Nuclear Power
Against the backdrop of the current energy crisis comes the news that the Government is looking at new proposals for a nuclear reactor at Wylfa Newydd. The original proposal was for an Advanced Boiling Water Reactor ("ABWR"), but after developer Hitachi failed to agree [...]
Regular readers will know that I am no fan of EDF’s third generation nuclear technology being deployed at Hinkley Point C – the European Pressurised Water Reactor (“EPR”). The company has been trying and failing to complete its flagship reactors at Flamanville and Olkiluoto [...]
Low nuclear availability added to the capacity issues in the GB market over the past winter, and as the fleet ages and new nuclear is further delayed, these problems are set to become more acute. Since the first commercial nuclear power plant anywhere in [...]
Despite the disruptions to the energy sector as a result of the pandemic, the Government remains committed to its 2050 net zero carbon target. The problem, as I have noted before, is that there are currently no technological solutions to achieve this – carbon capture [...]
The troubled European Pressurised Water reactor technology hit new problems this week with EDF announcing further cost overruns at its next generation nuclear project at Hinkley Point C. “Challenging ground conditions” have meant the cost of the project has risen by a further £2.9 [...]
Nuclear power has been in the news again. There have been mixed updates on EDF’s difficult European Pressurised Water (“EPR”) projects, but the UK Governments ambitious new climate targets might open the door to re-evaluating the subsidy support available to other projects. Progress at [...]
Horizon Nuclear Power announced today that it will suspend its UK development programme for new nuclear power stations, following a decision taken by its parent company Hitachi. Horizon is developing the Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant on Anglesey in North Wales and has a second [...]
Last week the world’s first European Pressurised Water Reactor (“EPR”) came online at Taishan in China, 18 years after the first planned EPR at Olkiluoto in Finland made its first licence application. Construction on the third generation nuclear plant at Taishan began in 2009 [...]
Nuclear power is back in the news in the UK, with reports that the Government is provide support to the new nuclear plant being developed at Wylfa Newydd in Angelsey, Wales by Horizon Nuclear Power, a subsidiary of Hitachi. According to Richard Harrington, the [...]
The saga of the UK's attempts to re-invigorate its nuclear industry continues, with further criticism of Hinkley Point C, this time by the Public Accounts Committee, speculation that an investor has finally been found for the Moorside project, and the expectation of a decision [...]