDF Energy has made a “proactive decision” to move Britain’s Hinkley Point B power station into its defueling phase no later than July 15, 2022—some eight months earlier than previously scheduled—the company announced on November 19.The two-unit plant, located in Somerset, England, began generating electricity in 1976 and has since produced more than 300 TWh of power, enough to meet the electricity requirements of every home in the United Kingdom for three years, according to EDF.Go to Article
Nuclear scores point in U.K. green planThe United Kingdom, the first of the world’s major economies to adopt a legally binding commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, has released a blueprint to help realize that goal—one that includes a substantial role for nuclear energyThe Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution will mobilize a total of £12 billion (about $16 billion) of government investment to create and support up to 250,000 highly skilled green jobs in the United Kingdom and spur over three times as much private sector investment by 2030, according to the UK government on November 18.In addition to nuclear, offshore wind, hydrogen production, carbon capture, and vehicle electrification are also earmarked for significant investment in the 38-page document.Go to Article
BBC: U.K. government may be close to greenlighting Sizewell CArtist’s rendering of the Sizewell site, with Sizewell C at right. Image: EDF EnergyA BBC News story from late last week states that the U.K. government “is close to giving the green light” to EDF Energy’s proposed Sizewell C nuclear new build project in Suffolk, adding that details surrounding the project’s financing “are still being hammered out.”The Sizewell C station, consisting of twin European pressurized reactors (EPRs), would be built next to Sizewell B, a 1,198-MWe pressurized water reactor that began operation in 1995. (The Sizewell site also houses Sizewell A, a 290-MWe Magnox gas-cooled reactor, but that unit was permanently shuttered in 2006.) Sizewell C would be a near copy of the two-unit Hinkley Point C station, currently under construction in Somerset.Go to Article
To fight climate change, accept nuclear energy“The world needs a mix of renewable power sources, including one that can carry on producing power when the others can’t—the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow,” British journalist Jonathan Gornall writes in an opinion piece posted Wednesday on the Asia Times website. Gornall argues that the residents of Suffolk County in the United Kingdom would be better served by the expansion of the Sizewell nuclear power plant than by leaving a wooded area untouched.Go to Article
U.S. replaces China on Romania’s Cernavoda projectBrouillettePopescuU.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette and Romania’s Minister of Economy, Energy, and Business Development Virgil Popescu initialed a draft intergovernmental agreement on October 9 to cooperate on the construction of two additional reactors at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, as well as the refurbishment of Unit 1.According to a Department of Energy news release, the agreement, once formally executed, will “lay the foundation” for Romania to “utilize U.S. expertise and technology.” The deal marks a major change in Romania’s plans for its sole nuclear plant, as up until early this year the source for that expertise and technology was expected to be China.Go to Article
U.K. trade group debuts blueprint for lowering nuclear construction costsThe Nuclear Industry Association (NIA), the trade group for the United Kingdom’s civil nuclear industry, unveiled a new report yesterday that sets out a framework for cutting the cost of building new nuclear power plants in Britain.The 27-page report, Nuclear Sector Deal: Nuclear New Build Cost Reduction, is available online.Go to Article
EDF fined millions for disseminating misleading information about U.K. nuclear projectThe Enforcement Committee of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) has imposed a fine of €5 million (about $5.9 million) on Électricitéde France for providing false information about the Hinkley Point C new-build nuclear project in the United Kingdom. The committee has also imposed a €50,000 (about $59,000) fine on EDF’s former chairman and chief executive officer, Henri Proglio. According to a July 30 statement from the AMF, the false information was spread via an October 8, 2014, news release.The AMF is described on its website as an independent public authority that regulates the French financial marketplace and its participants.Go to Article
New design center supports construction of Hinkley Point CUK EPR Design Centre, Bristol, England. Image: EDF EnergyEDF Energy has opened a new engineering design facility in Bristol, England, to support the next phase of construction at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, the company announced on July 14. The UK EPR Design Centre at Aztec West brings together nuclear designers and engineers from EDF and British engineering partners and suppliers, including Framatome UK, Atkins, Jacobs, Assystem, Anotech, and Vulcain, the announcement said.Go to Article
More nuclear a good choice for U.K., but costs must fall, report saysA report published last week by Energy Systems Catapult, a U.K.-based clean energy nonprofit, concludes that adding double-digit gigawatts of new nuclear is a “low-regrets option” for the United Kingdom as it strives to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. (Legislation establishing the 2050 target date was signed in June of last year, making the United Kingdom the first of the world’s major economic powers to take that step.) The report also stresses, however, that costs for new nuclear must decrease significantly for the technology to meet its potential.Go to Article
ONR: Improvement needed at Heysham 1The United Kingdom’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) issued an improvement notice to EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Ltd. earlier this month for a problem involving the pressure systems safety regulations (PSSR) at the two-unit Heysham 1 nuclear power station. The notice was served following an inspection of the Unit 1 pressure vessel at the Lancashire site.Go to Article