Country has ambitious plans to build new reactors
A £75m (€88m, $90m) fund set up by the UK government will boost domestic production of nuclear fuel and encourage investment and expansion in new nuclear infrastructure.
The government said the nuclear fuel fund will award grants to projects that can increase the UK’s domestic nuclear fuel sector, reducing the need for foreign imports and creating the material used in nuclear power stations to generate electricity – with funding going towards designing and developing new facilities.
The government backing will encourage private sector co-investment into the projects and “ensure the UK builds on its legacy of nuclear fuel innovation and production”, a statement said.
The government said the nuclear fuel fund will award grants to projects that can increase the UK’s domestic nuclear fuel sector, reducing the need for foreign imports and creating the material used in nuclear power stations to generate electricity – with funding going towards designing and developing new facilities.
The government backing will encourage private sector co-investment into the projects and “ensure the UK builds on its legacy of nuclear fuel innovation and production”, a statement said.
The government is asking parties to register their interest in bidding for funding and inviting further information on the sector’s investment needs. It is also inviting nuclear stakeholders who are not planning on bidding for the fund to provide information from their experience that will help to formulate the design of the fund ahead of opening the bid window in autumn 2022.
The announcement follows the energy security strategy announced earlier this year, which sets an ambition to approve up to eight new reactors by 2030, “helping further boost energy independence and move away from costly fossil fuels”.
The only two commercial reactors being built in the UK are two France-supplied EPR units at Hinkley Point C in Somerset.
