This month
- A new Patron for SONE, Chris Cockcroft
- Reflections on UK Nuclear Power by Philip Greatorex
- Insurance
- UK Plutonium for disposal?
- News from America
- New Nuclear for Maritime
- Wind, fire and batteries
- Urenco
- UK reduces hurdles
In the past month the news generally has been bewildering, too busy for a life of steady thoughts. So it is a pleasure to begin this letter with items that celebrate past success and encourage us to see the future as one of promise. Then we engage near term developments.
A new Patron for SONE, Chris Cockcroft
Some may know Chris Cockcroft, an active member of SONE, who came on our recent visit to Capenhurst. Others may know that his association with nuclear energy goes much further back. His father, Sir John, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the first artificial splitting of the nucleus in 1932 at Cambridge.
Chris has many memories that he has kindly written up for SONE. His unique story is posted on the SONE website: https://sone.org.uk/nuclear-energy-discovery-and-development-before-and-during-my-lifetime/. We welcome him as a new Patron of SONE and we look forward to his enthusiasm and guidance as the nuclear story that his father set in motion continues to unfold.
Reflections on UK Nuclear Power by Philip Greatorex
This month we are treated to another look back over the history of nuclear energy with comparison to the great cathedrals that man has built. We have Philip Greatorex to thank for this perspective which is posted as a SONE article here: https://sone.org.uk/reflections-on-uk-nuclear-power/. He urges us to consider the heritage of the subject and to build confidence in the public mind. Amen.
Insurance
Confidence in the energy supply is crucial to the economy. And that is
true for all forms of energy and every economy, whether advanced or not.
In practical terms such confidence is gauged in the insurance market.
The NY Times describes how that confidence is now being tested by recent
climatic events, particularly in California.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/climate/california-fairplan-insurance-bailout.html
Since the 17th Century London has been a leader in insurance,
by Lloyds in particular. It is encouraging to learn of a new initiative,
Nuclear Risk Insurers, that includes support for the construction of new
nuclear reactors.
https://nuclear-risk.com/products-and-services/construction/
Tim Stone CBE writes “This is a great example of leadership by NRI and strong support for all SMR and AMR new build globally. Kudos to the team who put this together and look forward to seeing real impact from this.”
There is also an announcement from Great British Nuclear about their
leadership team.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/great-british-nuclear-announces-key-leaders-to-power-next-phase
UK Plutonium for disposal?
There has been an angry outburst at the UK Government plans to bury the
reactor-grade Plutonium stored at Sellafield.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-01-24/hlws384.
A parliamentary petition has been started by SONE member, Stephen
Redburn, and has been supported by at least 19 members:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/715770/sponsors/new?token=iLVKAZiYoc4vDjXxbTYo.
The press coverage has expressed outrage at the cost of burying a valuable asset:
Ed Milliband ‘throwing away a gold mine’ with new Labour
policy.
Meanwhile Japan and France are continuing to expand their use of MOX
fuel made from such valuable “waste”:
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/french-japanese-mox-fuel-recycling-studies-expanded.
Here in the UK Moltex confirms their plans to use such “waste” plutonium
and World Nuclear News list their work as among “the most read” – and
that is indicative of international interest:
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/moltex-reactor-can-consume-used-fuel-research-confirms.
Not for the first time, other nations seem to be going in the opposite
direction to the UK which prefers to load the great expense of this
disposal onto the taxpayer.
News from America
Chris Wright, the US Incoming Energy Secretary, wants to “unleash”
nuclear energy. “The long-awaited American nuclear renaissance must
launch during President Trump’s administration. As global energy demand
continues to grow, America must lead the commercialization of affordable
and abundant nuclear energy. As such, the Department will work
diligently and creatively to enable the rapid deployment and export of
next-generation nuclear technology,” he said. All seems positive.
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/us-council-set-up-to-advise-president-on-energy-dominance.
On January 20th President Trump ordered that agencies must “review all existing regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, settlements, consent orders, and any other agency actions” and find the ones that “impose an undue burden on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources — with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources.”
Many, but not all of the relevant regulations are at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, not the Energy Department. Nuclear energy, the report says “is held back by uncertainty around permitting and regulatory challenges in response to public fears over nuclear safety. In our view, the data does not support the public fears, as nuclear has an outstanding, indeed a pack-leading, safety record.” That is true.
The advent of Trump2.0 is a matter of deep concern for the general politics of the world, but it is bringing important aspects of nuclear energy to the surface. A nuclear engineer in USA recently posted an appeal to Musk to consider the situation at Hanford:
Elon Musk! Save the US $300-600 billion by stopping the Hanford ‘cleanup’ of harmless radioactive waste. EPA clings to its disproven LNT model of radiation harm to justify this $2.5 billion/year waste. Forbidding LNT will also wipe out thousands of NRC regulations that have made US nuclear power 3x as costly as it should be.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7296624153552453632/
This post was widely supported. I added the opinion
“Yes of course. This is what we have been shouting about for years. I suggest that it needs cooler hands than Musk’s but the objective is right. It cannot be left to the usual suspects, that is USNRC/ICRP etc.”
In the UK the situation of the radioactive material stored at Sellafield might be considered in a similar light. The dangers posed by these stores have been exaggerated and associated costs likewise – and that includes the plutonium.
New Nuclear for Maritime
The maritime news site, Splash, writes of this month’s meeting on
nuclear energy in Houston:
https://splash247.com/new-nuclear-for-maritime-houston-summit-makes-headlines/
In particular, Corepower is talking of mass production of off-shore power plants:
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/core-power-plans-mass-production-of-floating-nuclear-power-plants
Incidentally, members might be interested to watch an eye-opening video
that shows the sheer size of a large modern container ship, as might be
powered by an SMR.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/luukdegruijter_i-dont-usually-share-long-videos-but-this-ugcPost-7296193102921318400-bsEj
Wind, fire and batteries
It has been a tough month for “renewable” sources of energy. The realisation that electrical energy is most effectively used where it is generated and when it is generated is dawning on authorities around the world. This is a matter of physics, not ideology and politics, as demonstrated in recent dark and windless winter months.
Trump is no friend of off-shore wind. That industry is in financial trouble anyway and heads are rolling: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/oberon-houston-33011b326_orsted-ceo-quits-mid-2020-ceo-henrik-poulsen-activity-7291333621196423168-tIHz.
And the popular trust in large storage batteries (BESS) to overcome the intermittency of wind and solar has been undermined by the recent fire at Moss Landings, California. This BESS is the largest in America and the fire is the fourth there. The role of EVs as sources of persistent combustion in the wild fires in Los Angeles has added to the bad publicity for lithium batteries. Paul Christensen is the authority on lithium batteries: https://www.lithiumionsafety.co.uk/.
The virtues of nuclear power become ever more evident as the severe limitations of renewables become more publicly reported.
Urenco
News of expanded enrichment in the Netherlands.
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/expansion-of-urencos-dutch-enrichment-plant-under-way
UK reduces hurdles
The UK Government decides to cut the excuse for delays of infrastructure projects. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/uk-to-cut-legal-hold-ups-to-infrastructure-projects. This will speed up site licensing.
On 17 Feb 2025 the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) reported that Last Energy has entered the nuclear site licensing (NSL) process for its plans to develop four 20 MWe microreactors in South Wales. https://www.onr.org.uk/news/all-news/2025/02/last-energy-enters-onrs-nuclear-site-licensing-process/
Robert Boswell, member of SONE, writes of Last Energy:
This isn’t just a step forward for us—it’s a set of firsts for the UK:
- First new nuclear site application since Torness in 1978;
- First ‘SMR’ project to enter site licensing; and
- First fully private nuclear project.
Exciting days ahead as we work through this rigorous process with the urgency that the times demand. Keeping our eyes on the prize. I’m in Coytrahen, Wales, today for another of our public consultations, hearing from local people on how we can best prepare our planning application for the site.
Then there is the privately funded proposal by Community Nuclear Power
to build SMRs on Teeside in collaboration with Westinghouse with their AP300.
https://info.westinghousenuclear.com/news/westinghouse-and-uks-community-nuclear-power-collaborate-to-deploy-fleet-of-ap300-small-modular-reactors.
In conclusion, there are plenty of reasons for optimism about the future of SMRs in UK. The field is becoming quite crowded.
The politics and costs of Sizewell C with two GW scale reactors continue to keep many people busy, too. The progress of the work can be followed on line: https://www.szcworkstracker.co.uk/.
This is despite accountants getting political cold feet over the role of EDF
in projects external to France:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/01/14/sizewell-c-future-doubt-edf-told-prioritise-french-nuclear/.
But at the same time UK EDF is emphasising its plans for many years to come:
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/edf-aims-to-maintain-output-of-uk-nuclear-fleet-in-years-ahead.
It is becoming evident that in the coming revolution the demand of data
centres is likely to provide the well-heeled customers eager for nuclear
power, in rather the same way that the new engines of the Industrial
Revolution became the demanding customers for the energy of fossil fuels
in the 19th and 20th Centuries:
https://www.corepower.energy/news/uk-exploring-nuclear-power-for-ai-data-centres.
Hon. Sec.
February 2025