SONE Newsletter 306 – March 2025

Posted by Wade Allison on 27 March 2025 in Newsletters

Tagged with: Czechia, Donald Trump, EDF, Korea, Net Zero, Regulation, SMR, Teesside.

This month

The speed-bumps that slow the nuclear revolution

Taking a long view, the nuclear revolution is going well. Although those who expected changes in five or ten years may be disappointed, the career aspirations of young people and the pension plans of their elders should mature harmoniously on a 40-year timescale. By then most uses of fossil fuels should be replaced without crashing the economy. Climate Change may be serious but the political panic generated by the slogan “Net Zero by 2050” with its emphasis on Renewables was never going to deliver the answer.

Money markets and insurance underwriters look over their shoulders in preparation for short -term trouble, largely through ignorance and lack of confidence. That is why an early start on reforming public education and scientific regulation is important, as is the need is to attract young people into the nuclear industry in the UK leading to international careers. To be successful the rollout of nuclear power technology must be world wide and access to the fuel should be available in the same way. That would be obstructed if high returns on intellectual property were imposed. The world does not need future nuclear inequality; it suffered enough from two centuries of fossil fuel inequality.

“Actinide to Zeta”, a Nuclear Glossary

Thanks to Peter Havercan for compiling this useful file which is posted on the SONE website https://sone.org.uk/sone-nuclear-glossary/

The choice of small reactor designs

As reported by the Nuclear Institute using the NucNet database of SMRs, AMRs and micros designs, there are now:

  • 97 reactors under development in 16 different countries. In the UK they include RR, Moltex-Flex and U-Battery.

  • 24 designs are undergoing licensing or pre-licensing.

  • 13 designs are for heat only.

  • 42 designs need HALEU enriched U fuel (up to 20%).

  • 10 designs are for floating power units.

  • 4 are operating (2 in China, 1 in Japan, 1 in Russia) and 4 are under construction (China, Russia, Argentina, USA).

Stop Press: All change at EDF

The head of EDF has been dismissed by the French Government amid concerns about the new EPR2 as well as commitments in UK. https://on.ft.com/4iujpFn
There have been costly cancellations of wind projects, too. https://splash247.com/edf-takes-940m-hit-as-it-abandons-wind-project-off-new-jersey/

Nuclear policy for England and Wales

The Government is suggesting that nuclear power should be deployed at more new sites than the eight previously designated. In addition to HPC, SZC and the SMR competition organised by Great British Nuclear, support is foreseen for AMRs and other GW scale developments. Ideas are out for consultation https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/draft-national-policy-statement-for-nuclear-energy-generation-en-7/national-policy-statement-for-nuclear-energy-generation-en-7-new-consultation-and-response-to-earlier-consultation-html

But this discussion does not cover Scotland or Northern Ireland, apparently. Does inaction by the devolved governments pose a problem? Up to now nuclear power has certainly made a major contribution in Scotland.

Renewables poor performance

Paul Spare has contributed a most interesting article on the poor performance of renewables in the UK during the first quarter of 2025. This is posted on the SONE website: https://sone.org.uk/renewables-poor-performance/.

Czech investment in RR SMR

The Czech Republic nuclear power operator, ČEZ Group, has officially become a shareholder in the UK small modular reactor developer Rolls-Royce SMR. In October last year, ČEZ Group agreed to take a 20% stake in Rolls-Royce SMR. The agreement between the two companies will see them work on plans for the deployment of SMRs providing up to 3 GW of capacity in the Czech Republic. As well as Rolls-Royce and ČEZ, Rolls-Royce SMR shareholders include BNF Resources, Constellation and the Qatar Investment Authority.

There is Dutch collaboration, too. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/uk-dutch-partnership-for-deployment-of-smrs-at-industrial-parks

Some UK Regulations to be rolled back

The UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation said it has removed almost 100 legacy regulatory requirements at nuclear power plants in a move to boost efficiency, proportionality, and deliver cost and time benefits. It has withdrawn a series of rules that no longer contribute to safety due to the decreasing risk profiles at ten decommissioning sites across England, Scotland and Wales. “The removal of these nuclear maintenance schedule preface approvals and licence condition specifications supports ONR’s ongoing commitment to proportionate regulation,” it said. Each site will continue to have close regulatory oversight and a dedicated nuclear safety and security inspector to oversee decommissioning activities.

Meanwhile in the USA the Trump regime is intent on reforming the Environmental Protection Agency, which it accuses of being “precautionary, bloated, unaccountable, closed, outcome-driven, hostile to public and legislative input, and inclined to pursue political rather than purely scientific goals.” What this will mean for nuclear and radiation regulations remains to be seen. The “china shop” certainly needs to be reformed, but the “bull” appears politically, not scientifically, motivated!

Teeside – Community Nuclear Power

https://www.linkedin.com/company/communitynuclearpower/posts/
CNP write of their progress (they are working with Westinghouse):

We were invited today by Nuclear Minister Lord Philip Hunt to help shape new nuclear plans for the UK. Our working session this afternoon at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero was a welcome chance to respond to Government’s consultation on the ways in which industry and government can work together and speed up plans for new nuclear - supporting our NetZero ambitions, contributing to Energy Security, and attracting inward investment into the UK.

We were pleased to join a range of commercial and government organisations, and sector bodies, and to share our own insights based on our project with the GreenLizard PowerToLiquids park in North Tees - where nuclear power will help reindustrialise the region, and enable large-scale production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), itself a Government priority.

This is the first deployment of privately funded SMRs in the UK, and everything we can do to make this ‘first of a kind’ as efficient and repeatable as possible will not only increase investor confidence for us, but also make the sector even more attractive for the inward investments that follow us. This is fantastic news for economic growth and HM Treasury too.

Today’s engagement with wider industry follows the launch of Government’s consultation on a new planning framework to allow more flexibility when identifying sites for new nuclear.

Our model is demand-led rather than supply-led, in that clean and dependable energy needs are defined by communities and their industrial ambitions. Reviewing siting requirements could give communities more flexibility about the type of green power they use, opening up wider opportunities and reflecting safety and security that is most appropriate for SMRs.

We look forward to seeing what happens next, as we move from Government’s positive and very welcome statement of intent into the specifics of ‘how’. We are part of the change.

A change of heart at the World Bank

The head of the World Bank said he asked the lender’s board to reverse its long-standing policy against funding nuclear power projects, saying the technology offers a green option for poor countries, Bloomberg reported. “The good news is the board has come together and said they’re willing to discuss” the change, World Bank President Ajay Banga said on 20 March at an event in Washington, DC, adding that he expects the move to be included in a broader energy policy proposal expected in June 2026. The policy reform proposal will seek to encompass all kinds of affordable and accessible energy, Banga said, including natural gas, nuclear, geothermal, hydropower and others. WNN21/3

Korea nuclear green bonds

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power announced it has issued Asia’s first corporate green bond dedicated to nuclear power generation. The bond, with a total value of HKD1.2 billion (USD154 million) and a three-year term, will be exclusively used to improve nuclear power plant safety, and fund research and development of next-generation nuclear power technologies. “With this, Korea’s nuclear power plants have been recognised worldwide as a green energy source,” KHNP said. “In particular, it is expected to become a new milestone for green finance in the future as it is the first nuclear green bond to receive the highest rating for its green bond management system from Moody’s, the world’s most credible credit rating agency.”

News of progress on marine nuclear power

In Shell’s forward look they suggest that by 2090 all large vessels will be powered by SMRs. https://www.shell.com/news-and-insights/scenarios/the-2025-energy-security-scenarios.html

UK-based classification society and professional advisory service, Lloyd’s Register, announced it is to use generative AI to advance the application of nuclear technology in maritime. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/lloyds-register-to-use-ai-to-aid-maritime-nuclear-licensing

Maritime biofuels falling out of favour at the International Maritime Organisation: https://splash247.com/pushback-campaign-against-biofuels-launches-at-the-imo/

Meanwhile a paper - jointly published by Core Power, NorthStandard and Lloyd’s Register - highlights how the UK can leverage its world-class expertise in nuclear technology and maritime innovation to lead the global shift toward nuclear-powered shipping: https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/uk-should-lead-on-maritime-nuclear-power-paper-says

Norway is pushing ahead with nuclear-powered shipping too. https://www.rivieramm.com/news-content-hub/news-content-hub/norways-nuclear-powered-commercial-ship-project-pushes-ahead-83697
Here is a general and well written account of nuclear energy seen from :Norway https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beginning-norwegian-nuclear-adventure-carlos-dorao-dybef/

News on fuel

Laser enrichment. Full enrichment testing of a test loop pilot facility for the SILEX uranium enrichment technology is “imminent”, Silex Systems Ltd said in its half-year operational update. Preliminary testing of the pilot demonstration facility began in late 2024. Global Laser Enrichment, the Silex-Cameco joint venture which is the exclusive global licensee of the technology, aims to complete pilot-scale demonstration testing around the middle of this year. Silex said it now expects the technology to be in commercial operation at the planned PLEF facility in Kentucky “at the latest by 2030”. The company had previously been eyeing 2028 as the earliest commercial operation date. WNN21/2

HALEU fuel enrichment is planned at Capenhurst https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/urenco-to-supply-fuel-for-westinghouse-microreactor WNN19/3
Urenco has selected British construction engineering company Costain to deliver new and upgraded infrastructure at Capenhurst. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/costain-chosen-to-upgrade-uk-enrichment-plant WNN20/3

Plutonium

Russia values its Plutonium fuel and is working on MOX https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/fresh-stage-of-research-for-vver-s-and-mox-fuel while DESNZ proposes to bury UK’s.

The Parliamentary Petition initiated by Stephen Redburn on the retention of the UK civil plutonium referred to in Newsletter 305 has now emerged from a queue and is now live https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/715770.
It will remain open until 18 September. SONE Members and others are encouraged to consider adding their signature. On the website you can see an updated map of constituencies where people have signed. The map, as of 22 March and shown on the right, indicates that we need to get more signatures beyond the membership of SONE!

Comment on E=mc2 and its relationship with nuclear energy

As described in the media, this equation, first written in 1905 by Einstein, is presented as peculiar to nuclear energy. In fact, the equation is universal. A hot object has a higher energy and mass when it is hot than when it is cold; similarly, when it is higher than lower (and stationary). However, the factor c2 is so large that is only in the case of a release of nuclear energy that the change in mass is obvious. In physics we refer to the “rest mass energy” for E and m when the object is stationary. At the speeds involved in particle physics experiments at CERN the E of a particle may be a million times the mc2 of the same particle when stationary – and that is unrelated to nuclear energy.

Fusion

In SONE we concentrate on nuclear fission, the prime solution to our energy needs for the next 50 years. Public opinion, and investors too, get excited about nuclear fusion which might be important much later, although the case is not clear.

To maintain some perspective here is a World Nuclear report commissioned by Nottingham County Council of prospects for a prototype STEP reactor (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production). It foresees a demonstration in 2040 with a programme through to 2065. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/economic-impact-of-uks-step-plant-assessed

Wade Allison, Hon. Sec.
Oxford, 23 March 2025