The report by MPs on the science and technology select committee said the government should “sustain, but not grow” the UK’s nuclear power industry. It must anticipate any gap in future generation capacity such a policy would cause, and support sufficient renewable power alternatives to fill the gap.
The committee concluded that it is not possible to directly compare the costs of different power generation technologies, but “the government is right to support nuclear power subject to it representing value for money, because full lifecycle emissions from nuclear power will help the UK to achieve its emissions reduction targets”.
It said the government must make a decision on implementing a regulated asset base (RAB) framework for nuclear power by the end of this year.
Under the RAB financing model, an independent regulator manages the return on investment that investors in the construction of an infrastructure asset receive. This return on investment is recovered from consumers.
In the case of a nuclear power station, this would be through consumers’ energy bills. Depending upon the details of the model used, investors can start to receive their return on investment during the construction of the power plant. This can increase the attractiveness to investors, who currently must invest many years before the plant will start generating power and therefore income.
The committee also called on the government to set out what steps it has taken for the deployment of a first-of-a-kind small modular nuclear reactor by 2030.
On nuclear fusion the committee said it is unlikely to make a substantial contribution to the UK’s net-zero target for 2050. Nevertheless, it could ultimately provide significant quantities of energy from abundant fuels and without radioactive waste.
“The government must ensure that, whatever the terms of the UK’s departure from the European Union, the long-term future of nuclear fusion research in the UK is not disrupted,” the committee said.
The UK has a national nuclear fusion programme at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire, which also hosts the Joint European Torus on behalf of the Eurofusion consortium funded as part of Euratom. Both programmes receive funding from the EU under the Euratom treaty.
The government confirmed in 2017 its intention to leave Euratom as it leaves the EU. The government signed an agreement with the European commission in March 2019 to keep the Joint European Torus open until the end of 2020, securing at least €100m in additional inward investment from the EU.
The committee said the government should review the case for providing support for the nuclear fusion industry similar to the measures introduced recently by the US government.”
Legislation introduced in the US explicitly includes fusion in the definition of “advanced nuclear reactor” and provides for establishment of a regulatory framework for advanced nuclear power plants, including fusion, by December 2027.
The London-based Nuclear Industry Association reacted to the report saying it is imperative the government urgently put in place the necessary regulatory and financial frameworks to enable the development of new nuclear stations – both to replace the current fleet, which will mostly retire by 2030, and to provide the “firm power element” of the country’s future mix which will be required to successfully meet net zero.
“The RAB model has the potential to deliver significant cost reductions to large infrastructure projects, making nuclear in the UK attractive to a wider pool of investors, reducing cost to the consumer and delivering the clean generation needed for us to reach net zero,” said NIA chief executive Tom Greatrex.
