Contracts Signed for 3 UK Small Modular Reactors

[More Amps]

same site an an existing station makes complete sense, not only with security, it remove the NIMBY objection, probably save a public enquiry etc. Huge time and cost savings

And they can "just" plug it in to the existing pylon network.

 

[Wedg1e]

I'm sure the Rolls units will work as commercial SMR's, but they are going have to be well-protected by the 'nuclear police' who have looked after the big UK reactors, which I guess explains in part why the first three will all be on the same site.

Strikes me that while you may be able to build a 'small' nuclear reactor, the boiler and alternator that it will run will still be sizeable. As will the turbine hall, offices, car park, maintenance buildings and other infrastructure, so the idea they're pushing that there will be unobtrusive nuclear plants dotted about the place is stretching the concept a bit.
Nuclear police: there's a place near Preston that used to have armed plod on the gate but they were removed some years ago.
It was announced on the local TV news, on the internet and in the papers

 

[Farside]

Nuclear police: there's a place near Preston that used to have armed plod on the gate but they were removed some years ago.
It was announced on the local TV news, on the internet and in the papers

I'd not be surprised if there was still an armed presence of some sort, though.
"A hi-jack, is it? Hold on while I get my gun from the back shed."

 

[Ross365]

Strikes me that while you may be able to build a 'small' nuclear reactor, the boiler and alternator that it will run will still be sizeable. As will the turbine hall, offices, car park, maintenance buildings and other infrastructure, so the idea they're pushing that there will be unobtrusive nuclear plants dotted about the place is stretching the concept a bit.
Nuclear police: there's a place near Preston that used to have armed plod on the gate but they were removed some years ago.

That idea of having "local" SMRs has been pushed by some groups; maybe it has merits in a large country the size of the US, but I guess that if we build more than the 3 at Wylfa, there's a good chance they too will be on old Magnox or AGR sites.

The Preston connection is that is where the plant is (I won't name it, but I have a couple of mates who worked there) that makes the fuel rods for past reactors. It was ear-marked to receive a large Government grant a year or two ago, so it may have been in the doldrums for some time, but maybe the SMR announcement will be good news for them too. That said, I think we sold that facility to the Yanks a while back .

 

[daleyd]

That idea of having "local" SMRs has been pushed by some groups; maybe it has merits in a large country the size of the US, but I guess that if we build more than the 3 at Wylfa, there's a good chance they too will be on old Magnox or AGR sites.

The Preston connection is that is where the plant is (I won't name it, but I have a couple of mates who worked there) that makes the fuel rods for past reactors. It was ear-marked to receive a large Government grant a year or two ago, so it may have been in the doldrums for some time, but maybe the SMR announcement will be good news for them too. That said, I think we sold that facility to the Yanks a while back .

It was BNFL, it’s been Westinghouse for a good while now.

 

[Munkul]

Part of the appeal of SMRs is that they are "supposed" to be designed in a way that makes them easier to decommission than any of the reactors built before now. Decommissioning costs an absolute fortune.

I think it can only be a good thing. Smaller facility, smaller workforce (within reason for nuclear facilities) hopefully means generally better work culture and better middle management, leading to overall lower costs and more efficiency throughout its life cycle.

Although its still nuclear, so it'll never get to small-business levels of effectiveness...

Another good thing in the small size means that it might be easier to balance the grid with several smaller loads instead of one large reactor that needs to run full-bore for cost effectiveness.

 

[Ross365]

Part of the appeal of SMRs is that they are "supposed" to be designed in a way that makes them easier to decommission than any of the reactors built before now. Decommissioning costs an absolute fortune.

I think it can only be a good thing. Smaller facility, smaller workforce (within reason for nuclear facilities) hopefully means generally better work culture and better middle management, leading to overall lower costs and more efficiency throughout its life cycle.

Although its still nuclear, so it'll never get to small-business levels of effectiveness...

Another good thing in the small size means that it might be easier to balance the grid with several smaller loads instead of one large reactor that needs to run full-bore for cost effectiveness.

It would be quite impressive (and very pleasing) if RR got the 3 SMR running before the French get Hinkley Point C going .

I remember going for a job interview at RR back in the early 1980's and they were talking about SMR back then. They had this idea of putting them on barges and sending them off to sit in river estuaries of third-world countries.

 

[Robotstar5]

It was BNFL, it’s been Westinghouse for a good while now.

I went there in the 80's to sort out a robot fault, I thought it quite funny I had to book in at the security gate, have my car checked from front to back then escorted all the time I was on site, but once I was finished my escort said "you know the way to the gate, off you go" then when I got to the gate they just waved me through with no checks

 

[daleyd]

I went there in the 80's to sort out a robot fault, I thought it quite funny I had to book in at the security gate, have my car checked from front to back then escorted all the time I was on site, but once I was finished my escort said "you know the way to the gate, off you go" then when I got to the gate they just waved me through with no checks

Sounds about right! When I first went in about 2013 they still had the Nuclear Police as security, I think not long after they were replaced by site security, along with Capenhurst and a few other places. The Nuclear Police are still at Sellafield, the power stations and a few other "sensitive" places.

It certainly seems to be winding down lately, a lot of the stuff I worked on a few years back has been shutdown, buildings waiting to be decomissioned etc.

 

[Robotstar5]

Sounds about right! When I first went in about 2013 they still had the Nuclear Police as security, I think not long after they were replaced by site security, along with Capenhurst and a few other places. The Nuclear Police are still at Sellafield, the power stations and a few other "sensitive" places.

It certainly seems to be winding down lately, a lot of the stuff I worked on a few years back has been shutdown, buildings waiting to be decomissioned etc.

The ones I saw in the 80's looked like regular plod apart from their badges/crests were AEC (Atomic Energy Commission)

 

[Ross365]

Re security on the Nuclear sites, a few years ago, the BBC transmitted this documentary, "Britain's Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield (2015) is the primary BBC documentary offering unprecedented access to the Cumbria nuclear site, hosted by physicist Jim Al-Khalili."

My recollection is that Jim met up with the security people and they struck me as being ex-forces, maybe even, ex-special forces. The training facilities looked like a lot of money had been spent on them!