In the U.K., a group of major companies, trade unions and individuals have collaborated to launch the Moorside Clean Energy Hub initiative (MCEH). The initiative features a package of nuclear projects for Moorside in Cumbria which is located in north-west England. The projects include a new three-gigawatt UK EPR nuclear power plant, small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced modular reactors (AMRs). There are also links to new technologies such as renewable energy and hydrogen gas production.
The MCEH plans on taking advantage of the design, replication and project experience from the Hinkley Point C U.K. EPR and the additional Sizewell C project to develop the Moorside Hub. They are also offering to host SMRs and AMRs research projects. The MCEH will be co-locating future technologies next to U.K. EPR technology. This will bring together a range of skills, experience and industry knowledge at one location which will help facilitate the development of the SMRs and AMRs. The MCEH will connect the nuclear plants to other energy technologies such as renewable energy generation, hydrogen production and energy storage. The MCEH will research ways of supplying clean heat to industry. Hydrogen gas will also be produced to be used as fuel for location transportation and local industry.
The NCEH includes: Altrad; Atkins; Balfour Beatty Bailey; Bilfinger; Cavendish Nuclear; Doosan Babcock; EDF; GMB; Jacobs; Laing O'Rourke; Mott MacDonald; Mace; Prospect; Quod; Unite the Union; and economic development specialist John Fyfe. Several of the companies in the MCEH are also involved in the construction of Hinkley Point C, and many are involved in Sizewell C.
Hinkley Point C is under construction in Somerset in south-west England. The project has already created over ten thousand jobs and spending of more than two billion dollars in the local economy. The Development Consent Order for Sizewell C was accepted for examination by the U.K. planning Inspectorate last week. The work on Sizewell C has indicated that the design for Hinkley Point C can be replicated in different ground conditions. The nuclear power plant could also offer low-carbon heat as well as electricity.
Moorside is located to the north of the Sellafield nuclear facility. The NuGeneartion consortium had chosen the site to build a nuclear power plant that would generate almost four gigawatts of electricity. They had chosen Westinghouse AP1000 reactor technology for the plant. At the time, Toshiba of Japan was the sole owner of NuGeneration. In November of 2018, Toshiba announced that it was withdrawing from the new build at the Moorside site and NuGeneration project was brought to a close. NuGeneration had purchased the Moorside site from the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in 2009. The site remains designated by the U.K. government for new nuclear builds.
The Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) in the U.K. just announced that it welcomed new proposals for the Moorside site. Tom Greatrex is the CEO of the NIA. He said that there was serious interest from developers and great support from the local community, supply chain and trade unions. This the level of excitement around the nuclear potential to boost economic regeneration while meeting environmental goals.
Greatrex said “These are exactly the attributes the country needs to bounce back from COVID-19, deliver jobs, and get us on track to hit Net Zero. Large scale and smaller, next generation technologies have a huge amount to offer working as part of the clean energy hub concept. They can deliver clean electricity and achieve deeper decarbonization through the creation of hydrogen, clean fuels and district and industrial heating.”