The UK needs new nuclear power and there are projects beyond Hinkley Point C (HPC) that will also ensure the country meets future demand for this affordable, low-carbon baseload source of electricity, a parliamentary committee heard yesterday. Giving evidence to the Energy and Climate Change Committee, Tom Samson, CEO of NuGeneration (NuGen), and Alan Raymant, COO of Horizon Nuclear Power, said they were learning from EDF Energy’s experience with HPC. The Committee grilled them and EDF Energy CEO Vincent de Rivaz on progress with their respective new nuclear projects. De Rivaz said the £18 billion HPC construction project in Somerset, will “categorically” go ahead and that a final investment decision (FID) would be made “very soon”. Samson said the UK’s nuclear new build industry is “larger than just Hinkley” and that NuGen “understands the need” for the country to bring online 18 MWe of new capacity in the mid-2020s. Samson said: “We have a deliverable technology, a fleet of AP1000s currently being built, in China and the US, and in fact NuGen will have the 17th, 18th and 19th AP1000s to be delivered. We have a single consortium approach to deliver the project in Cumbria and we believe we have the right technology and the right team and right location to bring this online.” Like NuGen, Horizon “is not dependent” on the progress of HPC, Raymant said, adding, “We are bringing tried and tested technology”. Horizon Nuclear Power, a 100% subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd, plans to deploy the UK Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) at two sites – Wylfa Newydd, which is on the Isle of Anglesey, and Oldbury-on-Severn, in South Gloucestershire. Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy in November last year reached a regulatory milestone in its progress towards deployment of the UK ABWR, following confirmation that British regulators will move to the final step of the GDA. The GDA process for the UK ABWR is on schedule for completion by the end of 2017.
World Nuclear News 24th March 2016 read more »