UK’s baby nuclear reactors may fuel Rolls-Royce jobs

BRITAIN is to forge ahead with plans to develop ‘baby’ nuclear reactors just two weeks after the Prime Minister threw energy policy into chaos by revealing there will be a shock delay to making a decision over Hinkley Point.

The announcement over whether to proceed with Hinkley in Somerset has been postponed until next month. That allows new Premier Theresa May more time to consider concerns relating to the cost of the £25billion project and potential security risks posed by Chinese involvement.

This weekend the Government revealed it will shortly select preferred partners to construct Small Modular Reactors – which could help provide an alternative to Hinkley. They would be built using British factories and participation and could boost UK firms including Rolls-Royce.

Whitehall sources said the project, currently involving 33 engineering groups, would reaffirm Britain’s determination to be a ‘world leader’ in SMR production.

It is not yet clear whether the deci- sion to develop the ‘baby’ reactors is linked to the Hinkley delay.

But a spokeswoman for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said last night: ‘The UK needs a reliable and secure energy supply and the Government believes that nuclear energy is an important part of the mix.’

The Government has already earmarked £250million to fund a fiveyear programme to develop SMRs and this autumn it is expected to announce the next phase including naming the lead companies to be involved.

Hinkley supporters fear an announcement could be timed to coincide with a final decision on Hinkley, drawing the sting if the Government decides to cancel the larger project.

SMRs are far smaller than typical nuclear reactors with ten needed to provide the same output planned from Hinkley. But they could be made in factories to a standard design. The first reactor could be switched on by the end of the next decade as the Government works towards meeting legally binding carbon-reduction targets by 2050.

The decision to delay Hinkley has caused much consternation in the industry and among Britain’s partners which include French power giant EDF and China General Nuclear Power – both of which are state backed.

The Chinese ambassador to London Liu Xiaoming warned last Monday that China’s relations with Britain could be affected by the Hinkley delay and he pointed out that his country was planning to invest £100billion in UK projects.

Two days later it emerged that Szuhsiung ‘Allen’ Ho, an engineer at China General Nuclear Power, a partner in the Hinkley project, had been charged over alleged nuclear espionage in the US.

On the same day Australia blocked a deal to lease its electricity grid to Chinese and Hong Kong investors because of ‘national security’.