UK approves new nuclear plant

[madd0ct0r]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21839684

The first of a planned new generation of nuclear power plants in the UK has been given approval.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey told MPs in the Commons that he was granting planning consent for French energy giant EDF to construct Hinkley Point C in Somerset.

The proposed £14bn power plant would be capable of powering five million homes.

Mr Davey said the project was "of crucial national importance" but environmental groups reacted angrily.

25,000 jobs
The building of Hinkley Point C is expected to pave the way for a fleet of new plants across the UK.

It is estimated the project will create between 20,000 and 25,000 jobs during construction and 900 permanent jobs once in operation.

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Analysis


Roger Harrabin
Environment analyst
Nuclear plants are not breeding fast - it has taken a whole generation to get this close to a new pair.

But today's decision is only the start of a government struggle to fuel much of the country on atomic power.

Because Hinkley is the only nuclear plant queuing for planning permission at the moment.

What's more, the stations there will have to be subsidised massively by the public under a deal being "intensely" discussed by the Treasury. Its owners are asking for government guarantees that may possibly be challenged under EU competition law and the firm is still looking for a business partner.

And even if the plants at Hinkley actually do get off the ground, there is still a huge question mark over the rest of the new-build programme.

To replace historic capacity would need at least three more developments on this scale. But it's barely conceivable that the new-build programme could progress with no sign of a long-term nuclear waste disposal in prospect.

The stakes are high. The government's chief energy scientist David Mackay recently warned that to supply clean energy to industry would take a four-fold increase in nuclear power - or a 40-fold increase in wind power.

That's unless we all start saving energy with a level of frugality and invention which has eluded us so far.

BBC industry correspondent John Moylan said the power plant would cost more than the London 2012 Olympics.

Mr Davey told the Commons: "The planning decision to give consent to Hinkley Point follows a rigorous examination from the Planning Inspectorate, and detailed analysis within my department.

"This planned project adds to a number of new energy projects consented since May 2010, including wind farms and biomass and gas-fired power stations.

"It will benefit the local economy, through direct employment, the supply chain and the use of local services."

The news is a boost to the nuclear industry following a series of setbacks in plans to construct a new fleet of reactors in the UK, which ministers say are needed to cut carbon and keep the lights on.

Nuclear waste
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“
Start Quote

It will lock a generation of consumers into higher energy bills, via a strike price that's expected to be double the current price of electricity”

John Sauven
Greenpeace chief executive
EDF says the project would generate taxes equivalent to a few percentage points of what the entire financial sector yields for the exchequer.

The energy giant is negotiating with ministers over what it can charge for the electricity Hinkley generates for decades to come.

Mr Davey said discussions on the strike price were ongoing, but he expected them to be concluded shortly.

EDF chief executive Vincent de Rivaz said "intensive discussions" were taking place.

He said: "To make this opportunity a reality, we need to reach agreement swiftly... It must offer a fair and balanced deal for consumers and investors."

Shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint welcomed the decision to grant planning consent.

"Today's announcement is an important milestone in the development of new nuclear build in the UK," she said.

"I am pleased to welcome it and reiterate our support for nuclear power alongside an expansion of renewable energy and investment in carbon capture and storage as part of a clean, secure and affordable energy supply for the future."

'Fair and balanced'
However, environmental groups have reacted angrily.

They raised concerns over the potentially high price for electricity the government will agree to in order to get the nuclear plant built, and over the issue of nuclear waste.

Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said: "It will lock a generation of consumers into higher energy bills, via a strike price that's expected to be double the current price of electricity, and it will distort energy policy by displacing newer, cleaner, cheaper technologies.

"With companies now saying the price of offshore wind will drop so much it will be on par with nuclear by 2020, there is no rationale for allowing Hinkley C to proceed."

Theo Simon of the Stop Hinkley Campaign said: "They're trying to keep nuclear afloat even though it's not going to deliver on time, or on budget.

"It's really time to put this to bed and to look for a rational solution to our energy needs."

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Hinkley Point C is set to take between 8 and 10 years to become fully operational. It will be made up of two nuclear reactors and will be built next to Hinkley Point A and B.
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Hinkley C would be one of the UK's biggest infrastructure projects for years with 5,600 workers on site at the peak of construction.

Unite's national officer for energy Kevin Coyne, said the decision to grant consent was a "massive boost for jobs".

But Dr Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, warned of a potential shortage of skilled engineers needed to build the plant.

"More needs to be done to increase the number of people choosing engineering as a career to overcome a skills shortage," he said.

"Over the next 10 years, the UK needs to be recruiting about 87,000 engineers a year, but worryingly we are currently producing just 46,000 engineers a year."

Hinkley Point C will be the third nuclear plant at the site.

Hinkley A, which is now being decommissioned, began generating in 1965 and was closed down in 1999. Hinkley B, which started generating in 1976, is due to be turned off in 2023.

The last nuclear plant built in the UK was Sizewell B in Suffolk. Building work for the plant, near Leiston, began in 1988 and it started operating seven years later.

[Zaune]

Well, there's some good news, then.

[HMS Sophia]

Thank christ for that. It's really needed.

[Crazedwraith]

this is awful. Why are the french making it? What happened to good ol' british industry? This is another sign of the coalition's utter failure at everything!

[this post is only semi-serious]

[ChaserGrey]

I've always liked the UK approach to nuclear security, where it's in the hands of a specialist national police agency. Yes, it's a cost to taxpayers, and an indirect subsidy to reactor operators since they don't have to pay for their own security. On the other hand, it gives the public assurance that security at the sites won't be neglected in the name of profits. And unfortunately, private companies have a history of doing that. "After all, we've never had an incident here, do we really need guards and a decent perimeter fence?"

[Darth Tanner]

Thank christ for that. It's really needed.

It was badly needed ten years ago... this will be far too late to meet the demand crunch over the next 5 years. Should be some interesting years in the industry.

Also they havn't actually agreed to build it yet, they are still holding out for a minimum market price on electricity sales and have not got a partner to build it with.

[HMS Sophia]

It was badly needed ten years ago... this will be far too late to meet the demand crunch over the next 5 years. Should be some interesting years in the industry.

Agreed, but better late than never applies.
Heard the other day that pretty much every time a nuke plant got shut down due to... 'environment' action? It was swiftly replaced by a fossil fuel burner. Any truth in that?

[Darth Tanner]

Nothing else to replace them with! The UK has been heavily burning coal lately because the price has been relatively cheap due to US shale gas suppressing the global market prices for coal. However EU directives are going to start shutting a lot of our coal fleet as they don’t meet emission standards so that leaves us with gas... which costs a fucking fortune to run, price has gone up by 20-40% in just the last few months because one of the Norwegian fields went down unexpectedly from bad weather and the UK sucking at storage.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I do find it hilarious that Greenpeace's main objection to a nuclear plant is how much the electricity will cost.

I also find that Theo Simon bloke hilarious for lambasting nuclear power as "wont deliver on time" when wind power is still waaay off the optimisitc "cheap as nuclear by 2020" spiel. This is the best article I've read in ages, it has good news, humour and allows me to mock hippies for not standing up for their beliefs. Marvelous!

[Zaune]

this is awful. Why are the french making it? What happened to good ol' british industry? This is another sign of the coalition's utter failure at everything!

[this post is only semi-serious]

British industry is run by a bunch of Business Studies graduates who know an awful lot about making money but fuck-all about anything else and think this makes them qualified to tell the engineers how to do their jobs. If they'd awarded the contract to a UK firm I'd be looking for hazmat suits on eBay.

[Sea Skimmer]

this is awful. Why are the french making it? What happened to good ol' british industry? This is another sign of the coalition's utter failure at everything!

[this post is only semi-serious]

I know, we totally need more nuclear reactors with the primary coolant loop protected behind large made in Britain glass windows. Anything else is just fearmongering like it could break or something. All bow down before the glory of MAGNOX!

[Jade Falcon]

Meanwhile in Ayrshire in Scotland, the Hunterston B nuclear plant is nearing the end of its active life, with A having been decommisioned many years ago. For a while it was almost a given that there would be a C Nuclear plant but objections were raised and there was talk of a clean coal plant which has also been stopped. This means soon there will be no power plant in Ayrshire as the only alternative was the long mothballed Inverkip gas plant which was mothballed as soon as it had been built in the 70's, this has now been dismantled.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Oh hey, natural gas. I'm sure glad moving towards another very limited, price sensitive hydrocarbon is on the agenda. And clean coal, ha. Hilarious.

But then people believe natural gas is clean too. Cleaner than coal? Sure. Clean? Uh, no.

[Jade Falcon]

Oh hey, natural gas. I'm sure glad moving towards another very limited, price sensitive hydrocarbon is on the agenda. And clean coal, ha. Hilarious.

But then people believe natural gas is clean too. Cleaner than coal? Sure. Clean? Uh, no.

D'oh, mistake on my part, Inverkip was built in the late 60's and was an oil fired plant. It was completed just in time for the oil crisis of the early 70's. It was kept on a care and maintainence order for some years and was only ever used at a fraction of its capabilities in the 80's Coal strike. It was a case of bad timing when it was completed. The protests against Hunterston C nuclear seem to be nimyism as to my knowledge both Hunterston A and B never had any problems.

[Darth Tanner]

No one is ever going to build a nuclear power plant in Scotland again while the SNP exist as a political party. No private organization is going to risk spending billions only for a political decision to shut them down.

Oh hey, natural gas. I'm sure glad moving towards another very limited, price sensitive hydrocarbon is on the agenda.

Just to highlight how short sighted the UKs new dash for gas solution for its power problems are we are facing the worst shortage in ages, with the day ahead prices being the highest ever - they have literally nearly doubled over the last month. If the current cold weather continues we could see large scale gas users being cut off to preserve the systems pressure.

[Sea Skimmer]

The UK gas shortage is a regulatory and planning problem only, it should not exist. The UK simply has never built gas storage facilities to match its demand, and the companies don't fill the storage they do have. I read the other day that the UK has at max, 15 days of storage capacity and its never more then 50% full, about 10% full right now. In contrast most western European nations and anyone else with sense have at least several months of storage and keep it relatively full precisely so one random pipeline breaking doesn't risk a system wide collapse. The EU mandated a 90 day supply of oil and gas be held by member states, but the UK has more or less refused to acknowledge it. I suppose because the idiots in charge felt like nothing could ever disrupt the North Sea.

Natural gas plants are cheap to build up front, even more so than coal, the cost is pretty much all in the fuel, and they turn on and off in ten minutes, so its hardly the end of the world if some are built now. They make a good complement to renewable sources, though given the bankruptcy tidat of the largest solar panel maker in the world the supposed just around the corner solar renaissance looks as unlikely as ever.

[Questor]

The UK is (I think, I'm having some trouble doing the unit conversion at the moment) a net exporter of natural gas.

The argument that nothing could disrupt the North Sea is disingenuous at best. The idea that they only keep a 1 or 2 day supply is straight up insane.

I guess the question is: Can the generate enough excess capacity to build the reserves up past the current level without having to start new wells?

[madd0ct0r]

we did just get three tankers of liquified natural gas arrive... reserves are up a little bit again.

[Darth Tanner]

The UK is (I think, I'm having some trouble doing the unit conversion at the moment) a net exporter of natural gas.

Afraid not since 2005, domestic production has been falling steadily due to the North Sea being depleted whilst consumption has remained steady. The main triggers of the recent gas price hike is that one of the biggest fields in Norway had an unplanned outage due to bad weather followed by the main pipe from Belgium having an outage as well. I'd imagine some of the price rises was simple market panic rather than risk of actual shortage.

The idea that they only keep a 1 or 2 day supply is straight up insane.

We had two days of gas in the storage facilities at the worst point in this shortage crisis... we usually keep 15 days as a minimum it’s just storage had been used up over the winter and the industry was not expecting the demand caused by the recent cold weather. You won't find me arguing that we should have continental levels of storage though... it’s embarrassing to be so unprepared for an unexpected cold spell.

LNG ships have started to arrive now to boost stocks so the worst should be over.

[Admiral Valdemar]

The fact that we're now looking at a 10 year contract with the US for shale is probably indicative of at least someone in Westminster getting a little clue about our energy mix. This, despite the furore over the endless shale gas deposits in Lancashire which we've not even drilled without causing an earthquake yet.

The energy industry in this country is a joke now. The North Sea was seen to be peaking years ago, and eventually did in '99. But instead, we're under the assumption it will last forever, and not go the way of Indonesia's production, say (in some cases, we've had worse decline rates in fields).

I also see the Bakken shale play may tap out next year at the latest. So the Americans can have some fun with their dream of becoming a net exporter in energy turning into a nightmare. Yeah, apparently relying on extremely expensive, short lived return wells of difficult to reach gas is NOT economically viable in the long term.

Oh, and we'll be lucky if this cold spell vanishes before the end of April, but that's for another topic.