UK Programme on Codes, Standards and Procedure Needs for SMR and Gen IV Reactors: Phase 1 Output

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. James ◽  
N. J. Underwood ◽  
J. K. Sharples
Keyword(s):  
Phase 1 ◽  
Nuclear Research ◽  
Growth Strategy ◽  
Design Codes ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Current Design ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
Gen Iv ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

Abstract The UK government has committed to a clean growth strategy, whereby it is legally bound to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 compared to levels in 1990. In order to achieve this the UK needs to develop low carbon energy sources for electricity, transportation, domestic and industrial heat, light and power. This, combined with the fact that the UK demand for electricity is likely to double by 2050, poses a significant challenge for the UK. In light of these finding the UK government has invested £250 million into nuclear research and development (R&D), thus recognising the key role that nuclear plays in producing low carbon, clean, safe and reliable energy for the UK both now and into the future. This paper provides an overview of the ongoing activities in the UK within this R&D programme focused on developing a UK forward plan for defining the long term requirements for the design codes and standards for small modular reactors (SMRs) and generation (Gen) IV reactors (also including advanced modular reactors). The project is being undertaken by Wood Nuclear and National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). In order to ensure a complete UK perspective is captured, an advisory board has been established with experts in this field, from academia, industry and also national laboratories. Discussions with all parties produced a series of items to be addressed in order for current Design Codes and Standards to be applicable for SMR and Gen IV reactors. This paper summarises these activities and key findings.

scholarly journals THE UK NATIONAL THERMAL-HYDRAULICS FACILITY: MOTIVATIONS, DESIGN AND PLANNING STATUS

2021 ◽  
Vol 247 ◽  
pp. 20006
Author(s):  
M Dahlfors ◽  
J Joannou ◽  
A Brummitt ◽  
M J D Rushton ◽  
S C Middleburgh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Thermal Hydraulics ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Science Park ◽  
North Wales ◽  
Current Design ◽  
Planning Status ◽  
Gen Iv ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

A UK National Thermal-Hydraulics Facility (NTHF) dedicated to supporting new reactor and other relevant business is being developed, one of the purposes being to deliver on the government’s carbon emission reduction commitments. The facility site is foreseen to be at Menai Science Park on the isle of Anglesey in North Wales, a region expected to see significant low carbon energy deployment in coming years. The UK NTHF is envisioned to cater for the needs of emerging nuclear in the UK – but also to serve as a hardware platform for international thermal-hydraulics research collaboration. Plans are to construct a platform capable of maintaining several test loops including support for the UK’s on-going, conventional nuclear new build programme as well as Gen-IV systems and associated materials like molten salt and liquid metal coolant media. Motivations are given for NTHF expected capabilities and requirements, which form the basis for its current design and planning state.

scholarly journals How Does the Law and Policy Encourage Towards a Low Carbon Energy Transition in the Scotland?

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 26-31
Author(s):  
Md. Raisul Islam Sourav
Keyword(s):  
Energy Transition ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Electricity Sector ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

This article contains a doctrinal analysis of the law and policy encouragement towards a low carbon energy transition in the Scotland. To do this, the present article is primarily focused on electricity sector of the Scotland and its commitment towards a low carbon transition in this sector in coming years. This article analyzes the existing significant laws and policies in Scotland that encourage towards a low carbon transition. However, it also evaluates international obligation upon the Scotland and the UK, as well, towards this transition. Subsequently, it assesses the UK’s legal framework in this regard. However, Scotland is firmly committed to achieve its targets towards a low carbon transition in the power sector although it needs more incentive and tight observation of the government to smoothen the process.

scholarly journals Modelling Socio-Environmental Sensitivities: How Public Responses to Low Carbon Energy Technologies Could Shape the UK Energy System

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brighid Moran Jay ◽  
David Howard ◽  
Nick Hughes ◽  
Jeanette Whitaker ◽  
Gabrial Anandarajah
Keyword(s):  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Technologies ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

Low carbon energy technologies are not deployed in a social vacuum; there are a variety of complex ways in which people understand and engage with these technologies and the changing energy system overall. However, the role of the public’s socio-environmental sensitivities to low carbon energy technologies and their responses to energy deployments does not receive much serious attention in planning decarbonisation pathways to 2050. Resistance to certain resources and technologies based on particular socio-environmental sensitivities would alter the portfolio of options available which could shape how the energy system achieves decarbonisation (the decarbonisation pathway) as well as affecting the cost and achievability of decarbonisation. Thus, this paper presents a series of three modelled scenarios which illustrate the way that a variety of socio-environmental sensitivities could impact the development of the energy system and the decarbonisation pathway. The scenarios represent risk aversion (DREAD) which avoids deployment of potentially unsafe large-scale technology, local protectionism (NIMBY) that constrains systems to their existing spatial footprint, and environmental awareness (ECO) where protection of natural resources is paramount. Very different solutions for all three sets of constraints are identified; some seem slightly implausible (DREAD) and all show increased cost (especially in ECO).

scholarly journals Policy delivery for low carbon energy infrastructure in the UK, april 5th 2013: Conference overview

Energy Policy ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 1367-1369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael J. Heffron ◽  
Angus Johnston ◽  
Darren McCauley ◽  
Kirsten Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Infrastructure ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

UK Programme on Codes, Standard and Procedure Needs for SMR and Gen IV Reactors

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. James ◽  
J. K. Sharples ◽  
N. Underwood
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Automated Manufacturing ◽  
Design Codes ◽  
Analysis Phase ◽  
Small Modular Reactors ◽  
Gen Iv ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Assessment Procedures ◽  
Large Scale Manufacture

This paper provides an overview of the ongoing activities in the UK to understand the possible needs and development opportunities for design codes, standards and assessment procedures when looking at Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Generation (Gen) IV reactors. The project (at the time of the conference) is progressing towards the completion of the initial gaps analysis phase of the work. This project is also part of a wider programme of work being supported by the Innovate UK to consider other pertinent aspects such as materials, automated manufacturing, large-scale manufacture and assembly and modularised build. This paper summarises these activities and the findings to-date.

The UK GeoEnergy Test Bed – A New Facility for Collaborative Subsurface Low Carbon Energy Research

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.J. Vincent ◽  
O. Kuras ◽  
B. Dashwood ◽  
D. Morgan ◽  
R. Luckett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Carbon ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Energy Research ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Low Carbon Energy ◽  
New Facility

Approach to UK SMR Component Design

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher D. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Failure Modes ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Component Design ◽  
Additional Defect ◽  
The Uk ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

The United Kingdom (UK) Small Modular Reactor (SMR) is being developed by a Rolls-Royce led consortium to provide a market driven, affordable, low carbon energy, generation capability. The UK SMR is a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) design based on proven technology with a high level of safety achieved through multiple active and passive systems. This paper presents the approach that has been taken in the early design phases of the pressure vessels for the UK SMR. It considers the key design principles e.g. standardisation, simplification and design for manufacture, inspection and assembly which are being applied to enable the cost and lead-time reductions which are necessary for the UK SMR to be a viable alternative to larger conventional nuclear plants. The Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) is used as an example to illustrate some of the key design requirements which need to be addressed. Nuclear components are required to be designed and constructed to standards which are commensurate with the significance of the safety functions which they perform. This paper covers the practice established in the UK of designing to Incredibility of Failure for those components with catastrophic failure modes such as the RPV. It describes the additional features including more stringent materials specification and testing, additional defect tolerance studies and the qualification of manufacturing inspections which need to be addressed in the design to satisfy the high reliability claim.

scholarly journals Subnational governance for the low carbon energy transition: Mapping the UK’s ‘Energy Constitution’

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 1176-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas L Muinzer ◽  
Geraint Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Energy Transition ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Geographic Context ◽  
Energy Governance ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Subnational Governance ◽  
Low Carbon Energy

The UK has a ‘national’ strategy to decarbonise its energy sector, yet the transfer of key responsibilities to its Devolved Administrations has meant that they control many of the powers that determine the rate and extent of the decarbonisation process. This reflects an asymmetrical distribution of legal responsibilities that has cast a complex range of powers ‘downward’ from the national sphere to subnational scales and which plays a crucial role in shaping the agency at different levels of the UK’s energy governance. This paper provides a detailed exploration of the UK’s ‘Energy Constitution’ as a means of examining the way in which the complex legal framework of devolution shapes the spatial organisation of the UK’s low carbon transition. Previous research on the low carbon transition has remained largely ‘lawless’ and as such has tended to overlook how the legal regimes governing energy both produce space and are shaped by its geographic context. The paper therefore develops a more nuanced understanding of the spatiality, territorialisation and scaling of UK energy governance to highlight a nexus of ambiguity and partial power allocation distributed across a plurality of overlapping ‘legal’ jurisdictions. This raises fundamental questions over how UK constitutional arrangements reify the territoriality of energy governance and structure the relationships between national and subnational multi-level decarbonisation processes.

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