SONE Newsletter 303 – December 2024

Posted by Wade Allison on 27 December 2024 in Newsletters

This month

Happy New Year 2025

This Newsletter may be too late for Christmas but it brings apologies and best wishes for 2025! And talking about being late, perhaps the UK Government is now ready to build a future for the UK with nuclear energy. Encouragement was given by Pope Pius XII at Easter 1955. Like many others 70 years ago he was a net promoter of nuclear energy for social good and prosperity.

We urge men of science and goodwill to persevere boldly and confidently in the study of devices and materials capable of producing nuclear energy, in order to achieve notable, efficient production that is easily deployable where needed, thereby helping to alleviate the burden of need and misery.

We pray to Almighty God to enlighten and guide a work that holds the potential to render a tremendous human and moral service, not to mention its scientific utility. We implore Him to prevent such a great and far-reaching endeavour from turning into a demonic force of violence leading to the total ruin of humanity.

For seventy years many have persistently portrayed nuclear energy as a threat. Nevertheless, Pius XII, and the UK Government too, could have been reassured that a global holocaust of nuclear radiation, as he and others imagined it at the time, was never realistic – except as a source of fear, as probed in an article “Fear of Radiation and Nuclear Weapons” posted this month on the SONE website:

Link: https://sone.org.uk/fear-of-radiation-and-nuclear-weapons/

Life extensions announced for four UK AGR plants (WNN 4/12)

EDF Energy has announced that the UK’s Heysham 1 and Hartlepool Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor nuclear power plants will operate until March 2027, while the Heysham 2 and Torness AGR plants will operate until March 2030.

On the one hand there is the ageing of the graphite moderator and on the other the fact that the UK desperately needs the energy before Hinckley C and, hopefully, Sizewell C come on stream.

“These dates are forecasts, and the precise dates will be determined by the results of regular graphite inspections and how those results are interpreted within EDF and by the independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation,” the company noted. https://world-nuclear-news.org/articles/life-extensions-announced-for-four-uk-plants

Flamanville 3 connected to the grid

After 17 years of engineering challenges, France’s 1630 MWe EPR1 nuclear reactor achieved grid connection on 21 December. This was the latest of the 2024 highlights reviewed in this WNN survey https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/podcast-nuclear-energys-key-moments-in-2024

District heating in Finland (WNN 5/12)

Nuclear powered district heating is being developed in Finland and is already deployed in China. For this application the full energy from the reactor is available, unlike for electricity generation where the efficiency is limited thermodynamically to 30%, depending on the turbine inlet temperature. In the UK we do not have the hot water infrastructure for district heating, but for any new town, built with housing and industry centred on an SMR as it should be, such infrastructure should be integrated in the plan. In Scandinavia they already have such networks in major cities.

In Finland the news is that an agreement has been signed for 15 SMRs of 50 MW each delivering water at 150 degrees. The plan is for the construction of the first plant to begin in 2029. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/tractebel-to-help-develop-steady-energys-heating-smr

German restart

A politically provocative study by the Radiant Energy Group has looked at the feasibility of restarting Germany’s nuclear reactors, recently shut down for ideological reasons. https://www.radiantenergygroup.com/reports/restarting-germanys-reactors-feasibility-and-schedule The study concludes that no significant technical barriers prevent such a restart, “but swift action is needed”.

Indeed, public opinion in Germany favours it and nuclear restarts could provide more clean energy sooner than large offshore wind projects have achieved. But there are three stumbling blocks. First, the German political scene remains frozen, preventing even the possibility of a reconsidered nuclear policy. Second, the manpower and knowledge needed to restart is dispersed and would take time to reassemble. Third, the demolition of the last plants has already begun, as reported on 20/12. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/Final-German-nuclear-power-plant-enters-dismantling-phase

Scandinavian energy news

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/denmark-disappointed-after-offshore-wind-tender-draws-no-bids-2024-12-05/

Denmark has always been the centre for the development of the global wind energy industry. However, when the Danish Energy Agency (Danish Energy Agency) held an auction for three offshore wind farms in the North Sea this month, but not a single bid for any of them was received!

Ørsted, the wind industry firm based in Denmark, was dealt a $4 billion blow last year when it cancelled wind farm projects in the United States, a crucial market for the group. It sold off 50% of its project in Taiwan and then recently announced it was withdrawing from the Danish government’s “Green Fuels for Denmark” project. It has asked its investors to share the burden and has suspended dividends until the 2026 financial year.

Denmark is also rethinking its policy towards nuclear energy. Like other countries in Scandinavia, it is aware of the disastrous effect of Germany’s closure of its nuclear plants on energy prices for the whole region.

Sweden tells Germany: “Reform your electricity market for power cable approval.” This demand comes as Swedish Energy Minister. Ebba Busch, criticised Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power. While Germany hoped renewables could fill the gap, the reality is stark: the country now depends heavily on imports and fossil fuels. This causes prices in southern Sweden to spike, for instance reaching as high as 936 euros per megawatt-hour at one point in December 2024. The strain has pushed Sweden to suspend projects like the Hansa PowerBridge, a planned interconnection with Germany, to protect its own consumers from further price hikes.

This situation underscores an issue: Europe’s energy system is built on shared efficiency, reflecting the region’s close-knit geography and economic ties. Germany’s energy shift hasn’t just hurt Sweden, it’s destabilizing the broader European energy market. Norway, too, is now reassessing its strategies as rising prices begin to impact its domestic market. Sweden and Norway are sending a clear message: Germany’s decisions are creating regional challenges, and without a dependable energy backbone, the interconnected European market is at risk. Germany’s nuclear phase-out was a costly move, both economically and politically. Nuclear power offers not only a reliable source of clean energy but also the stability needed to support renewables. By turning away from it, Germany has increased its dependence on fossil fuels and imports, leaving its neighbours to shoulder the fallout.

The UK, a major importer of electricity with an increasing dependence on offshore wind, is a serious offender, too. UK consumers are likely to suffer high prices and breaks in supply from reluctant Scandinavian suppliers. Unless the UK accelerates its nuclear programme and stops expanding its reliance on wind, the situation will deteriorate further in the medium term.

Virginia Crosbie, Trudy Harrison and Nuclear Capital LLP

At the AGM Neville welcomed Virginia Crosbie and Trudy Harrison as new Patrons of SONE. We look forward to working with them.

Since then, Virginia has posted:

I am delighted to announce that I am setting up Nuclear Capital LLP.
Nuclear Capital LLP is a partnership comprising myself, former president of the Nuclear Institute and nuclear safety expert Jasbir Sidhu and renowned nuclear industry insurer Michael Dawson. This new UK-based nuclear investment fund aims to tap into a huge global expansion in large-scale nuclear and emerging small modular reactors (SMRs) by assisting institutions in deploying capital into the nuclear life cycle.

Hopefully we will hear more soon!

The NDA, Decommissioning?

Am I the only person who is surprised – no, shocked – that the NDA professes its mission as the Nuclear DECommissioning Authority. I understand that the D used to stand for Development! That sounds better. Decommissioning matters but that should not be flagged as the priority. I understand that there is even a DECOM25 Meeting! Someone should think and get a grip on the industry’s image, especially for young people.

An Account of Radon Therapy in Tajikistan

If you are not stopped by a paywall (I wasn’t), here is a charming account of the benefits of radon, accompanied by the usual mandatory but quite incongruous genuflections towards radiation safety at these modest levels. Unfortunately, it offers no numerical values for the doses, but the photographs tell the story. https://www.nytimes.com/card/2024/12/22/world/tajikistan-sanatorium?unlocked_article_code=1.jk4.SxvW.LPBx2p-EPfX2&smid=url-share

Greens go for nuclear in Ontario

Green Party resolution:
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Green Party of Ontario would support the continued use of nuclear power alongside other forms of low carbon emission energy production.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Green Party of Ontario would support increasing Ontario’s CANDU-based electricity production to help fully decarbonize Ontario’s economy.

Wade Allison
Hon. Sec.
December 2024