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Why is the UK government going nuclear?
Thomas Wintle
Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the UK's nuclear plan will reduce the risk of "volatile international prices we cannot control." /Finnbarr Webster/Reuters

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the UK's nuclear plan will reduce the risk of "volatile international prices we cannot control." /Finnbarr Webster/Reuters

The UK government has launched its new energy strategy, with nuclear playing a central role in a bid to boost British energy independence and tackle rising fuel prices.

The plan includes increased wind, hydrogen and solar production, but promises to dramatically expand the country's nuclear program. Essentially, the government wants nuclear power to account for around a quarter of the country's electricity by 2050.

However, the energy source remains highly controversial, because of the potential for accidents and the ongoing issue of how to dispose of radioactive waste. So what is the UK doing to boost nuclear's contribution, what are the benefits, is it truly environmentally friendly - and most importantly, safe? 

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WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING TO GO NUCLEAR?

Nuclear power currently makes up around 15 percent of the UK's electricity grid, but by the end of this decade only one of its six reactors will still be producing power. That has put pressure on the British government to find a replacement.

In response, some £1.7 billion ($2.2bn) was earmarked last year for the development of a new large-scale nuclear project, Hinkley Point C in Somerset. Although heavily over-budget and behind schedule, the plant is set to power around 6 million homes by 2026. The UK's new strategy will build on this by pledging up to eight new similarly advanced nuclear reactors.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits the Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station construction site. /Finnbarr Webster/Pool/Reuters

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits the Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station construction site. /Finnbarr Webster/Pool/Reuters

A new government body called Great British Nuclear will be set up to push forward such projects, backed by what the government says is "substantial funding". Whitehall is also launching a £120 million ($157m) Future Nuclear Enabling Fund, aimed at supporting new nuclear and making it easier for new companies to enter the market. 

It is also giving Rolls-Royce £210 million ($275m), announced in November 2021, to develop one of the world's first Small Modular Reactors, which it says could be deployed in the UK in the early 2030s "to turbocharge UK nuclear capacity."

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

Climate

One reason the UK government says it is promoting large-scale nuclear power is its reputation as "a very low-carbon technology." In contrast to fossil fuels, it does not directly release carbon into the atmosphere. That's because traditional nuclear power plants use heat produced during nuclear fission - where atoms are split to release energy - to make steam, which is then used to spin large turbines that generate electricity. 

Nuclear reactors don't directly produce CO2 when generating power. /Toby Melville/Reuters

Nuclear reactors don't directly produce CO2 when generating power. /Toby Melville/Reuters

Hypothetically, that means a small environmental impact for a lot of energy: Hinkley Point C and its replicas have the potential to power millions of homes from just a quarter of a square mile, while one study showed such facilities could actually have lower CO2 emissions than wind and solar power. 

And despite other knock-on environmental effects on nuclear, many climate scientists argue that a shift to nuclear will be crucial to the UK moving away from fossil fuels and meeting its 'net zero' target by 2050. A recent report by the UN Economic Commission for Europe stated that "the world's climate objectives will not be met if nuclear technologies are excluded." 

READ MORE: Clean energy: Why is nuclear a dirty word?

Energy security and jobs

Amid the Ukraine conflict, energy security has become a serious concern for the government. As gas prices skyrocket, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the plan will scale up domestic sources of affordable and secure energy, "reduc[ing] our dependence on power sources exposed to volatile international prices we cannot control."

Firstly, nuclear plants can produce a huge amount of low-carbon power at a domestic level. Since it is dependent on a local workforce and supply chains, the government says its production has the potential to withstand international geopolitical crises, although the uranium used in the reactors will still have to come from abroad. 

Construction workers at Hinkley Point C power station. /Peter Nicholls/Retuers

Construction workers at Hinkley Point C power station. /Peter Nicholls/Retuers

As opposed to the world's turbulent gas and oil markets, that means the UK has more power to dictate consumer costs. And while initial construction costs for reactors can be huge, nuclear power remains substantially cheaper than its alternatives, meaning lower prices for consumers.

Unlike its low-carbon competitors, nuclear is also usually unaffected by external climatic factors, like cold snaps or very light winds, making it much more reliable than solar and wind power. 

Lastly, the government also says nuclear means more local jobs. According to the UK's Nuclear Industry Association, "no industry generates higher quality, more skilled and more secure jobs than the nuclear industry." Indeed, Britain's nuclear sector currently employs more than 60,000 people, while the government has claimed its Hinkley Point C project will provide 25,000 job opportunities alone.  

 

WATCH: Juliet Mann explains the UK's new energy strategy

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WHAT ARE THE CONCERNS?

The United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency has described nuclear as among "the safest and most secure facilities in the world." However, Chernobyl, Windscale, Three Mile Island and Fukushima have proven that malfunctions can be catastrophic. 

More than 35 years after the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, high levels of radioactivity are still found in grain, meat, dairy products and many trees from the area. However, the UK government points out that it has operated nuclear power for decades without incident.

But then there's the question of nuclear waste, which remains radioactive for tens to hundreds of thousands of years. Nearly 350,000 tonnes of the stuff is in temporary storage around the globe, and some canisters have already shown signs of deterioration.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was hit by a strong earthquake. /Kyodo/Reuters

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was hit by a strong earthquake. /Kyodo/Reuters

The UK has answered this issue with "deep geological disposal" - essentially burying radioactive waste - but has yet to find a site to do so in the UK due to environmental concerns. Finland is the only country to have successfully implemented such a plan. And while nuclear plants may not expel CO2 emissions, the fuel for nuclear reactors, uranium, is highly energy-intensive to mine, and deposits are drying up. 

Another problem is the huge amount of water required to power nuclear reactors, which means they have to be built next to large bodies of water. Not only does this limit where a site can be located, and therefore the number of plants that can be built; it also means the increased risk from climate change could make nuclear plants much more susceptible, particularly those along the coast. That's not to mention potential water contamination near sites.

The last issue is cost. While less reliable, renewables can be erected for just one fifth of the price it takes to build a new nuclear reactor, and the cost for hydro, wind, and solar power is set to get even cheaper. And with each new nuclear site often taking over a decade to build, there are serious questions whether the erection of nuclear plants will come quickly enough to offset the fast-increasing risks of the climate crisis. 

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