Following the withdrawal of NuGeneration, China General Nuclear is ready to ramp-up its plans for a new plant at Bradwell based on its HPR1000 (Hualong One) design in order to keep the UK’s nuclear power programme on track, Robert Davies, chief operating officer of CGN UK said today. Speaking at the Nuclear Industry Association’s Nuclear 2018 conference in London, Davies said there is a gap in the UK’s nuclear programme following Toshiba’s decision last month to withdraw from its nuclear new-build project in the UK and to wind up NuGen. “The expected sequence of reactors coming online has been interrupted,” Davies said. “We will bring forward significantly the date at which we expect the first UK HPR1000 to enter commercial operation. We are confident we can close that gap by bringing Bradwell into operation much sooner. Rescheduling the project, bringing forward COD [commercial operation date], bringing forward FID [final investment decision] and focusing on a target COD of circa 2030.” Under a strategic investment agreement signed in October 2016, CGN agreed to take a 33.5% stake in EDF Energy’s Hinkley Point C project in Somerset, as well as jointly develop new nuclear power plants at Sizewell in Suffolk and Bradwell in Essex. The Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C plants will be based on France’s EPR reactor technology, while the new plant at Bradwell in Essex will feature the Hualong One design.
World Nuclear News 6th Dec 2018 read more »