Country profile: United Kingdom

Summary figures for 2011

The following information is from the NEA publication Nuclear Energy Data, the annual compilation of official statistics and country reports on nuclear energy in OECD member countries.

Country	Number of nuclear power plants connected to the grid	Nuclear electricity generation (net TWh) 2011		Nuclear percentage of total electricity supply
United Kingdom	18	62.7	**	17.8
OECD Europe	135	858.4		24.7
Total	329	2049.5		20.7

** Secretariat estimate

Country report

Nuclear energy policy changes

On 10 January 2008, the Government published its decision in a White Paper on Nuclear Power. The White Paper explains that the Government has decided that, in the context of climate change and energy security challenges:

it is in the public interest that new nuclear power stations should have a role to play in this country’s future energy mix alongside other low carbon sources;
that it would be in the public interest to allow energy companies the option of investing in new nuclear power stations;
the Government should take active steps to open up the way to the construction of new nuclear power stations in the United Kingdom, including meeting the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of waste management costs.

The White Paper sets out the “facilitative actions” the Government will take. The aim of these actions is to reduce the regulatory and planning risks around investing in new nuclear power stations.

One year on from the Nuclear White paper we are making progress

One year on since the nuclear White Paper we are seeing significant investment in the United Kingdom. New nuclear is good news not just for energy security and tackling climate change, but also good for the UK economy, British business and jobs.

We have made progress to improve the investment climate in terms of planning reforms and the establishment of key facilitating actions for nuclear. The Planning and Energy Acts provide framework to set up Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) to consider major infrastructure projects and to ensure funding plans are put in place by nuclear developers, respectively.

The Nuclear White Paper sets out the four main facilitative actions the Government is taking to enable new nuclear build, of which we have made the following progress:

Generic Design Assessment

The regulators are continuing with their detailed assessments of the reactor designs.

Funded decommissioning and programme guidance

Energy Act 2008 creates a framework for the arrangements that operators of new nuclear power stations will have to put in place so that they meet the full costs of decommissioning and full share of their waste management and disposal costs.
We have published guidance on what appropriate arrangements might look like.
We have published two of three discussion papers on our work to estimate the costs of decommissioning and waste management. We intend to publish a third this spring and then hold a consultation on the back of these papers.
We are creating the Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance Board which will provide advice to government on the suitability of an operator’s waste and decommissioning financing arrangements and any subsequent modifications to them.
We have announced the appointment of Lady Balfour of Burleigh as Chairman of the Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance Board. Recruitment is now underway to appoint members to the Board.

Siting/Strategic Siting Assessment

We have published the Government response to the consultation on the process for Strategic Siting Assessment (SSA). This includes the final SSA criteria and next steps for nominators to nominate sites for potential new nuclear power stations.
Nomination process closes on 31 March. In autumn 2009, we intend to consult on a draft list of suitable sites as part of consultation on draft Nuclear NPS. The NPS will also be subject to parliamentary scrutiny.
Designation of the NPS will take place after the consultation and period of parliamentary scrutiny – likely to be in spring 2010.

Justification

The Government is currently consulting on the application from the NIA for justification of nuclear power station designs. Consultation on NIA application was published at the end of December. Consultation will close March 2009.
Justification is the process required by European law which will establish whether the benefits of new nuclear outweigh the health detriments.
Essential that our consultations are open and transparent and that the decision the SoS takes as Justifying Authority is proof against legal challenge.
Later this year we hope to consult on the draft decision with the final decision by January 2010.

The Government is also helping to create a globally competitive UK nuclear supply chain, focusing on high value added. This is particularly important in the current economic climate. We are working with the supply chain and nuclear reactor vendors and operators to assist in this process.

Source: Nuclear Energy Data 2009

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Last reviewed: 7 October 2012