New nuclear is essential

Commentary by By Dr Sue Ion, chairman of the Royal Academy of Engineering Energy Group

Westinghouse and Areva have made significant improvements to nuclear reactor design to ensure they are ft for the 21st century. In terms of passing the GDA (generic design assessment), the regulators keep stressing that there are no show-stopping issues with either the AP1000 or the EPR. 

But a movement towards an overall standardisation of licensing internationally would be welcome longer term. When a Boeing Dreamliner or Airbus A380 is certified, it is certified for wherever it flies. It seems crazy that every time a reactor is built in a nation state, it has to go through a total review yet again. Thankfully, good progress is being made in the UK but it’s important the regulator should make maximum use of the work that has already been done. It would be great if a rigorous review in the US, China, France and Finland were robust enough for Britain and vice versa.

Should new nuclear build be incentivised? A carbon price of certainty and longevity would help the risk profile of the industry. I can understand why government says it doesn’t want the industry to be subsidised. But nuclear is severely disadvantaged compared with renewables: consider, for example, the subsidies going into offshore wind (paid for by taxpayers and consumers).

Critics point to some of the problems Areva has had in Finland as an indicator of how difficult it is to deploy new reactors. But it’s easy to say in hindsight that those difficulties would happen. It was first of a kind in a foreign country, with an immature supply chain and a regulator and utility with no experience of the design in question. Areva will have learnt from the experience and emerge stronger internationally. It’s easier to start on home territory. All companies in the nuclear industry in the West went through a period of stagnation in the 1980s and 90s so there were bound to be some teething troubles when the renaissance began. Progress on Westinghouse’s units in China seems to be going well. 

One thing is certain: new nuclear is essential, along with renewables, for the transition to a low-carbon economy. Only nuclear can provide the low-carbon electricity that is needed in sufficient volume as a key part of the UK’s energy mix.

• Read our Design focus story on Areva's EPR and Westinghouse's AP100: Safety First