Britain will support the construction of a modular nuclear power station on the island of Anglesey in north Wales, ending years of uncertainty over the fate of what is considered the country’s best nuclear site.
The decision, which was announced Thursday morning in London, appears to be an effort to create a British nuclear champion and a move to increase the government’s role in the economy, particularly in the energy sector.
The plant in Wales would also be the first nuclear power station of its type to be built in Britain. Modular designs are touted as cheaper and faster to build.
Rolls-Royce SMR, a subsidiary of the jet engine maker that is one of Britain’s few remaining large industrial firms, will design the power station at Wylfa, a rocky promontory on the island overlooking the Irish Sea.
Rolls-Royce is trying to leverage its experience in designing and building reactors for Britain’s nuclear submarines into a new line of business. It has attracted investors including the Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the Persian Gulf emirate; Constellation, an American utility; and CEZ, the electricity company of the Czech Republic.
The Wales plant will be made up of three units, known as small modular reactors, or SMRs, whose total output will be just under half that of one of the current generations of giant power stations.
These “mini-nuclear reactors are smaller and faster to build” than some larger ones, the government said in a press release. The plan is to reduce costs by assembling modules from components in factories and then installing them on site.
The government is betting these small reactors will give Britain low-carbon technology and “global export opportunities”. He pledged 2.5 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) for preliminary work on the site and other preparations. The additional cost of completing the plant could be financed by charges on electricity bills, a strategy used by the government to attract investors to another plant, Sizewell C, under construction in the east of England.
The government said the plant would support 3,000 local jobs and power three million homes. For comparison, Sizewell C is expected to create 8,000 jobs at peak construction and light six million homes.
The government, however, is taking a gamble. Small modular reactors like the one proposed by Rolls-Royce are relatively new to the global nuclear industry. Such leadership could bring both unexpected benefits and problems.
Britain, which is trying to build nuclear power plants after a long hiatus, has already been badly hit by delays and cost overruns at a giant plant under construction on England’s west coast at Hinkley Point.
Furthermore, some critics say the government is making a mistake by not building a bigger power station at Wylfa, which would produce more electricity and create more jobs. The nuclear industry sees Wylfa as the most advantageous potential UK site due to its rocky location and easy access to deep water for cooling.
In a statement on Wednesday, Unite, a major union, said building the small modular factory in Wylfa was “a missed opportunity”.
The union said that while a smaller plant would offer “some employment opportunities”, those of a larger model would be “much greater”.
In addition, this choice risks disappointing Washington, an important ally, and the American nuclear industry, which is courting Great Britain. The United States recently signed an ambitious nuclear cooperation agreement with Britain.
In an October article in the Telegraph, Warren Stephens, the US ambassador to Britain, urged the government to designate Wylfa as the site of what he called a “gigawatt-scale nuclear project”. He also said private investors were willing to “fund the majority” of the facility.
The British government, however, is eager to move forward with small nuclear reactors and may have calculated that it would take years to line up a US giant.
Keir Starmer, the prime minister, probably also wanted something to happen quickly at Wylfa, whose future has been uncertain since Hitachi abandoned plans to build a power station there in 2019 after spending around £2bn. A 1960s factory in Wylfa closed in 2015.
“It could just be that Wylfa was the fastest site they could bring online for SMRs, so they went with that,” said Adam Bell, a former senior British energy official who is now policy director at Stonehaven, a consultancy.
Edward T. Jones, a lecturer in economics at Bangor University in north Wales, said the local community, stunned by Hitachi’s departure, may not be ready to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the new factory. “They’ve been burned once and don’t want to be burned again,” he said.
