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Development of mini nuclear power stations could be boosted by a £2bn government investment as the industry fights to stay afloat.
The aid plan could facilitate the design and construction of 16 sites by 2050, with work undertaken by a Rolls Royce-led consortium.
The government provided £18M for this design stage, with the consortium matching the funding. Designs are expected to be finished next spring.
The group also includes Assystem, SNC Lavalin/Atkins, Wood, Arup, Laing O’Rourke, Bam Nuttall, Siemens, National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and Nuclear AMRC.
Rolls-Royce claims its smaller reactors can produce affordable energy with a lower carbon footprint than traditional nuclear sites.
According to the Financial Times, the new investment of between £1.5bn and £2bn is under discussion, likely to be announced in the Treasury's next spending review this year.
The first five sites are expected to cost £2.2bn, while the others will cost around £1.8bn, in comparison to the £22.5bn Hinkley is expected to cost. Twelve months ago, EDF announced that plans at Hinkley were at risk of delay after the cost rose by £2.9bn.
This comes as plans for large nuclear power stations are stalling.
EDF's DCO application to build Sizewell C has been hit by delays this year due to Covid-19 restrictions and legal challenges although plans received a major boost this week after a High Court decision to uphold planning permission for preparatory works at the site.
In the last few years, Japan’s Toshiba dropped plans to build a new nuclear reactor at Moorside, Cumbria, while Hitachi previously suspended plans for another plant at Oldbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire.
There is also a growing backlash among MPs against plans for the new power stations at Sizewell and Bradwell due to involvement of Chinese state-owned CGN. Instead, political backing for renewables in on the rise due to dramatic reductions in cost during the last decade.
A BEIS spokesperson said: “Nuclear power will play a key role in the UK’s future energy mix as we transition to a low-carbon economy, including through our investments in small and advanced modular reactors.”
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Another disaster waiting to happen….why are we committing funds to this sort of energy when renewables are way cheaper. its only the lunatic fringe of engineers pushing for this. Its the most immoral form of energy generation there is due to the toxic waste produced and all the waste heat that is pumped into water sources. We simply dont need it. That 2bn could be put into battery and pumped hydro project.