Background
In January 2008 the Government published a White Paper on Nuclear Power in which it concluded that it was in the public interest that new nuclear power stations should have role to play in the energy mix and to allow energy companies the option of investing in new nuclear power stations. It also set out the active steps the Government would take to open up the way to the construction of new nuclear power station.
An indicative timeline providing an overview of the government actions and how they relate to processes being run by the regulators and activity by potential investors has been published here.
Where’s the action?
On 9th November 2009 the Government published it’s draft nuclear National Policy Statement which included a list of sites that the Government has judged to be potentially suitable for the deployment of new nuclear power stations by the end of 2025:
- Bradwell
- Braystones
- Hartlepool
- Heysham
- Hinkley Point
- Kirkstanton
- Oldbury
- Sellafield
- Sizewell
- Wylfa
Who are the players?
- EDF purchased British Energy and all its assets including land at Bradwell, Hartlepool, Heysham, Hinkley Point and Sizewell
- E.On and RWE formed a consortium known as Horizon Nuclear Power and in auction purchased land at Wylfa and Oldbury
- Iberdrola, GDF Suez and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) formed a consortium and in auction purchased land at Sellafield
- RWE nominated sites in Kirkstanton and Bradwell into the strategic siting assessment process which were then included in the draft NPS
- The reactor designs currently going through the regulators Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process are Areva's EPR and Westinghouse's AP1000
What investments have been made?
Approximately £13bn has already been invested:
- £12.5 billion: EDF takeover of British Energy in Jan 2009 at a cost of £12.5 billion. EDF now operate the existing fleet of nuclear power stations and they have publicly made their clear their intention to use this investment as part of their new build strategy.
- £387 million: Proceeds to the NDA from the recent sale of land at Oldbury, Bradwell and Wylfa came to £387 million.
- £70 million: A consortium of GDF SUEZ SA, Iberdrola SA and Scottish and Southern Energy Plc has secured an option to purchase land for the development of a new nuclear power station at Sellafield. They have plans to build up to 3.6 GW of new nuclear capacity in the UK, with work beginning in 2015.
The 16GW of new nuclear capacity announced by these energy companies could be expected to result in an investment of approximately £40 billion:
- Up to £17.6 billion: EDF have said they plan to build 6.4 GW of new nuclear. This is 4 EPRs, which EDF expect to cost of up to £4.4 billion each
- Horizon announced their intention to build at least 6GW of new nuclear capacity on the land, subject to necessary approvals (including regulatory approvals and planning permission) - this could be 4 EPRs or 6 AP1000s. They have stated that this could result in more than £15 billion of investment.
- Iberdola, GDF Suez and SSE have plans to build 3.6 GWs – this could be 2 EPRs or 3 AP100s. The value of this investment is unknown, but it would be reasonable to expect the costs might be comparable, resulting in an investment in the region of £8 billion.
