Last month, Dutch research institute, NRG, re-ignited interest in thorium nuclear projects by announcing a new investigation into the use of thorium reactors in collaboration with the EU. The Salt Irradiation Experiment (“Salient”), based at the High Flux Reactor in Petten, will begin with experiments to melt thorium fuel and then bombard it with neutrons to…
Read More
Since the announcement in on 29 March that as well as exiting the EU, the UK would also be withdrawing from Euratom, the European Atomic Energy Community, there has been much consternation, with fears ranging from the UK potentially being barred from importing nuclear material, to Brexit threatening cancer treatments. So what is the story…
Read More
This week has seen two significant prices of news relating to the new nuclear reactor being constructed at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Firstly, the French nuclear regulator, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (“ASN”), has made a preliminary decision relating to the pressure vessel at Flamanville, the proto-type European Pressurised Water Reactor for the HPC build,…
Read More
The past couple of weeks have seen a stream of news on the topic of nuclear power. In this post I will outline the key developments and what they mean for the GB power market. Hinkley Point construction moves to its next phase, but Flamanville outcome still unclear This week has seen the first…
Read More
When the UK government gave the final approval for Hinkley Point C in September this year, people could have been forgiven for thinking that a new generation of nuclear reactors was a done deal for the UK. The decision having been made, everyone now seems content to sit and wait for EDF to complete construction…
Read More
In a recent post I outlined some of the challenges facing Hinckley Point C – the flagship next generation nuclear project in the UK. Various commentators have suggested that new nuclear in the UK has missed the boat since the deployment of renewables combined with the problems with the new EPR technology means that there…
Read More