Nuclear Revival in the UK—Should the U.S. Take Notice?

With 16 reactors providing roughly 18% of the UK’s electricity needs, nuclear power is a vital part of the country’s energy supply. The trouble is that all but one of the aging reactors is expected to be permanently shutdown within the next 12 years.

Recent developments, however, indicate that there is no reason for the British to worry about a nuclear energy shortage. On Jan. 14, Toshiba Corp., parent of Westinghouse Electric Co.—designer of the AP1000 nuclear power plant—agreed in principle to buy a 60% stake in the NuGeneration Ltd., Moorside project in West Cumbria, UK.

The company will partner with GDF SUEZ on the project and plans to construct three of its 1,154-MW pressurized water reactor units on the site. The first is expected to be online in 2024, shortly after the majority of currently operating reactors are scheduled to retire.

This announcement comes less than three months after EDF Group and the UK government reached an agreement in principle on the key commercial terms for an investment contract for the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. The company ultimately plans to build four new 1,650-MW reactors, two each at the Hinkley Point and Sizewell sites, utilizing the UK EPR design developed by Areva.

Throw in Hitachi Ltd. subsidiary Horizon Nuclear Power, which has plans to provide at least 5,400 MW of new power station capacity from twin 1,350-MW Advanced Boiling Water Reactors at each of the Wylfa Newydd and Oldbury sites, and you have a nuclear renaissance in the UK.

The U.S. nuclear fleet is not getting any younger, with an average age of about 33 years. While new construction has begun at two sites in recent years—V.C. Summer and Vogtle—the wheels of nuclear progress are turning slowly throughout most of the country.

—Aaron Larson, associate editor (@AaronL_Power, @POWERmagazine)