Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
4
EDFE’s timetable for the closure of the stations will result in a significant reduction in...
Recommendation
EDFE’s timetable for the closure of the stations will result in a significant reduction in the UK’s generating capacity until new capacity comes online. In 2020, nuclear power accounted for 16% of UK electricity generation. The closure of seven nuclear stations by 2028 will therefore have a significant impact. EDFE considers that the AGR stations will be reaching the technical limit of safe operations and so their use could not be extended while we wait for new generating capacity of come online. Only the existing PWR station at Sizewell B and the new station at Hinkley Point C are expected to be operating when the last of the AGR stations The future of the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors 7 closes. While the Department acknowledges there will be a gap in generating capacity, it is not concerned with there being a shortage owing to its confidence that electricity capacity could be bought from other sources ahead of time. The UK’s old nuclear station sites could be reused as locations for the development of new small modular reactors. Both NDA and EDFE told us they are in active discussions with parties interested in exploring these new opportunities. Recommendation: The Department working with the Office for Nuclear Regulation, EDFE, and Ofgem should urgently review whether it would be technically feasible, safe, and cost-effective to extend the lives of any of the remaining operating stations if needed and report back to the committee within 4 months. The Department and NDA should publish plans within 12 months setting out how they will make best use of NDA’s nuclear sites in future, including whether they are suitable for new nuclear infrastructure, such as modular reactors. In particular they should clarify how the transfer to the NDA from EDFE will allow for these Modular reactors.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
4.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation as currently drafted, as extensions of the station lifespans are a matter for EDF and the relevant regulator. 4.2 Whilst there has been parliamentary and public interest in the potential for life extensions, the department has no formal role in these decisions. The continued operation, or closure, of any UK nuclear power station is a decision for EDF (the stations’ owner and operator) and the independent nuclear regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (the ONR), based on safety and commercial considerations. 4.3 Nuclear power stations must comply with stringent nuclear safety and security regulations, overseen by the ONR as a robust and independent regulator. Nuclear operators are obliged by law to make a comprehensive safety case for every nuclear operation which justifies why the reactor is safe to operate and takes into account the ageing effects of the reactor. 4.4 Most of the UK’s operating stations have already previously had life extensions. The UK has five generating AGR power stations expected to close between 2022 and 2028 (two AGR stations are already closed/defueling), that have provided reliable electricity generation for many years However, all the AGRs are known to be subject to cracking of structural graphite in the cores as they age, which limits their safe operational life. 4.5 The department is in regular communication with EDF and the ONR and will ask EDF to set out their plans for how they will work with the regulator to see if extensions are possible in a safe, secure and cost-effective way, and will aim to provide further detail to the Committee by the end of 2022.