Overview of UK Policy and Research Landscape Relevant to Deploying Advanced Nuclear Technologies in the UK

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Underwood ◽  
Paul Nevitt ◽  
Andrew Howarth ◽  
Nicholas Barron
Keyword(s):  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Advanced Materials ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Advanced Manufacturing ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Design Assessment ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk

Abstract The UK government is committed to tackling climate change through clean growth — cutting emissions while seizing the benefits of the low carbon economy [1,2]. In June 2019 UK government set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. Nuclear energy is seen as a vital contributor to decarbonising the UK economy as outlined in the Industrial Strategy [2] and subsequent Nuclear Sector Deal [3], and £180 million of funding has been provided by Government for a Nuclear Innovation Programme (NIP) over the period 2016–21, administered through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Initial phases of the NIP have researched advanced nuclear fuel cycles, digital reactor design methods and advanced materials and manufacturing techniques. Throughout this programme the UK has developed a better understanding of a range of Advanced Nuclear Technologies (ANT), including Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs) and the opportunities that they provide in decarbonising a future energy system. In parallel, UK government has established a policy framework designed to encourage the development of Advanced Nuclear Technologies [4] and awarded an initial phase of development for a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) [5]. These programmes of work are enabling the development of technologies towards commercialisation, whilst enabling regulations are advanced. For this paper, AMRs are defined as a broad group of advanced nuclear reactors which differ from conventional reactors that use pressurised or boiling water for primary cooling. AMRs use novel cooling systems or fuels and in order to achieve operational efficiencies and enhanced safety performance, they are typically planned to operate in harsh conditions, including high temperatures, radiation field and corrosive environments. As a result of this there are still many questions which need addressing in relation to how materials and fuels will perform in these more extreme conditions. Within the NIP, an Advanced Manufacturing and Construction initiative is supporting answering these questions. This paper provides an overview of the policy and research landscape that aims to bring AMR and SMR technologies to deployment in the UK, and how the Advanced Manufacturing and Construction initiatives are helping to underpin the R&D needs for AMR deployment in the UK. One example is a programme of work titled “Establishing AMR Structural Integrity Codes and Standards for UK GDA” (EASICS). The aim of this project is to establish guidance on the structural integrity codes and standards that are required to support the Generic Design Assessment (GDA), which is a UK licensing process, of an AMR design through technology innovation and transfer (primarily for high temperature reactors). An overview of project EASICS will be described in further detail in another paper presented at PVP2020, PVP2020-21721.

Two centuries of innovation, transformation and transition in the UK gas industry: Where next?

2017 ◽  
Vol 231 (6) ◽  
pp. 478-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter JG Pearson ◽  
Stathis Arapostathis
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Gas System ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Past Experiences

Britain’s gas system developed in the early 1800s. Over the past two centuries the system and its local, national and international networks have experienced much socio-technical innovation, governance changes and six key transitions. Since the Climate Change Act of 2008, it faces a seventh challenging transition as the UK moves uncertainly towards a low-carbon energy system, including decarbonising electricity, heat and transport. The paper explores: the origins of the system by Murdoch, Boulton and Watt; the early 19th century development of local gas networks; innovative responses to, inter alia, the challenge of incandescent electric light from the 1880s, including the expansion of the customer base and the development and active promotion of cooking and heat services – the growth, fragmentation and incoherence of the industry between the two World Wars; the post-war period that saw the industry nationalised in 1948, as the multi-fuel economy developed; the institutional, technical and social challenges associated with the conversion to North Sea natural gas in the 1960s; and innovation and change in response to the challenges that flowed from the privatisation of British Gas in 1987. The paper shows how examining past processes of innovation, transition and transformation through the lens of institutional ‘governance logics’ helps appreciate the challenges faced by system actors, technologies, institutions and regulators in the past and offers insights into the issues posed by the low-carbon transition. The paper begins by outlining some analytical concepts used in the analysis. We then examine the regime’s six past transitions. The paper concludes by considering what insights these past experiences suggest for a seventh transition towards a low-carbon economy, for the future governance of the UK gas system and its networks and particularly for natural gas.

Establishing AMR Structural Integrity Codes and Standards for UK GDA (EASICS): Overview of Activities to Provide Guidance for the UK Generic Design Assessment Process for High Temperature Advanced Modular Reactors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Chevalier ◽  
Peter James ◽  
Nicholas Underwood
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Operational Experience ◽  
Guidance Document ◽  
Design Codes ◽  
Design Assessment ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk

Abstract The UK government has committed to achieving “net-zero” carbon emissions by 2050. Nuclear power is expected to play an important role in this undertaking. Therefore delivering new safe and cost efficient nuclear technologies is seen as essential by both the UK Government and industry. Included in these new nuclear technology are small modular Generation VI reactors, referred to as Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs). It has previously been identified that there is currently no clear route to demonstrating the structural integrity of such high temperature reactors to the UK regulator, with known short falls in the available codes and standards. Therefore EDF, Rolls-Royce and the National Nuclear Laboratory have collaborated to deliver the “Establishing AMR Structural Integrity Codes and Standards for UK GDA” (EASICS) project (part funded by the UK Government). This project looks to provide guidance on how existing design codes (such as RCC-MRx and ASME Section III Division 5) and assessment methodologies (such as R5 and R6) can be used to demonstrate the integrity of design within a UK regulatory framework. In addition, the project looks to make technological advancements in a number of key areas to address some known shortfalls in the available design codes and standards. These include 1) probabilistic design, 2) thin section defect tolerance and 3) creep-fatigue behaviour. This paper provides a summary of the current findings and an overview of the planned activities regarding Codes and Standards aspects of the project. This includes a review of the challenges within a UK regulatory framework for high temperature plant, key differences between available high temperature design codes and assessment methodologies, operational experience of high temperature nuclear reactors and key shortfalls in the available codes and standards. It will finally provide a description of what the final EASICS guidance document will be expected to contain when delivered in 2021.

Building a low-carbon economy: The inaugural report of the UK Committee on Climate Change

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Fankhauser ◽  
David Kennedy ◽  
Jim Skea
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Carbon Economy

scholarly journals Sociotechnical imaginaries of low-carbon waste-energy futures: UK techno-market fixes displacing public accountability

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 609-641
Author(s):  
Les Levidow ◽  
Sujatha Raman
Keyword(s):  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
Energy Futures ◽  
Sociotechnical Imaginaries ◽  
Waste Energy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Low Carbon Technologies

To implement EU climate policy, the UK’s New Labour government (1997–2010) elaborated an ecomodernist policy framework. It promoted technological innovation to provide low-carbon renewable energy, especially by treating waste as a resource. This framework discursively accommodated rival sociotechnical imaginaries, understood as visions of feasible and desirable futures available through technoscientific development. According to the dominant imaginary, techno-market fixes stimulate low-carbon technologies by making current centralized systems more resource-efficient (as promoted by industry incumbents). According to the alternative eco-localization imaginary, a shift to low-carbon systems should instead localize resource flows, output uses and institutional responsibility (as promoted by civil society groups). The UK government policy framework gained political authority by accommodating both imaginaries. As we show by drawing on three case studies, the realization of both imaginaries depended on institutional changes and material-economic resources of distinctive kinds. In practice, financial incentives drove technological design towards trajectories that favour the dominant sociotechnical imaginary, while marginalizing the eco-localization imaginary and its environmental benefits. The ecomodernist policy framework relegates responsibility to anonymous markets, thus displacing public accountability of the state and industry. These dynamics indicate the need for STS research on how alternative sociotechnical imaginaries mobilize support for their realization, rather than be absorbed into the dominant imaginary.

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.

ALTERNATIVE FUELS IN TRANSPORT AS ENERGY SECURITY FACTOR IN EUROPEAN UNION

2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (0) ◽  
pp. 65-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Pawłowska
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Alternative Fuels ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Total Energy Consumption ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
Energy Union ◽  
Energy And Climate Policy

The Energy Union is aimed at providing secure, sustainable, competitive energy to the EU population at affordable prices. A thorough transformation of the European energy system is required to accomplish this goal. The Energy Union is an important project which is supposed to set a new direction and a clear long-term vision for the European energy and climate policy. Transport is one of the key sectors in terms of energy consumption. In 2015, 94% of the energy used transport originated from crude oil and the sector’s share in the total energy consumption was 34% (Eurostat, 2016). The aim of the article is to show the activities in respect of the implementation of the “Clean Energy for Transport” package and its importance for the implementation of the Energy Union objectives. The development of an alternative fuel market should reduce the dependence on oil and contribute to increased security of the energy supply for Europe, promote economic growth and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in transport. Tools aimed at supporting the transition to low-carbon economy will be analyzed in the article. The scope of popularization of alternative fuels is determined to a large extent by market conditions and the extent to which an adequate infrastructure is developed. Hence, particular emphasis will be placed on the priorities for the development of technology and research, technical integration of solutions and financial support for alternative fuels.

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).

Developments in Structural Integrity Safety Cases for Highest Reliability Components in the UK

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Jelfs ◽  
M. Hayashi ◽  
A. Toft
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Structural Reliability ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Advisory Group ◽  
Design Assessment ◽  
Safety Case ◽  
The Uk

Gross failure of certain components in nuclear power plant has the potential to lead to intolerable radiological consequences. For these components, UK regulatory expectations require that the probability of gross failure must be shown to be so low that it can be discounted, i.e. that it is incredible. For prospective vendors of nuclear power plant in the UK, with established designs, the demonstration of “incredibility of failure” can be an onerous requirement carrying a high burden of proof. Requesting parties may need to commit to supplementary manufacturing inspection, augmented material testing requirements, enhanced defect tolerance assessment, enhanced material specifications or even changes to design and manufacturing processes. A key part of this demonstration is the presentation of the structural integrity safety case argument. UK practice is to develop a safety case that incorporates the notion of ‘conceptual defence-in-depth’ to demonstrate the highest structural reliability. In support of recent Generic Design Assessment (GDA) submissions, significant experience has been gained in the development of so called “incredibility of failure” arguments. This paper presents an overview of some of the lessons learned relating to the identification of the highest reliability components, the development of the structural integrity safety arguments in the context of current GDA projects, and considers how the UK Technical Advisory Group on Structural Integrity (TAGSI) recommendations continue to be applied almost 15 years after their work was first published. The paper also reports the approach adopted by Horizon Nuclear Power and their partners to develop the structural integrity safety case in support of the GDA process to build the UK’s first commercial Boiling Water Reactor design.

scholarly journals Investigating Freight Corridors Towards Low Carbon Economy: Evidence from the UK

2012 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 1865-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulus T. Aditjandra ◽  
Thomas H. Zunder ◽  
Dewan M.Z. Islam ◽  
Eero Vanaale
Keyword(s):  
Low Carbon ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Carbon Economy

scholarly journals Could energy-intensive industries be powered by carbon-free electricity?

2013 ◽  
Vol 371 (1986) ◽  
pp. 20110560 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. C. MacKay
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Electricity Supply ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Main Thrust ◽  
Material Efficiency ◽  
Industrial Energy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Energy Intensive Industries

While the main thrust of the Discussion Meeting Issue on ‘Material efficiency: providing material services with less material production’ was to explore ways in which society's net demand for materials could be reduced, this review examines the possibility of converting industrial energy demand to electricity, and switching to clean electricity sources. This review quantifies the scale of infrastructure required in the UK, focusing on wind and nuclear power as the clean electricity sources, and sets these requirements in the context of the decarbonization of the whole energy system using wind, biomass, solar power in deserts and nuclear options. The transition of industry to a clean low-carbon electricity supply, although technically possible with several different technologies, would have very significant infrastructure requirements.

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