Nuclear power
British Energy plc is now part of EDF Energy, who acquired a controlling interest in the group on the 5th January 2009.
EDF own and operate eight nuclear power stations in the UK with a combined capacity of almost 9,000 megawatts. There are two types of nuclear reactors involved: mostly advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR); and one pressurised water reactor (PWR).
These power stations include:
Dungeness B - An AGR reactor with a net electrical output of 1090 MW. Decommissioning date: 2018
Hartlepool - An AGR reactor with a net electrical output of 1190 MW. Decommissioning date: 2014
Heysham 1 - An AGR reactor with a net electrical output of 1160 MW. Decommissioning date: 2014
Heysham 2 - An AGR reactor with a net electrical output of 1160 MW. Decommissioning date: 2014
Hinkley Point B - An AGR reactor with a net electrical output of 860 MW. Decommissioning date: 2016
Hunterston B - An AGR reactor with a net electrical output of 840 MW. Decommissioning date: 2016
Sizewell B - A PWR reactor with a net electrical output of 1188 MW. Decommissioning date: 2035
Torness - An AGR reactor with a net electrical output of 1250 MW. Decommissioning date: 2023
Why build nuclear power stations?
There is a lot of public disquiet regarding nuclear power stations. Do we really need them? The UK could meet the increasing demand for electricity from additional fossil fuelled power stations and the big increase in generating electricity from renewable resources, such as the offshore wind farms.
However the UK also needs to reduce the use of fossil fuelled power stations because of the emissions of carbon dioxide and the threat of global warming. Of course renewable energy resources are not guaranteed to be available 24x7. At peak demand periods for electricity there is no guarantee that the wind farms will be generating sufficient electricity to meet the demand and solar energy does not work too well at night!
In order for the UK population to have guaranteed availability of electricty supplies the nuclear and/or fossil fuel power stations must generate the required electricity to cope with the peak demand periods.
Any electricity generated from renewable energy resources will reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from the fossil-fuelled power stations. But when the government is planning the best way to generate electricity to meet the demand they should always deliver the generating capacity to meet the peak demand regardless of the weather conditions at the time.
New nuclear power stations for the UK
The £12.5 billion deal in which EDF took over the British nuclear stations, involves EDF building four new generation nuclear power stations which should be able to supply 13% of the UK electricity demand.
In November 2009 the UK government has approved 10 sites in England and Wales as suitable for these new nuclear power stations, they are mostly locations where there were already nuclear power plants.
The first nuclear station is due to be on stream in 2017. As an aside, the four planned nuclear power stations will, it is claimed, save more than 14 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.
In April this year (2010) EDF gave the contract to build four new nuclear power stations to AMEC. The proposed new power stations are the European Pressurised Water Reactors. These are third generation pressurized water reactor (PWR) designs.
One concern with the contract is the date that the first station is to come onstream. By 2017 five of the currently operating nuclear power stations are due to have been decommissioned. There is a potential gap where the UK may be generating insufficient electricity to meet the needs of the population, especially during the winter period.
References
BBC accessed 18-Oct-2010
EDF Energy
European Pressurized Reactor