Ministers Will Relax Rules To Build Small Nuclear Reactors
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Britain’s five nuclear power stations, which generate about 6GW in total, powering 13 million homes, are all nearing the end of their lives
These first three paragraphs indicate the reasons why, the government wants to relax the rules.
Ministers are preparing to relax planning rules to make it easier to build mini nuclear power plants in more parts of the country in order to hit green energy targets and boost the industry.
They are also examining whether it is possible to streamline the process for approving the safety of new nuclear power plants as a way to reduce construction delays.
At present rules state that only the government may designate sites for potential nuclear power stations, of which there are eight, severely limiting where they can be built.
The article includes a vote and surprisingly to me, the vote embedded in the article, shows 92 % in favour of relaxing the rules and only 8 % against.
I must admit these figures surprise me, as I’d have thought more would have been against.
Certain Words Frighten The Public
It is because nuclear is one of those words, that I felt that the vote in favour would have been much lower.
Regular readers of this blog will know, that in the 1960s,, I worked for ICI doing itinerant computing and instrumentation tasks, in my first job after leaving Liverpool University with a degree in Control Engineering.
I can now classify the experience as a superb apprenticeship, where I learned a lot that has been useful to me in later life.
For a time, I was working on nuclear magnefic resonance or NMR scans. ICI Mond Division in Runcorn had one of the best installations for analysing chemicals using this technique, which is described in this Wikipedia entry, which starts with these sentences.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a frequency characteristic of the magnetic field at the nucleus. This process occurs near resonance, when the oscillation frequency matches the intrinsic frequency of the nuclei, which depends on the strength of the static magnetic field, the chemical environment, and the magnetic properties of the isotope involved; in practical applications with static magnetic fields up to ca. 20 tesla, the frequency is similar to VHF and UHF television broadcasts (60–1000 MHz).
One day, the Senior Scientist, who ran the machine came in to work and announced that the property of nuclear magnetic resonance would be replacing X-rays, as the technology had just been used to give a three-dimensional image of something like the tail of a mouse.
Now fifty-five years later, many if not most of us have had MRi scans.
The Wikipedia entry for Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRi, explains, what happened to the dreaded N-word.
MRI was originally called NMRI (nuclear magnetic resonance imaging), but “nuclear” was dropped to avoid negative associations.
Perhaps, it would be easier to build nuclear power stations, if the level of science teaching in the UK was better.
The Three Paragraphs In Detail
Earlier, I copied three paragraphs from The Times, into this post.
I shall now look at each in detail.
Paragraph 1
Ministers are preparing to relax planning rules to make it easier to build mini nuclear power plants in more parts of the country in order to hit green energy targets and boost the industry.
I was in Suffolk, when the planning of Sizewell B was undertaken.
There appeared to be little strong opposition, but the general feeling was what there was from second home owners, who were worried that the value of their holiday home would decline.
Employment and commerce created by Sizewell B was certainly good for the area in lots of ways.
At the time, my late wife; C was practicing as a family barrister in chambers in Ipswich. She believed that the building of Sizewell B had had a good effect on the area, as it had injected work and money, which had created the finance to allow a couple to end a marriage, that had long since died. She stated a couple of times, that Sizewell B was good for her practice.
Paragraph 2
They are also examining whether it is possible to streamline the process for approving the safety of new nuclear power plants as a way to reduce construction delays.
My worry about streamlining the process for approving safety, is that we approve nuclear power stations so rarely, do we have the qualified personnel to replace elapsed time with people. I would suggest that we don’t.
But we could have.
- We have some excellent universities, where Nuclear Engineering can be studied.
- How many personnel leave the Royal Navy each year, who could be trained as nuclear safety inspectors?
- If say Rolls-Royce and/or Hitachi are building several small modular nuclear reactors a year in the UK, then nuclear engineering will become fashionable, as electronics was for my generation of engineers and it will attract the brightest students.
Perhaps an established university, with access to the needed skills should be funded to set up a Nuclear Safety Institute
Paragraph 3
At present rules state that only the government may designate sites for potential nuclear power stations, of which there are eight, severely limiting where they can be built.
I can envisage new small modular nuclear reactors being built in the UK, where there is a need for lots of electricity to support developments like.
- Offshore wind farms
- Data centres
- Green steelmaking
- Metal refining
- Hydrogen production.
Rolls-Royce have said that their small reactors will be around 470 MW, so I could imagine power stations of this size being placed on disused coal-fired power station sites to boost power in an area. I have already suggested building some on Drax in The Future Of Drax Power Station.
In some locations, the choice could be between a small modular nuclear reactor and some form of energy storage.
Powering Germany
But there is one controversial area, where we can take advantage.
- The Germans are very short of electricity because of their reliance on coal and Russian gas that needs to be replaced.
- The 1.4 GW NeuConnect interconnector is being built by European and Japanese money between the Isle of Grain and Wilhelmshaven.
- The AquaVentus hydrogen system could be extended to Humberside to link with UK hydrogen production and storage.
- A couple of small modular nuclear reactors could be built on Humberside to back up hydrogen production, when the wind isn’t blowing.
But Rolls-Royce and other companies have been putting small nuclear reactors close to the sea bed safely for decades, so why no design an offshore reactor that can be placed at a safe distance offshore?
We would need to solve the Putin and friends problem first, but I can see the UK exporting a lot of electricity and hydrogen produced by nuclear energy.
Ørsted’s Earnings from Operational Offshore Wind Farms Up 20 Pct
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Ørsted has reported 2024 earnings from its operational offshore wind farms of DKK 23.8 billion (approximately EUR 3.2 billion), up by 20 per cent compared to 2023.
And this is the introductory paragraph.
The global offshore wind developer said on 6 February the increase was mainly due to the ramp-up of generation at Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind project in Taiwan, South Fork in the US, and Gode Wind 3 in Germany, as well as higher wind speeds, higher pricing of the inflation-indexed CfDs and green certificates. The increase in 2024 was dampened by lower availability, according to the company.
I don’t think Trummkopf would get those sort of returns, if he invested any of his own money in his plan for the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Although my American friend ; Jack and his family enjoyed themselves in the Lebanon in the 1960s, when he lectured at the American University of Beirut.
On the other hand this article in The Times is entitled Trump’s Gaza Plan Watered Down Amid Backlash From Allies.
The Future Of Drax Power Station
Drax power station is not liked by a lot of environmentalists.
I have been thinking about the future of the power station and the public company that owns it.
Drax power station has a nameplate capacity of around 2.5 GW running on biomass.
It also will be the Southern end of EGL2, which will be an undersea electricity 2 GW superhighway distributing Scottish wind power from Peterhead in Scotland. So the dreaded biomass hated by certain groups will be relegated from the Premier League of electricity generation and replaced by Scottish wind.
As reported in various publications, Drax has signed a deal in the US, so that the biomass can be used for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)
To my mind, the Drax site could be an ideal one for one or more small modular nuclear reactors.
- The large Drax site has been producing electricity for 52 years.
- In 1986, the site produced nearly 4 GW of electricity.
- I would suspect that the substations on the site could be enlarged to distribute 4 GW of electricity.
- EGL2 will bring in 2 GW of Scottish wind-generated electricity.
- The site has excellent rail connections.
- The site has twelve cooling towers and is encircled by the River Ouse.
- Could all this water be used for cooling the small modular nuclear reactors.
I believe that perhaps three small modular nuclear reactors could be built on the Drax site to backup EGL2 and bring a reliable source of sustainable power to Yorkshire.
Drax is also only about forty miles from the vast hydrogen stores at Aldbrough and Rough, so if Drax needed, if could use excess electricity to create hydrogen for storage.
SSE is consulting on a 1+ GW hydrogen power station at Keadby, so perhaps Drax should have a similar hydrogen power station on its site?
Are Rolls-Royce Converting The World To Sussainable Fuels?
Rolls-Royce are certainly up to something.
- Versions of all their diesel and aero engines appear to be able to or will be able to run on hydrogen, SAF, HVO and other exotic zero or low-carbon fuels.
- They are replacing the engines on the USAF B 52s with new American-built Rolls-Royce engines, that can run on hydrogen.
- They are working with easyJet on zero-carbon engines.
- They are developing the UltraFan, which promises to be the most frugal turbofan engine ever. Will all long-distance wide-bodies end up Rolls-Royce powered?
- They have developed a frugal engine for business jets that can run on any fuel.
- Rolls-Royce have also developed a 2.5 MW electric generator based on the engine of a Super Hercules. This level of power is what you need for a railway locomotive.
- Are they building a retrofit for all the diesel-electric railway locomotives of the world, which runs on hydrogen?
Some of these developments could be moving from diesel, jet-fuel and SAF to hydrogen. Others will just reduce the amount of fuel needed.
I just can’t get the image of an iconic B 52, with RR on the side of the engines out of my mind.
But all of these developments seem to have one aim in mind. – To reduce the amount of aircraft and other large vehicles that have to run on standard jet fuel, diesel, SAF or HVO.
This will mean that long-distance air travel, which will be the most difficult to decarbonise will be able to use SAF and other exotic fuels made from renewable sources.
UK Wind Risks ‘Exponentially Rising’ Curtailment Without Energy Storage
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Recharge.
This is the sub-heading.
UK liquid battery pioneer Highview Power is working with renewable energy giant Orsted on plan to store excess power from its Hornsea offshore wind projects
This is the introductory paragraph.
The UK wind sector faces “exponentially” increasing curtailment of assets without a rapid rollout of energy storage, says the chief of liquid battery pioneer Highview Power, which is working with Orsted on a project to store excess offshore wind power.
The article also states that according to Octopus Energy, this cost could have been as high as a billion pounds last year.
In Grid Powers Up With One Of Europe’s Biggest Battery Storage Sites, I described how Ørsted were planning to build a large BESS near the Swardeston substation in Norfolk, where the Hornsea 3 wind farm will connect to the grid.
Have Ørsted decided to put a Highview Power battery on the Swardeston site, as it can be a bigger battery, as Highview Power talk about 200MW/2.5GWh capacity batteries on the projects page of the web site?
Highview also say this about co-operation with Ørsted on that page.
Highview Power and Ørsted’s joint study shows that the co-location of LAES with Ørsted’s offshore wind offers a step forward in reducing wind curtailment, and helping to move to a more flexible, resilient zero carbon grid.
The words are accompanied by pictures of a smart gas storage site, which shows four of the largest tanks, that might be used to store LNG.
In Could A Highview Power CRYOBattery Use A LNG Tank For Liquid Air Storage?, I estimated that one of the largest LNG tanks could hold about a GWh of energy.
So Highview Power’s visualisation on their project page would be a 4 GWh battery.
.
I’ve Just Come Across Avnos
I feel we should take into account any possibilities of second use of oil or gas structures, that once held hydrocarbons.
An article in a magazine called Carbon Herald pointed me to a company called Avnos, who are developing Direct Air Capture of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. If systems like that of Avnos do work, we may need somewhere to put the carbon dioxide.
Centrica are storing the hydrogen in the Rough gas field, which was previously used for storing natural gas and now some depleted gas fields are being used to store captured carbon dioxide.
On the subject of carbon capture, Avnos do it differently, in that for every tonne of CO2, they capture from the air, they capture five tonnes of distilled water. And they do it without using any heat.
This is their web site.
This is their mission statement on the front page of the web site. There is also a video.
Carbon Negative. Water Positive
Avnos is commercializing the most advanced technology in the Direct Air Capture of CO2
Our proprietary Hybrid Direct Air Capture (HDAC) solution inverts the water paradigm in DAC, producing water, eliminating heat consumption and reducing costs compared to other forms of DAC.
It sounds too good to be true!
But I have experience of the positive financial results of fluid dynamics in this area.
Thirty years ago, two guys approached me with an idea for an aerosol valve that used nitrogen as a propellant.
At the time, I lived in the house, where Osborne Reynolds, the great Victorian fluid dynamicist of Reynold’s number fame had been brought up.
The guys succeeded and the device was sold on to J & J.
They were then asked to develop a metered dose inhaler for asthma drugs, which is now sold as Respimat, which is sold by Boehringer Ingelheim.
Afterwards, I researched Reynolds at Manchester University, where he was the first Professor of Engineering and I found that he had done some marvelous things with fluids. He was a true genius and undergraduates are still taught on his Victorian apparatus.
I suspect that Avnos may have been exploring in the same area and are using another of Reynold’s useful properties.
MP Pushes For Tidal Lagoon In Bristol Channel
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Building a tidal lagoon in the Bristol Channel could provide clean energy for 120 years, an MP has said.
These three paragraphs give more details.
The proposed West Somerset Lagoon, which would cost £10bn to build, would run nine miles (14km) from Minehead to Watchet in Somerset.
Its lifespan would be twice that of a nuclear power plant, said Tiverton and Minehead MP Rachel Gilmour.
Mrs Gilmour said she will soon be discussing the proposal with ministers. If the project is pursued, it could be up and running by 2038 – bringing jobs and financial benefits to the area.
The project already has a web site, with this mission statement.
The West Somerset Tidal Lagoon is a proposed Tidal Range power scheme, that aims to harness the energy of the tides to provide zero carbon renewable energy. It is strategically located on the southern coast of the Bristol Channel Basin between Minehead and Watchet to take advantage of the world’s second highest tidal range and will become the UK’s largest sustainable energy project.
This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the coast between Minehead and Watchet.
Note.
- Minehead station is indicated by the blue arrow in the North-West of the map.
- Watchet station is indicated by the blue lettering on the Eastern edge of the map.
- The West Somerset Railway links the two stations and connects them to the Bristol and Exeter Line at Norton Fitzwarren station.
It looks like the sea wall of the lagoon will curve between Minehead and Watchet.
The West Somerset Railway
This OpenRailwayMap shows the whole West Somerset Railway.
Note.
- Minehead station is in the North-West corner of the map.
- Norton Fitzwarren station is indicated by the blue arrow in the South-East corner of the map, where the West Somerset Railway joins the main line between Exeter and Bristol.
- Taunton station on the main line with trains all over the country is a few miles to the East of Norton Fitzwarren station.
I believe that for the lagoon project to be completed, the West Somerset Railway needs to be turned into a fully-operational branch line from Taunton to improve access for residents, visitors and workers to Minehead and other places in West Somerset.
Large projects like these need large numbers of workers to be completed.
Less disruption to local residents and businesses is caused if a park and ride site is set up. Sizewell C is setting up two from the nearby East Suffolk Line, using hydrogen-powered buses.
Sizewell C also intends to bring in heavy equipment and construction materials by rail from Ipswich and Lowestoft.
The West Somerset Tidal Lagoon could use the railway to bring in heavy loads.
If the West Somerset Railway is going to be used to ease the construction of the lagoon , then this should be properly to connected to Taunton first.
UK Unveils Measures To Fast-Track 16 GW Of Offshore Wind
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The UK government has unveiled measures to unlock up to 13 offshore wind projects, which could generate up to 16 GW of electricity and potentially bring GBP 20 billion (approximately EUR 23.9 billion) to GBP 30 billion (about EUR 35.8 billion) of investment in homegrown clean power.
These paragraphs illustrate how thw the government propose to do it.
According to the UK government, ministers are streamlining the consenting process to accelerate the construction of offshore wind projects. As set out in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ growth speech, this will hasten the delivery of vital infrastructure projects and unlock growth as part of the government’s Plan for Change while protecting nature and the environment.
The government plans to eliminate obstacles that have delayed or blocked the development of offshore wind projects by designating new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) or extending existing MPAs to compensate for impacts to the seabed.
This should prevent delays that have previously resulted from insufficient environmental compensation being agreed upon while protecting the marine environment and contributing to the government’s commitment to protect 30 per cent of its seas for nature by 2030.
- The Government will be streamlining the consanting process.
- But will this streamlining just give more ammunition to the Nimbies?
- Will more compensation be paid and has Rachel from Accounts go it to spend?
- Designating new or redefining existing Marine Protected Areas (MPA).
- The wind farm developers developers will pay for the MPAs.
- Any new designations of MPAs will follow the existing process required under legislation and will include consulting other affected industries and communities.
Surely, if the developers pay for the MPAs, then the price of the energy produced will rise. But then I’m only following Sir Isaac!
We’ve seen streamlining and acceleration before and I can’t remember all of these actions producing positive results.
My feelings are the following should be done.
Fully back the development of the Port of Ardersier, as a floating wind farm production facility.
I discussed this in Redevelopment Of Scottish Port Begins As Owner Secures GBP 400 Million For Offshore Wid Upgrade.
Will 2025 Be A Bumper Year For Solar?
The title of this post, is the same as that of a sub title of this this article on Solar Power Portal, which is entitled Two Solar NSIPs Granted Development Consent.
This is the sub heading of the main article.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has granted development consent orders (DCOs) to the Heckington Fen Solar and West Burton Solar solar PV power plants.
This paragraph, gives a brief description of the two projects.
The two developments, both located in Lincolnshire, England, are classified as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Developments (NSIPs) as their proposed generation capacity is over 50MW. Combined, the Heckington Fen Solar and West Burton Solar projects will have a generation capacity of almost 1GW.
But it was the prominent sub-title in the article, that prompted me to write this post.
These were the three paragraphs, the author used to answer their question.
This year so far has already seen significant movement on several large-scale solar projects, with more to come throughout 2025.
Last week, international renewable energy developer Ørsted announced proposals for a 320MW solar PV power plant in East Yorkshire, the Kingfisher Solar Farm, for which public consultations are set to begin on 3 February. Meanwhile, Elements Green has opened the second phase of statutory consultations for its 800MW Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park, which will run until 20 February.
Plans for another proposed 800MW development, EDF Renewables UK’s Springwell Solar Farm, will be examined by the planning inspectorate following the successful submission of a DCO application for the project.
I also wrote UK Solar Deployment Poised To Increase 50% YoY, Following Rapid Growth In The Second Half Of 2024, just over a week ago, where I predicted a large growth in steel aolar panels on industrial and architect-designed buildings.
Conclusion
There may be a lot of new solar power generated in the UK in 2025, but because some of it will be roof-mounted and structural, we won’t see as much as we have in the past.
How To Keep The Lights On When The Wind Doesn’t Blow
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Britain came close to a blackout this month. Gas is being phased out and renewables are intermittent, so can energy storage stop us going dark?
These are the first two paragraphs.
It was 8.29pm on the first Tuesday in January when the alert was issued by the electricity control room. Freezing temperatures had coincided with unusually low wind speeds, and it was making the National Energy System Operator (Neso) jittery.
Engineers forecast a 1.6GW shortfall — the requirement for about 1.5 million homes — for a three-hour period from 4pm the following afternoon. “System operators are requested to notify Neso of any additional megawatt capacity,” the message said.
Luckily, the plea worked.
The article then goes on to describe the various technologies that are being deployed.
The article starts by talking about pumped storage hydroelectricity.
This paragraph gives a superb illustration about how things have changed in energy and energy storage in the UK in the last few decades.
In the past, when coal provided the bulk of British power, this system was used to meet fluctuating demand levels. But now it is also required to meet fluctuating supply levels from renewable sources. Martin Pibworth, chief commercial officer at SSE, started with the company as a trainee in 1998. “Back then, at our Foyers pumped storage plant [at Loch Ness] we would switch modes, from pumping to not pumping and back again, maybe 600 to 700 times a year. Last year we switched modes there 6,500 times. It’s an insight into how the market has changed and how much more flexibility is needed, and how responsive that has to be.”
We have to be more agile, with our handling of storage to back up the various methods of generation.
The Anonymous Widower 