1. British Nuclear Power Policy 2016 Does it actually exist?
Christopher Watson
Chair British Pugwash Group
Presentation to the European Physical Society
Brussels 14 September 2016

2. Very brief history of UK nuclear power programme
1946 Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) at Harwell created by Ministry of Supply
1947 Its first reactor – a 3 kWth air-cooled graphite-moderated pile - was followed in 1948 by the commissioning of BEPO, a 6 MWth device to demonstrate the viability of commercial reactors.
1953 Construction of the world’s first nuclear power reactor at Calder Hall began at Windscale.
This was the prototype for the ‘Magnox’ series, of which 26 units were eventually constructed.
1955 Construction of a 60 MWe experimental fast breeder reactor (DFR) began at Dounreay. It was followed by the 250 MWe PFR reactor which became operational in 1975, and was closed down in Both reactors were cooled by liquid metal.
1964 The government announced a ‘Second nuclear power program’, with some 5000 MWe of capacity expected to come online between 1970 and After much debate, the AGR design was eventually adopted as the UK standard (similar to Magnox, but with enriched ceramic oxide fuel giving higher thermal efficiency and better burn-up). Seven reactors were eventually built, but many design and operational problems were encountered.
1979 A new government supported an initiative from the CEGB to procure a Westinghouse PWR. This came into operation in Following a government review of nuclear policy, starting in that year, in May 1995, the government concluded that new nuclear would not receive public sector support, and the CEGB's successor, Nuclear Electric, decided that further nuclear plants were not economically viable and abandoned its plans for new nuclear plants.

3. Brief History Continued
During the period 1988 to 2006 , the Magnox plants were progressively closed down, as age-related problems affected their availability, with a loss of 4.5 GWe of capacity. However the AGR plants have remained in operation, and even now the remaining nuclear capacity is still some 9 GWe, and contributes about 20% of the electricity supplied to the grid. However almost all of this is scheduled for closure between now and 2023, leaving only the Sizewell B PWR in operation.
Faced with this prospective loss of generating capacity, and a parallel reduction in the North Sea oil and gas reserves, in 1998 the British government set up a review of its energy policy, which in 2002 recommended that the UK should move towards greater self-sufficiency in energy, and to make major reductions in its Greenhouse Gas emissions. Within the next five years, the UK had committed itself to an 80% reduction in its emissions by 2050, and had developed specific plans for a nuclear ‘new build’ programme, delivering 16 GWe of power. It also committed to a rapid growth in renewable energy, aiming to achieve 30% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
The nuclear ‘new build’ programme was envisaged as being entirely financed by private sector funding, and a scheme was devised by which the investing companies would recover their investment by means of tariff charges to customers at a rate contractually agreed with the government at the outset. This scheme guarantees a payment of ~ £92/MWh, topped up by the government if the market rate at the time falls below the agreed ‘strike price’.
The government is making sites available at eight power station locations, and has assisted a number of international nuclear suppliers in getting their designs licenced for construction and operation in the UK. Four suppliers initially sought to pre-qualify - Areva/ EDF (with co-funding from two Chinese companies) offering an EPR, Westinghouse offering an AP1000, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy offering an ABWR, and AECL offering an ACR AECL has subsequently withdrawn, but Rosatom is currently offering a VVER-TOI design, and China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) is intending to offer its 1150 MWe Hualong One (HPR1000) design.

4. Hinkley Point C
The most advanced of these proposed projects is the French EPR at Hinkley Point C, and EDF has already incurred pre-development costs of almost £1 billion. In March 2013 environmental permits were granted for the plant operation, and planning permission was received. In July 2016 the Board of EDF agreed to sign a contract costing ~£18bn. However to the dismay of both the French and Chinese governments, the UK government announced on 28 July that it was not yet ready to sign the contract, but hoped to do so in September.
The Hinkley C decision has been controversial within the UK for three reasons:
The agreed strike price is claimed to be unreasonably high, given the current market price for renewable power
The EPR design is currently being tested in two prototypes under construction in France and Finland: both are experiencing delays, and there is doubt in some quarters over the safety of the pressure vessel, which is reported to have cracks.
The co-funding by Chinese ‘private sector’ companies is raising concerns in some quarters about the possibility that China might seek to put pressure on the UK by ‘threatening’ a key national asset. The Chinese government understandably resents this.
Against these objections, the counter-arguments are:
The agreed strike price is no higher than the likely market price of renewables in 2025, if their intermittency is costed
The UK has no alternative to investing in an un-proven FOAK third-generation reactor design: it cannot now buy second-generation reactors.
Hinkley C will only contribute 7% of the electrical supply once it is operational. Anyhow, the Chinese will not be operating it.
The UK has an urgent need to re-establish a nuclear power sector, and to build a stream of reactors at a rate of 1-2/year. The Hinkley project is as good a start as can easily be imagined.