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We believe that moving to a low carbon economy while maintaining affordable and secure supplies of energy is the biggest challenge the energy industry has faced.
Substantial investment is required to replace existing nuclear and coal-fired power stations as they close and to meet predicted increasing demand. We estimate the need for around 20-30 GW of new power generation infrastructure by 2020 requiring investment running into hundreds of billions of pounds. This investment must favour low carbon technologies and is urgently required. Source: IAEA
Nuclear power is an internationally proven, low carbon technology. It is a highly efficient method of producing large amounts of energy, and its total lifetime carbon footprint is comparable with other low carbon technologies such as wind power.
Their size means the electricity generated by a relatively small number of new nuclear power stations can have an enormous impact in terms of avoided carbon emissions for the UK. Nuclear can therefore play a significant role in meeting Government energy targets and objectives as part of a broad and well-balanced energy mix.
Investing in a diverse mix of fuels for electricity generation, including a significant amount of new nuclear, ensures greater security of supply. Concentrating on a single technology or fuel - such as gas - would mean all plants of that technology could be affected by a single unfavourable market development, such as very high fuel prices.
Nuclear is the only low carbon, internationally-proven technology capable of providing large-scale baseload generating capacity within the timescales needed to meet the Government's emission targets and maintain security of supply. Furthermore, the uranium required to fuel existing and potential new stations is readily available from politically stable countries in different parts of the world to the sources of gas supplies. In addition, uranium can be easily stockpiled if required.
Allowing energy companies to invest in new nuclear power stations in the UK would have a relatively small impact on global demand for uranium. In its 2008 White Paper, the Government concluded that, given there are sufficient high-grade uranium ores available to meet future global demand, there should be adequate reserves to fuel any new nuclear plants built in the UK.
The most authoritative report on uranium resources is a joint report published regularly by the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). According to the latest joint report, resources could allow 220 years of electricity generation worldwide at current consumption rates, using existing reactor technology.
Nuclear power is a proven, mature technology that can be deployed on a large scale. Over the lifetime of a nuclear plant, Government analysis shows that at any positive carbon price, it has lower costs per unit of electricity output (known as levelised costs) than gas-fired generation.
Nuclear fuel costs make up only a small proportion (around 10%) of the overall plant running costs, with uranium ore accounting for approximately 1.5% of total generation costs compared to gas plant where fuel costs represent around 70% of running costs. Historically, fossil fuel prices have been volatile and subject to sudden increases. Increases in fossil fuel costs are also more rapidly translated into increases in generation costs and electricity prices because fuel prices represent a higher proportion of the total cost of generating electricity. Nuclear power can therefore play a part as a hedge against this price.
The Government has made it clear that investors in new nuclear power stations will need to meet the full costs of decommissioning and each operator's full share of the cost of waste management. We are currently in discussion with Government over the details and the funding plans for waste and decommissioning. The cost of this will be fully taken into account when making investment decisions.
We have more than 40 years of first-hand experience of decommissioning nuclear power stations and of treating and storing radioactive waste including an understanding of the costs and technology involved.
The UK has a strong, robust and independent nuclear regulatory regime to ensure the safe disposal of existing UK wastes as well as wastes arising from a new programme of nuclear power stations in the UK.
Decommissioning of the sorts of reactors to be constructed in a new build programme is now a mature and well understood technology. No new techniques will be needed to decommission new nuclear power stations. In fact, lower waste volumes and proper conditioning of wastes as they are created mean that the challenges of decommissioning are much less than with earlier generations of nuclear power stations in the UK. We have practical hands-on experience of decommissioning several of our own nuclear plants in Germany. In the UK, installations representing the full range of fuel cycle facilities have been successfully decommissioned.
Horizon Nuclear Power takes its responsibility for public safety very seriously. The transport of radioactive material has been carried out safely and securely around the world and in the UK for many years. It is regulated by international and national safety frameworks and controlled by national regulators, all of which ensure the public's safety.
E.ON and RWE have more than 40 years' experience in the management of nuclear materials and will maximise this expertise with any new development in the UK.
The timescales involved in developing and delivering a nuclear new build programme provide an opportunity to put in place the necessary skills, resources and manufacturing capacity. The key to this is industry confidence that a new build programme will go ahead.
The UK already has a strong capability in programme, project and construction management and in civil engineering construction and plant installation. We must also encourage and invest in young engineers and technologists, particularly in the areas of safety and licensing, nuclear science and engineering and environmental science. This investment will help create a lasting legacy of skilled workers, skills and construction capacity.
Modern nuclear power stations are extremely robust structures and have a multi-layered defence against physical threats such as aircraft or other impacts.
The Government's Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS) is responsible for approving security arrangements for the industry and enforcing compliance. Nuclear facilities are also monitored by a number of other domestic and international bodies who ensure a full range of rigorous security and safeguards arrangements. In the UK, the nuclear industry has its own dedicated police force in the form of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC). As Civil Nuclear Security is kept under constant review, delivering counter-terrorist operations is the CNC's key role and is part of the security regime at existing nuclear sites. Together with the other factors above, this ensures that any kind of security risks are kept to a minimum.
The civil nuclear industry is amongst the most highly regulated industries in the UK. Our operations are strictly monitored by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) to ensure all nuclear plants are built and operated to the highest safety levels.
It's very early to discuss how jobs would be allocated at any new stations at this early stage, but when recruiting staff to build and operate a station and when employing contractors and suppliers we would look to capitalise on local skills and expertise.
We believe that each of our projects will create some 5,000 jobs during construction and around 800 during operation - rising to nearer 1000 during maintenance. View general FAQ View FAQ about our site at Wylfa View FAQ about our site at Oldbury |