The U.K. government has selected six companies to participate in the next stage of its small modular reactor (SMR) competition. The six companies are EDF, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Holtec Britain Limited, NuScale Power, Rolls-Royce SMR, and Westinghouse Electric Company UK Limited. The advanced technologies offered by these firms are the “most able to produce operational SMRs by the mid-2030’s,” according to the government’s announcement on October 2nd.
     The SMR competition was launched on July 18th of this year by Great British Nuclear (GBN). GBN is an “arms-length” governmental body that was formed to help increase the nation’s nuclear capacity to as much as twenty-four gigawatts by 2050. This would be about three times the current U.K. commercial nuclear reactor fleet’s output. The increase in the U.K. reactor fleet output could represent up to twenty five percent of Britian’s projected 2050 electricity demand.
     GBR is managing the competition and will invite the six short-listed companies to submit bids for government contracts later this year. The firms that submit winning bids will be announced next spring and contracts will be awarded in the summer. The announcement stated that “This timetable aims to make this competition the fastest of its kind in the world.”
     Claire Coutinho is the U.K. energy security secretary. She said, “Small modular reactors will help the U.K. rapidly expand nuclear power and deliver cheaper, cleaner, and more secure energy for British families and businesses; create well-paid, high-skilled jobs; and grow the economy. This competition has attracted designs from around the world and puts the U.K. at the front of the global race to develop this exciting, cutting-edge technology and cement our position as a world leader in nuclear innovation.”
     Gwen Parry-Jones is GBN’s CEO. She said, “Our priority in this process has been to prioritize reliable and sustainable power to the grid early, and that’s why we have focused our first step on the technologies that we viewed as most likely to meet the objective of a final investment decision in 2029.”
     With respect to company designed that failed to survive the competition’s initial round, Parry-Jones suggested that “the next opportunity could be the government’s consultation on alternative routes to market for nuclear technologies, which is expected to be launched soon. This will look at how to support newer technologies so that Britain can benefit from them as well.”
     The down-selected technologies include EDF’s NUWARD, a 340 megawatt European pressurized water reactor (PWR) consisting of two 170 megawatt units; GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300, a 300 megawatt water-cooled, natural-circulation SMR with passive safety systems, adapted from the U.S.-licensed ESBWR; Holtec’s SMR-160, a 160 megawatt PWR with passive safety systems; NuScale’s VOYGR plant, consisting of 4, 6, or 12 77 megawatt NuScale Power Modules; Rolls-Royce SMR’s eponymous unit, a 470 megawatt PWR that has advanced to the second stage of the U.K.’s generic design assessment. It is the only entry to date to reach that stage; and Westinghouse’s AP300, a 300-megawatt single-loop PWR based on the company’s larger AP1000 unit.

     The U.K. has awarded three U.K. companies a four billion nine hundred-million-dollar contract to design and construct a nuclear-power attack submarine as part of the country’s AUKUS program with Australia and the U.S.
     The U.K. Ministry of Defence said that the contract with BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, and Babcock “represents a significant milestone for both the UK and the trilateral AUKUS program as a whole”.
     The new submarines are referred to as SSN-AUKUS. They “will be the largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines ever operated” by the Royal Navy. They will “combine world-leading sensors, design and weaponry in one vessel”. The first of the submarines will be delivered into service in the U.K. in the late 2030s. The first Australian one will follow in the early 2040.
     The plans for SSN-AUKUS were revealed in March by the leaders of Australia, the U.K. and U.S. They were the result of the three countries ramping up efforts to counter China in the Asia Pacific region.
     The nuclear-powered vessels have far greater stealth and range than other similar submarines. They mark the first time that the U.S. has shared nuclear-propulsion technology with a country other than the U.K. They represent a significant upgrade to Australia’s diesel-powered fleet.
     Richard Marles is the Australian Defence Minister. He previously described the AUKUS deal as “the biggest step forward in our military capability that we’ve had since the end of World War II”.
     Under the AUKUS program, the U.S. also intends to sell Australia up to five of its Virginia-class nuclear powered submarines in the early 2030s. U.S. and U.K. submarines will be deployed to Western Australia as soon as 2027 to help train Australian crews.
     Analysts say that the AUKUS program will strengthen deterrence in the face of China’s increasingly assertive actions in the Pacific. This includes actions taken in the South China Sea where it has constructed military bases on disputed outcrops and reefs.
     Ashley Townshend is a senior fellow for Indo-Pacific security at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank. In a recent commentary, he said, “As highly stealthy platforms, SSNs’ ability to operate in contested waters, hunt Chinese warships and submarines, control strategic sea lanes and chokepoints, and project power with long-range cruise missiles make them one of the most effective ways to complicate Chinese military planning and give Beijing a reason to take pause before using force.”
     Townsend added that “The fact that US, UK, and, in time, Australian SSNs will be operating as a combined force—with Aussies also embedded on American and British subs—raises the specter of horizontal escalation by forcing Beijing to consider the prospect that military action against any SSN, or the submarine base itself, could trigger the involvement of all three nations.”
     China has condemned AUKUS as an illegal act of nuclear proliferation. The Chinese foreign ministry has accused Australia, the U.K., and US of travelling “further down the wrong and dangerous path for their own geopolitical self-interest”. They say that the AUKUS pact arises from a “Cold War mentality which will only motivate an arms race, damage the international nuclear proliferation regime, and harm regional stability and peace”.

     Allerdale is one of four locations in the U.K. that were being evaluated for siting a geological disposal repository for spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste. It has just been announced by Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) that Allerdale has been removed from the list of possible sites because of limited suitable geology. It is expected that a final site selection could be a process that requires ten to fifteen years to complete.
     A geological disposal facility (GDF) contains a network of highly-engineered underground vaults and tunnels built to permanently dispose of highly radioactive waste so that no harmful levels of radiation ever reach the surface environment. Countries including Finland, Sweden, France, Canada and the U.S. are also pursuing this option.
     Four localities formed Community Partnerships interested in hosting the GDF. These included Allerdale, South Copeland and Mid Copeland in Cumbria in northwest England, and Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire, in eastern England. The Allerdale GDF Community Partnership was the third such partnership to form, in January 2022. It followed Mid Copeland GDF Community Partnership and South Copeland GDF Community Partnership which were formed in late-202. The final partnership to form was at Theddlethorpe in June 2022.
     Allerdale GDF Community Partnership focused its siting activities in a 124 square mile search area covering 13 electoral wards including Aspatria, Broughton St Bridgets, Dalton, Ellen & Gilcrux, Flimby, Harrington & Salterbeck, Maryport North, Maryport South, Moorclose & Moss Bay, Seaton & Northside, St John’s, St Michael’s, and Stainburn & Clifton.
     In a process that started in June of this year, each of the potential locations is being assessed by the NWS against a number of siting factors. These include safety and security, the environment, engineering feasibility, geology, transport and value for money. The overall goal is to ensure that a GDF can be constructed, operated, and closed safely. The initial stage of the process will involve geological surveys and desk-based studies of existing data on local geology and things such as transport infrastructure.
     NWS has now said that “Following a comprehensive and robust evaluation of information it was concluded only a limited volume of suitable rock was identifiable and the geology in the [Allerdale] area was unlikely to support a post-closure safety case. NWS has therefore taken the decision not to take Allerdale further in the search for a suitable site to host a GDF.”
     Corhyn Parr is the CEO of NWS. He said, “We need enough suitable geology to accommodate a GDF and to support safety cases to build, operate, and close the facility. Our assessments show evidence of limited volume of suitable rock for a GDF in the Allerdale search area, including the adjacent inshore area.”
     NWS stated that initial assessments of existing data and information for the other three communities in the siting process have indicated potentially suitable geology. Parr said that “The door also remains open for new communities to join the process.”
     When a site is ultimately selected, NWS said that a decision to construct a GDF would be taken only if the “potential host community has had a say and given consent through a Test of Public Support. The GDF requires both a suitable site and a willing community”.
     The U.K. has used nuclear technology for more than sixty years for such things as power generation, industry, medicine and defense. These activities have created a great deal of radioactive waste that must be managed safely. This waste is currently being stored at over thirty surface facilities across the U.K. These facilities must be replaced every fifty to one hundred years.

     Kazatomprom is a uranium producer in Kazakhstan. The Kazatomprom board recently approved a strategy to increase production volumes in 2025. It will return to a one hundred percent level relative to its subsoil use agreements for the first time since 2018. This will add up to six thousand tons of uranium to the anticipated global primary supply.
     The decision was made due to improved uranium market conditions and successful medium- and long-term contracting activity with both new and existing customers. The company shared this information in its 2025 production plan. It said that 2025 production is now expected to be between thirty thousand five hundred tons and thirty-one thousand five hundred tons of uranium.
     Kazatomprom announced in 2017 that it would “flex down” production by twenty percent below its subsoil use agreements from the start of 2018 for three years to better match supply with demand. It subsequently extended this decrease. However, in August of 2022, it announced plans to increase uranium production in 2024 to ten percent below its subsoil use agreements. The additional volumes that are expected to be produced in 2025 will be used to meet contractional obligations under medium and long-term contracts according to the company.
     Kazatomprom remains committed to its market-centric strategy and its disciplined approach to production. Dastan Kosherbayev is the CCO of the company. He said that he is “excited to witness the start of a long-awaited historical shift in the uranium market”. He added that the company has shown “strong market discipline for seven consecutive years” in keeping its production 20% below the total subsoil use agreements.
     Kosherbayev went on to say that “Consistent with our market-centric strategy, our intention to return to a 100% level of Subsoil Use Contracts production volumes in 2025 is primarily driven by our strong contract-book and already growing sales portfolio against conservative 2023-2024 production scenario. As we are seeing a clear sign that the industry has entered into the new long-term contracting cycle, driven by the recognition of the restocking needs, Kazatomprom, with its best-class and lowest cost mines, is absolutely prepared to respond to these improving market conditions. Our current contract book provides sufficient confidence that the additional volume in 2025 will have a secure place in the market and be needed to fulfil future contractual obligations.”
     Kazatomprom said that it will now begin working with its joint venture partners and mining subsidiaries to incorporate the necessary changes into its 2024 budgets and development plans for the 2025 increase in production volumes. However, it added that it will “continue to monitor ongoing market developments and maintain the flexibility to react quickly to changing conditions”. No decision has yet been taken regarding mine development uncertainty. It explained that geopolitical uncertainty and global supply chain issues with high inflationary pressure “remain existent and the company may therefore potentially face challenges in increasing production significantly above stated levels”.
     Kazatomprom, through its subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates, produces uranium from twenty-six uranium deposits which are grouped into fourteen mining assets. All of these sources use in-situ leach technology. Subsoil use contracts are agreements with the Kazakh government which cover the production of uranium by in-situ leach methods.