Kennedy reported in mid-December, 2021 that Bechtel Director Ivan Baldwin told a Bentley Systems Twin Talk virtual breakfast that the benefits of modular construction (SMRs) could make nuclear projects more attractive to potential investors. "Utilization of a new approaches and trying to as much as possible take risk away from construction sites and have that risk in a more controlled manufactured environment clearly brings benefits," he said.
"With nuclear over the years we haven't seen a continuous roll out of technologies. It's been quite a period of time since the last reactors were built, but technologically the world has come on a lot since then. "The nuclear industry should be no different from others in terms of its utilization of tools." Baldwin added that lessons learnt at current projects, such as Bechtel's Plant Vogtle in Georgia where two AP1000 reactors are set to begin generating in 2022, should be used in other sites.
"Having repetition in nuclear is really important," he said. "Like anything in life if you do something as a one off you're doing lots of things for the first time and you don't get the benefits of learning and iterative innovation." This is a key element of the Sizewell C project, which will be based on the two EPR reactors at Hinkley Point C. Similarly, Bechtel recently proposed using two of the AP1000 reactors - built by manufacturing company Westinghouse - to revive the Wylfa Newydd power plant on Anglesey. They would be capable of delivering clean power to the latest carbon budget commitments by 2035.
Westinghouse energy systems president David Durham said they are the “safest reactor in the world”, while the firm’s director of government affairs Lindsay Roche said there have been “good discussions” with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The power plant would be built using a modular design, with Roche explaining that this would involve “offsite construction of modules to be placed in the reactor”. She said it would also “spread economic benefit by establishing factories across the region”.
Meanwhile, Shearwater Energy director Simon Forster has outlined his firm’s proposals to use both the existing Wylfa Magnox site – which is being decommissioned – and the Wylfa Newydd site. Shearwater proposes trialing 12 77Mw reactors on the Magnox site and has nearly completed a feasibility study. The company hopes to have definite costs and a construction schedule “this year” but Forster said the plant could generate 1GW of power.
On the Wylfa Newydd sited the firm proposes 10 BWRX-300 SMR reactors. It has submitted a proposal for this to GE Hitachi and a cost estimate to BEIS. Construction could start in 2025, and the project could generate power by 2028. The proposals came after Horizon Nuclear Power officially withdrew its planning application for a £20bn power station at Wylfa in January after funding challenges.
The government has, however, signaled that large nuclear projects do have a future in the UK, with prime minister Boris Johnson including nuclear developments in the publication of the energy White Paper, released in December 2020, as well as the 10 Point Plan. Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit head of analysis Jess Ralston also told NCE that the current UK energy crisis could accelerate the transition to more renewable forms of energy, adding that nuclear could have a "valid role" to play to add back up power [(but there is more)]. However, there is only enough available public funding for one new nuclear project in the next decade, effectively pitting the Wylfa project against EDF’s Sizewell C development plans.
The Net Zero Strategy - published in October - implies that the Sizewell C development is currently favored by government for a large scale nuclear plant. It revealed that the government remains “in negotiations” with the developer on the Sizewell C project in Suffolk regarding plans for a large nuclear power station.
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