The first commercial power plant in the United Kingdom and the world went into operation in 1956 at Calder Hill but the main reason for the reactor being built was to produce weapons grade plutonium. and the last plant built in the UK was put into operation in 1995. By 1997, nuclear reactors generated about twenty five percent of the UK’s electricity but the nuclear proportion has declined since then to about sixteen percent of the UK’s electricity being generated from 16 nuclear reactors today. Most of the reactors in the UK are advanced gas-cooled type. 10 reactors have been retired and decommissioned. Uranium for UK reactors is purchased on the world uranium market from such places as Canada, Australia, Niger, Namibia and Uzbekistan
The development of nuclear power in the UK has been complicated by the mixed reasons for building the early reactors including commercial power generation, research and weapons development. There is strong conflict between proponents and opponents of nuclear power and no long term, consistent guidance from the government. After the year 2000, protests and opposition increased because of a reported link between cancers and nuclear power plants. There is a high level of support for renewable energy sources as an alternative to nuclear power. It is estimated that the Fukushima nuclear disaster caused a twelve percent drop in UK public support for nuclear power.
There have been a few major accidents in the UK where large amounts of radioactivity have been released into the environment. No deaths were directly attributable to the accidents but there are estimates of over 100 additional deaths from cancers cause by the radioactive materials released. The estimated cost of the major accidents is somewhere in the range of one hundred and fifty million US dollars. Although there is the potential for earthquakes and coastal flooding in the UK, the government is confident that current safety measures will be sufficient to deal with any threats from these events.
There are plans to build new nuclear reactors in the UK but the government wants to turn over construction and operation to private firms. The high cost of nuclear plant construction will be one of the problems with gaining private involvement. There will have to be some incentives to encourage new construction but no long term government subsidies are planned. Scotland and Wales have strong anti-nuclear sentiments and have voted to prevent any new reactors from being built in Scotland or Wales.
There is been no program for permanent nuclear waste disposal in the UK so currently some of the spent fuel is reprocessed and some is in temporary storage. The cost of waste disposal will be borne by the private firms for future reactors. The UK government currently runs the waste storage facility at Sellafield where most of the high-level radioactive waste is now stored. There is wide-spread public concern about the disposal of nuclear waste.
The UK nuclear program has been run efficiently and delivered a useful fraction of the UK electrical demand over the years. Going forward, the rising costs of construction, the public opposition, and the problem of waste disposal may prevent or seriously delay the constructions of more reactors in the UK.
Seal of the United Kingdom:
