20th century power station was first connected to the national power grid on 27 August 1956. The
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) was established in 1954 as a statutory corporation to oversee and pioneer the development of nuclear energy within the United Kingdom. The first station to be connected to the grid, on 27 August 1956, was
Calder Hall, although the production of
weapons-grade plutonium was the main reason behind this
power station. Calder Hall was the world's first nuclear power station to deliver electricity in commercial quantities (although the 5 MW "semi-experimental" reactor at
Obninsk in the
Soviet Union was connected to the public supply in 1954). In February 1966, it was announced that the first prototype
fast breeder reactor in the United Kingdom would be constructed in
Dounreay, Scotland, at a cost of £30million.
British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) was established in February 1971 from the demerger of the production division of the
UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). In 1984 BNFL became a
public limited company, British Nuclear Fuels plc, wholly owned by the UK government. In December 1979, in the wake of the industrial disputes of the
Winter of Discontent and the
1979 oil crisis, the new
Thatcher government announced a new long-term nuclear power programme. The existing state
National Nuclear Corporation would complete its existing planned second generation
AGR builds, and would develop a new programme of building one
Westinghouse designed
pressurised water reactor (PWR) per year for at least a decade from 1982 (about 15GWe in total). However, in 1981 the
Select Committee on Energy and the
Monopolies and Mergers Commission produced reports criticising the
CEGB and government's demand forecasting and investment assessment justifying the programme. From 1982, after
Nigel Lawson replaced
David Howell as
Secretary of State for Energy, the government began rowing back from this large proposal, in part because the government were beginning to consider privatising the electricity industry. The
Electricity Act 1989 provided for the privatisation of the electricity industry, introducing the
Fossil Fuel Levy to support the nuclear power industry which was exempted from privatisation and vested in
Nuclear Electric. Its construction followed a four-year, 16million-word public inquiry. A
Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) was opened at
Sellafield in 1994. Construction had begun in the 1970s and cost £2.4billion. The remaining Magnox reactors remained in public ownership as
Magnox Electric. On 30 January 1998, Magnox Electric was merged into BNFL as BNFL Magnox Generation.
21st century The 2000s and 2010s: deciding on expansion and financing difficulty 2002 energy review Margaret Beckett as
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs rejected demands for an expansion of nuclear power from a lobby including energy minister
Brian Wilson and Downing Street staff. She argued there was no need for new nuclear for at least 15 years given current energy prices and generation capacity. In relation to nuclear power, the conclusion of the Government's 2002 energy review was that: The practical measures identified were: continuing to participate in international research; ensuring that the nuclear skill-base is maintained, and that the regulators are adequately staffed to assess any new investment proposals; shortening the lead-time to commissioning, should new nuclear power be chosen in future; permitting nuclear power to benefit from the development of carbon taxes and similar market mechanisms; and addressing the problems of long-term nuclear waste disposal. It went on to state that "Because nuclear is a
mature technology within a well-established global industry, there is no current case for further government support" and that "the decision whether to bring forward proposals for new nuclear build is a matter for the private sector".
2003 Energy White Paper The Government's Energy White Paper, published in 2003 and titled "Our Energy Future – Creating a Low Carbon Economy" concluded that:
2006 energy review In April 2005, advisers to
Prime Minister Tony Blair were suggesting that constructing new nuclear power stations would be the best way to meet the country's targets on reducing emissions of gases responsible for
global warming. The
energy policy of the United Kingdom has a near-term target of cutting emissions below 1997 levels by 20%, and a more ambitious target of an 80% cut by 2050. In November 2005, the Government announced an energy review, subsequently launched in January 2006, to "review the UK's progress against the medium and long-term Energy White Paper goals and the options for further steps to achieve them". Following the 2006 review the
Office for Nuclear Regulation, an agency of
Health and Safety Executive, developed the Generic Design Assessment process (GDA) to assess new nuclear reactor designs ahead of site-specific proposals. The GDA started assessing four designs: Westinghouse
AP1000; Areva
EPR; AECL
ACR-1000; and GE-Hitachi
ESBWR. However the ACR-1000 and ESBWR were subsequently withdrawn from the assessment for commercial reasons, leaving the EPR and AP1000 as contenders for new nuclear builds.
2007 High Court ruling On 15 February 2007, environmental group
Greenpeace won a
High Court ruling that threw out the government's 2006 Energy Review.
Justice Sullivan presiding held that the government's review was "seriously flawed", in particular in that key details of the economics of the argument were only published after the review was completed. Justice Sullivan held that the review's wording on nuclear waste disposal was "not merely inadequate but also misleading", and held the decision to proceed to be "unlawful". Responding to the news, Trade and Industry Secretary
Alistair Darling said that there would be a fresh consultation, but that a decision was required before the end of 2007. He stated that the government remains convinced that new nuclear power plants are needed to help
combat climate change and over-reliance on imported
oil and
gas. Attention was drawn in the media to numerous connections to nuclear industry lobbyists within the Labour Party.
2007 consultation The 2007 Energy White Paper:
Meeting the Energy Challenge was published on 23 May 2007. It contained a "preliminary view ... that it is in the public interest to give the private sector the option of investing in new nuclear power stations". Alongside the White Paper the Government published a consultation document,
The Future of Nuclear Power, together with a number of supporting documents. One of these, a report by Jackson Consulting, suggested that it would be preferable to site new power stations on existing nuclear power stations sites that are owned by the
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority or
British Energy. Greenpeace responded to the release of the consultation document by repeating its position that replacing the nuclear fleet rather than decommissioning would only reduce the UK's total carbon emissions by four per cent. On 7 September 2007, several anti-nuclear groups, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, CND, and the WWF, announced that they had pulled out of the consultation process. They stated that it appeared as if the Government had already made up its mind regarding the future of nuclear power. The business and enterprise secretary, John Hutton, responded in a Radio 4 interview "It is not the government that has got a closed view on these issues, I think it is organisations like Greenpeace that have got a closed mind. There is only one outcome that Greenpeace and other organisations want from this consultation."
2008 go-ahead given In January 2008, the
UK government gave the go-ahead for a new generation of nuclear power stations to be built. The
Scottish Government has made clear that it opposes new nuclear power stations being built in Scotland and has the final say on planning matters in Scotland. On 10 January 2008,
Alan Duncan MP issued a response to the Government's announcement on nuclear power, welcoming it and suggesting that the Conservatives supported a level economic playing field for different types of energy generation rather than a preference for one over another. Two consortia (EDF-Centrica and
RWE-E.ON) had announced outline plans to build a total of 12.5GW of new nuclear capacity, slightly more than the total capacity of British Energy's currently operating plants. In 2009, government officials believed a
carbon price floor would be needed to encourage companies to commit funds to nuclear build projects.
2009 to 2011 In 2009, (EDF), the state-owned French energy company, took over
British Energy, paying £12.5 billion. In August 2009, the energy company
Centrica purchased a 20% share from EDF. A subsidiary of EDF was formed called
EDF Energy. In November 2009, the Government identified ten nuclear sites which could accommodate future reactors:
Bradwell in Essex;
Braystones in Cumbria;
Kirksanton in Cumbria;
Sellafield in Cumbria;
Hartlepool in County Durham;
Heysham in Lancashire;
Hinkley Point in Somerset;
Oldbury in Gloucestershire;
Sizewell in Suffolk; and
Wylfa in North Wales. Most of these sites already have a nuclear power station; the only new sites are Braystones and Kirksanton. In October 2010, sites at Braystones, Kirksanton and Dungeness were ruled out by
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne with the former government's list of eleven potential sites reduced to eight. In 2010, the
Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre was created in
Rotherham, South Yorkshire, led by the
University of Sheffield with
Rolls-Royce, anticipating involvement in any forthcoming new nuclear builds in the UK. It was funded with £15million from the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and £10million from the regional development agency
Yorkshire Forward.
2011 to 2016 Following the 2011
Fukushima I nuclear accidents,
Chris Huhne,
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, wrote to Dr Mike Weightman, head of the
HSE's Nuclear Directorate, on 12 March, asking for a report "on the implications of the situation and the lessons to be learned for the UK nuclear industry". The report was to be delivered within six months, with an interim report by mid-May, "prepared in close cooperation with the International nuclear community and other nuclear safety regulators". In the wake of the accident the Government was criticised for having colluded with EDF Energy, Areva and Westinghouse in order to manage communications and maintain public support for nuclear power. In January 2012, the campaign group
Energy Fair, supported by a number of other organisations and environmentalists, filed a formal complaint with the
European Commission over alleged unlawful State aid in the form of subsidies for nuclear power industry, in breach of
European Union competition law. It claims that the subsidies arise from underwriting commercial risk and decommissioning costs, protection against terrorist attacks, the disposal of nuclear waste, and by providing "institutional support" in the form of various government funded or subsidised bodies such as the
National Nuclear Laboratory, the
Nuclear Institute, and
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority without providing corresponding levels of support for renewable technologies, without which nuclear power would not be commercially viable, so distorting the energy market.--> In March 2012, two of the big six power companies announced they would be pulling out of developing new nuclear power plants. The decision by
RWE npower and
E.ON followed uncertainty over nuclear energy following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which had occurred the year before. Their decision followed a similar announcement by
Scottish and Southern Electricity the previous year.
Hitachi purchased the
Horizon joint-venture, intending to build two or three 1,350MWe
Advanced boiling water reactors (ABWR) at
Oldbury and
Wylfa. despite François Hollande having proposed to cut France's reliance on nuclear power generation from 75% to 50%, and despite speculation to the contrary in the UK. In 2012, Russian firm
Rosatom stated that in the future it intended to certify the
VVER-1200 with the British and U.S. regulatory authorities, though was unlikely to apply for a British licence before 2015, after having seen what agreements EDF finally reaches. In September 2013, Rosatom, in conjunction with
Fortum and Rolls-Royce, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK government to prepare for a VVER
Generic Design Assessment. In 2013,
Tim Yeo, chairman of the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee, stated that the government reaching an agreement over nuclear power expansion was a "matter of great urgency", and warned that Britain could run out of energy if negotiations were not concluded quickly. In the same year, a cross-party committee inquiry concluded that the UK "will not be able to meet its climate change targets without new nuclear build". A report published by the committee found that unless planned nuclear power plants are built on time, it will be "extremely challenging, if not impossible" for the country to meet its legally binding carbon reduction targets. Such a failure to build the new nuclear capacity by 2025 would also force a greater reliance on imported gas, and would affect
energy security. On 26 March 2013, the government published a Nuclear Industrial Strategy which in part stated that the nuclear industry had plans for about 16GWe of new nuclear power stations by 2030, which is at least 12 new nuclear reactors at five sites. A Nuclear Industry Council will be established, and a Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board will be created "to ensure that public R&D programmes are aligned to support industrial and energy policy". Public civil nuclear R&D funding for 20102011 was £66million, which is low compared to some international competitors. The government will join the European
Jules Horowitz Reactor research project. In April 2013, EDF's negotiations with the government over the strike price for nuclear produced electricity stalled. EDF's chief executive stated EDF was "in no hurry" to agree the strike price, and was unconcerned if the negotiations failed. Commentators believed it would take several months to reach a conclusion. The
Office for National Statistics assessed that in 2015 the UK nuclear industry directly employed about 12,400 staff, though about 9,400 of those worked at
Sellafield mostly on nuclear waste handling. In 2016, EDF and the UK government finalised the £92.50/MWh
contract for difference (linked to inflation since 2012 – £128/MWh in 2022) for the building of two
EPR reactors at
Hinkley Point C.
The 2020s: possible financing solution and SMR revolution Regulated Asset Base financing model Following the abandonment of three large new nuclear developments at
Moorside in 2018, and
Wylfa Newydd and
Oldbury B in 2020, primarily because the developers were unable to attract finance for the developments, Consumers would not receive a financial return from their contributions, but would benefit later by having access to the electricity provided by the plant. The
Nuclear Energy (Financing) Act 2022 came into force on 31 March 2022. The power and utilities executive at
Barclays bank described the RAB model as providing "a high level of certainty and confidence and predictability for investors" and "structured to produce attractive, stable, low-risk and inflation-linked returns at scale". A Government Support Package would be provided to give investors protection from specified low probability but high impact risks that the private sector would not be able to bear including the risk of cost overrun above a remote threshold, disruption to debt markets, some risks for which insurance is not available, and political risks. It sought UK government finance to support further development. In December 2017, the UK government provided funding of up to £56million over three years to support research and development into advanced and small nuclear reactors. In 2018, the UK SMR industry sought billions of pounds of government support to finance their putative
First of a Kind projects. The Expert Finance Working Group on Small Reactors produced a report stating that there was "a current market failure in supporting nuclear projects generally" and identifying options for government to support SMR development in the UK. The UK government, through
UKRI, awarded £18million in ISCF funding to a UK-based consortium led by Rolls-Royce, with matched funding of £18million from industry. This first phase was formally concluded on 30 June 2021 and successfully developed a concept design. In November 2021, the UK government provided £210million, match funded by industry, in the second phase of development for the Rolls-Royce SMR. In 2022, the UK government launched a £120million Future Nuclear Enabling Fund to support a limited number of nuclear projects to develop design and business cases to fast-track proposals to enter a selection process in 2023. This included funding proposals for new reactor technologies to the UK such as the GE-Hitachi
BWRX-300 boiling water reactor and
X-energy Xe-100
high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. In 2023, the UK government formed
Great British Nuclear to oversee its policy, operating through
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd in the Greater Manchester area, which includes a competitive choice of SMR suppliers for the UK. GE-Hitachi's
BWRX-300 was announced in April 2023 as one of the competitors to the Rolls-Royce SMR. However, the full remit of Great British Nuclear, which was announced by the
Boris Johnson government in 2022, still needs to be decided by the
Rishi Sunak government including its budget and if eventually it will be a nuclear plant operator. In July 2023, Energy Secretary
Grant Shapps said he was launching an international competition to select up to four different SMR technologies "to go through to the final design stage", supported by up to £157million of funding. He said the final investment decision will be taken by the next parliament, and UK SMRs might start operating by the 2030s. Six technologies were selected for consideration, EDF
NUWARD, GE Hitachi
BWRX-300, Holtec International
SMR-160+,
NuScale Power,
Rolls-Royce SMR and the Westinghouse
AP300. After the six companies have submitted their tender responses, Great British Nuclear will place between one and four co-funding contracts later in 2024 to support the development and regulatory approval process, to prepare bids for a final investment decision in 2029. The cancellation for cost reasons in November 2023 of the
first commercial SMR deployment in the U.S., using NuScale SMRs, has however cast doubt over whether SMRs in the UK would be economic. In January 2024, GE-Hitachi was awarded a grant of £33.6million from the UK Government's Future Nuclear Enabling Fund. This grant was provided to support the company's plans to undergo the GDA process for its BWRX-300 SMR, which has a capacity of 300MWe.
Brexit negotiations to 2021 On 26 January 2017, the UK notified the
European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) of its intention to withdraw, following on from its decision to
withdraw from the European Union. Leaving will have wide-ranging implications for Britain's nuclear industry, including regulation and research, access to nuclear materials and impacts about twenty nuclear co-operation agreements with non-EU countries. The UK withdrawal might raise the question of nuclear fuel availability after 2019 in the UK, and the need for the UK to enter into new treaties relating to the transportation of nuclear materials. In 2018, the National College for Nuclear opened two hubs at
Bridgwater and Taunton College and
Lakes College largely funded by £22.5million from the
Department for Education, intended to service the building and operation of new build nuclear power plants. In November 2018, the UK ratified the
Generation IV International Forum (GIF) framework international collaboration agreement for research and development of Generation IV nuclear reactors. In 2019,
Wood sold its nuclear business, mostly decommissioning work at
Sellafield, for £250million to the US
Jacobs Engineering Group, which has a global nuclear business. In 2020, Energy Systems Catapult analysis suggested new 10GW nuclear power in order to achieve
net zero emissions by 2050. In June 2020,
Zion Lights, former spokesperson of
Extinction Rebellion UK, declared her support for nuclear energy as a critical part of the
energy mix along with renewable energy sources and called fellow environmentalists to accept that nuclear power is part of the "scientifically assessed solutions for addressing climate change". On 31 January 2020, the UK formally withdrew from the European Union (EU) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) following a national referendum and parliamentary approval. In response, the UK secured new nuclear cooperation agreements with Australia, the United States, Canada, and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Additionally, the UK entered into a nuclear cooperation agreement with the EU in December 2020, effective from 1 January 2021. In February 2023, the Prime Minister's office announced the restructuring of
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), resulting in the establishment of the
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (ESNZ) to support nuclear power expansion. By March 2023, nuclear energy had been classified as environmentally sustainable in the UK's green taxonomy, making it eligible for the same incentives as renewable energy. Additionally, the initiative '
Great British Nuclear' was set up with the goal of nuclear power contributing up to 25% of the UK's electricity by 2050. As of 2021, the British government's attitude to the involvement of China in British nuclear power had changed following worsening of
China–United Kingdom relations, and it was exploring ways to block Chinese involvement, finance and their
Bradwell B new nuclear development. As part of the 2022 British energy security strategy policy paper, it was announced that nuclear-generating capacity would increase from 7GW to 24GW by 2050 and the establishment of a new nuclear development agency named Great British Nuclear. Security concerns about China also caused the government to buy
China General Nuclear Power Group out of the proposed
Sizewell C nuclear power station development for just over £100million in late 2022, leaving it co-owned by EDF and the UK government. On 7 January 2022, Hunterston B was closed and moved into defuelling earlier than planned due to cracks in the graphite bricks in the reactors. In 2023, the civil nuclear sector in the UK employed about 77,400 people, of which 9,500 were involved with the Hinkley Point C new build. In March 2023, EDF announced that the operational life of Heysham 1 and Hartlepool power stations would be extended a further two years until March 2026. In September 2025, the government announced the Atlantic Partnership for Advanced Nuclear Energy, which will permit fast-track new reactor design reviews by permitting the Office for Nuclear Regulation and the US
Nuclear Regulatory Commission to accept parts of each other's safety assessment, eliminating duplication, aiming to reduce ONR assessment time to about two years. Also a number of prospective small modular reactor developments were announced, including 12
X-energy advanced modular reactors in Hartlepool. ==Power stations==