First private nuclear power plant to be built on Teesside

BRITAIN’S first “private” nuclear power station is to be built on Teesside using mini-reactors previously championed by Boris Johnson.

Four small modular reactors (SMRS) will be installed on the north bank of the River Tees under the scheme, producing 1.5 gigawatts of power – enough for up to 2m homes. For the first time in British history, the taxpayer is not involved.

The aim is to have them running by the early 2030s, meaning the power station could be running before Hinkley Point C, now under construction in Somerset, and well before Sizewell C, planned for the Suffolk coast. Both are backed by the state.

Community Nuclear Power, the company behind the Teesside project, said it has reached an agreement with the US manufacturer Westinghouse to supply the reactors.

Mini- reactors, which are al s o being built by companies including Rolls-royce, were championed by Mr Johnson, prime minister at the time, as a way of generating cheap, clean power at scale. He said he imagined

“not quite everyone having their own small modular reactors in their gardens, but close to it”.

Teesside local authorities are backing the company’s plan to site the new power station at Seal Sands, formerly a chemical works, and adjacent to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ Saltholme bird reserve.

A spokesman for Community Nuclear Power said: “We have a site and the reactors lined up and we are not looking for government or taxpayer support. The scheme will be privately financed.”

The Government’s nuclear roadmap talked up the prospects for SMRS, saying: “Unlike conventional nuclear reactors that are built on site, SMRS are smaller, can be made in factories, and could transform how power stations are built by making construction faster and less expensive. Alongside large gigawatt power stations, SMRS will play a key role in delivering on the expansion of UK nuclear capacity.”

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: “We welcome Community Nuclear Power’s endeavours to support SMRS, which are vital to meet our ambition to reach up to 24GW of nuclear power by 2050.”