Decommissioning and prospective new build organisational and planning issues, UKAEA achievements

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Decommissioning and prospective new
buildorganisational and planning issues, UKAEA
achievements

17th July 2008 Manchester
Presentation to KNOO
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Contents

• UK decommissioning NDA model, achievements
• Energy gap?
• New build reactor types and sites
• New build security and timing issues
• UKAEA recent decommissioning achievements

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Decommissioning - Introduction

• In 2002 the government published the Managing
  the nuclear legacy a strategy for action White
  Paper.
• This led to the formation of the Nuclear
  Decommissioning Authority (NDA) under the 2004
  Energy Act.
• The NDA are responsible for the decommissioning
  the legacy from existing civil nuclear plants.
• Government White Paper (Cm 7386) published this
  month suggests for volunteer communities to come
  forward for geological waste disposal sites.

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NDA decommissioning model
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Clustering and Schedule

• LLWR contract let
• Sellafield contract due to be let this autumn
• Magnox South (Bradwell, Berkley, Sizewell A,
  Hinkley A, Dungeness A) competition now on hold
  pending a review of competition strategy
• Remaining clusters (Magnox North,
  Harwell/Winfrith, Dounreay)

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NDA Achievements

• Common UK-wide approach to decommissioning
  programme planning
• Management contract for LLWR let in March.
• Preferred bidder announced for Sellafield.
• Formation of Site Licence Companies Sellafield
  Ltd, DSRL Ltd, Magnox Electric Ltd.
• New entrants into supply-chain

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NDA spends

• NDA budget is 8.6bn for 2008-11 (3 years).
• Funding priority based on hazard reduction.
• Highest hazards are primarily at Sellafield.
• Funds now diverted from low hazard sites (e.g.
  Harwell, Winfrith) to address the high hazards.
• Estimated total cost increases as the NDA gets
  more of an understanding of the true tasks ahead.
  Current estimate is 73bn.

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Reactor locations
Decommissioning in progress Magnox AGR PWR
Hunterston A
Dounreay
Chapelcross
Calder Hall
Sizewell A
Trawsfynydd
Harwell
Berkley
Bradwell
Hinkley Point A
Dungeness A
Winfrith
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UK energy mix 2007
Source National Grid
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Energy gap?

• By 2020, 12GW of fossil fuel power stations, and
  2 (or 7.4GW) nuclear generation will have ceased
  generating electricity.
• 14GW of fossil fuel power stations planned in the
  near term, and a further 2GW from wind farms and
  imports.
• Security of gas supply is uncertain in the
  future, and energy usage is increasing.
• Potential shortfall is small, but further nuclear
  closures from 2020 mean more capacity needs to be
  ready.

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Potential new build to fill the energy gap

• Government White Paper on Nuclear Power (Cm 7296)
  and more recently, Business Secretary John Hutton
  say that industry should look to go further than
  just replacing existing nuclear capacity.
• Nuclear seen as clean alternative to fossil fuels
  to provide baseline generation, with a secure
  fuel supply.
• New build reactors would produce far less waste
  than existing designs.

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Types of new reactor

• 4 Gen III reactor designs submitted to the HSE
  NII for the Generic Design Assessment process
• Westinghouse Advanced Power Reactor (AP1000)
• EDF/AREVA Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR)
• AECL Advanced Candu Reactor (ACR-1000)
• GE Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor
  (ESBWR)
• All 4 passed the first stage in March 2008, but
  AECL withdrew from the process in April.
• 3 designs now into the detailed review stage.

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New build designs
GE ESBWR
EDF/AREVA EPR
Westinghouse AP1000
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New-build sites

• The likely sites for new build are on sites of
  existing stations, with good connections to the
  grid.
• Sites in Scotland are not likely.
• The favoured sites are likely to be
• Sizewell
• Hinkley Point
• Bradwell
• Dungeness
• New sites would now be considered too.

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Reactor Comparison
Comparison of reactor types in terms of waste
production and efficiency.
Sources Magnox, AGR, PWR from the NDA, AP1000
from CoRWM
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Impact on security

• New-build designs use fuel more efficiently
  (greater burn-up). This leads to a lower
  volume, but more radioactive spent fuel.
• High radioactivity makes it harder to handle.
  Two-edged sword.
• A greater burn-up leads to less proliferation
  issues (less weapons-grade plutonium is
  generated).
• New-build designs can all take MOX fuel, which
  can be fabricated using plutonium from military
  applications or spent fuel, again reducing
  proliferation risk.

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Timing Implications

• New build plants would need to come on stream
  before 2020 to avoid energy shortages.
• Firm decisions with respect to planning and
  pre-permissioning Regulation needed soon.
• If nuclear, then capacity to build key components
  (pressure vessels) is severely limited
  world-wide, and many other countries are going
  nuclear too.

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UKAEA achievements

• Dounreay Shaft isolation project ahead of
  schedule
• Last of the radioactive isotopes removed from the
  Pile 2 reactor at Windscale
• 2007 MAST campaign completed with records for
  heating power and plasma currents achieved
• Last of the 1500 tonnes of liquid sodium removed
  from the Prototype Fast Reactor
• Formation of the Harwell Science and Innovation
  Campus
• Safety Dounreay has clocked up more than 3m man
  hours without a Lost Time Accident.

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UKAEA achievements
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Summary

• Costs for the decommissioning of existing
  facilities can be reduced.
• New-build seen as a key part of UK energy mix in
  the future.
• Timescales are tight to avoid a potential energy
  gap.

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Thank you