According to the 2020 Energy White Paper, electricity demand could double by 2050. In order to meet these new requirements, and the government’s own ambition to have nuclear make up 25% of Britain’s energy mix, it is imperative that we build more nuclear in this country.
But nuclear power is still playing second fiddle to other sources of energy. Most existing sites are currently scheduled to close by 2030. And even tacit support from the government for new nuclear power development is difficult to gain. Approval for the construction of nuclear power is sclerotic and too often inhibited by government bureaucracy and inaction.
According to a new report from the Adam Smith Institute (ASI), the government’s current approach, namely its Great British Nuclear competition, ‘picks winners’ by co-funding favoured technologies and granting site approval. Whilst a competitive tendering process can be beneficial, the combination of this scheme and a sclerotic planning system limits the ability of privately-funded nuclear developers to proceed at pace.
In order to accelerate the nuclear development we need in this country, this report includes the following recommendations:
Establish a ‘Contracts for Difference’ (CfD) approach, under which more potential producers are able to sell power for a certain price. This method would be far more ‘technology neutral,’ allowing developers to enter the UK market without the need for taxpayer-funded subsidies;
Encourage developers to create plans to deliver a full fleet of reactors, rather than forcing them to undergo a piecemeal approval process. This would increase investment in nuclear facilities, as economies of scale reduce costs for developers and energy bills for consumers;
Introduce a mutual recognition of standards for Advanced Modular Reactors by looking to international best practice, such as in France;
Remove existing sites from the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority ownership;
Make better use of the UK's nuclear waste stockpile. We should reprocess the waste into nuclear fuels to be used in domestic energy production, as other countries such as France and Japan do, instead of storing it for thousands of years underground.