Proponents of nuclear energy believe Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is ready to extend the life of the Hinkley Point B plant to help the UK abandon gas imports and prevent a faster-than-expected decline in Britain’s nuclear fleet. reactors.
Rising gas prices and the war in Ukraine have already prompted the government to ask coal-fired power plant owners to stay open longer, while ministers have also reconsidered their firm opposition to fracking in light of energy supply concerns.
There is a growing sense in the nuclear industry and its supporters that Kwarteng can also be persuaded to support extending the life of Hinkley Point B, which should stop producing electricity this summer, by up to 18 months.
Such a plan, which will coincide with Boris Johnson’s support for a new nuclear power in the recent energy security plan, will keep 1 GW of electricity production on the national grid in the short term, replacing the need for gas production for up to 1.5 million homes.
Conservative MP Ian Lidel-Granger, whose constituency in Bridgewater and West Somerset includes Hinckley, said he had spoken to Quarteng about the possibility and was “definitely” open to it. “Yeast is not a fool,” he said.
“He understands the stress and tension we are going through and that we need to look at everything we can. They are fully aware of what [Hinkley] B station is capable of. She is old but in good health. “
The owner of Hinkley, EDF Energy, will have to prepare safety evidence to extend the life of the power plant, which was connected to the grid in 1976 and whose closure was previously postponed by seven years in 2012.
EDF will have to prove to the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ONR) that aging graphite rods can be placed in the plant’s reactors, even in the event of a huge and unprecedented earthquake, to prevent a nuclear accident.
A source in the nuclear industry said there was a “six-week window” through which EDF could still do so in time for the ONR to rule on the safety of the plans and postpone Hinkley’s planned end to generating electricity at 15 July.
Greg Hands, junior minister in Kwarteng’s BEIS business, energy and industrial strategy department, visited Hinckley last week. Engineers there are said to have told Hands that they expect the plant to close on schedule.
But a source in the nuclear industry said that while engineers were naturally focused on the shutdown plans they had been working on for many months, senior EDF figures were likely to be more open to extending Hinkley’s life.
The ONR will ultimately decide whether such a plan can continue, but Kwarteng’s approval is crucial. This is because EDF would incur significant costs in drawing up a safety case for the extension and should be confident that ministers will not block it.
EDF declined to comment on whether it plans to do so. BEIS said it had not held any discussions on such a proposal. “It [extending Hinkley] it will prevent you from importing some of the gas, “said a source in the nuclear industry.
The Guardian also understands that Torness, near Dunbar, and Heysham 2 in Lancashire may leave the network earlier than expected, depending on regular assessments of the condition of their graphite bars.
Their retirement has already been postponed, with EDF saying earlier this year that it will stop generating in 2028 instead of 2030. In theory, each station that operates in one year can replace more than 1 billion cubic meters. meters of gas imports.
Although nuclear energy has traditionally been expensive, the incredible price of gas in recent months, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, means that the £ 45 per megawatt-hour that EDF receives from its nuclear contract is well below wholesale electricity prices.
The Prospect and GMB unions have also called for an extension of Britain’s nuclear fleet.
Pressure on Quarteng to signal to EDF that the government will support plans to keep Hinkley Point B open comes amid concerns that the capacity of the British nuclear fleet could decline even faster than expected.
Based on current forecasts for the withdrawal of reactors and the construction of new ones, the UK’s nuclear capacity will fall from 5.8 GW today to 4.4 GW in 2028, taking into account the construction of Hinkley Point C, but also the end of the lives of Torness and Heysham.
However, the 2028 completion date for Hinkley Point C, which is already above budget and behind schedule, is being revised, with a forecast scheduled for this summer.
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