GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy exec: UK bid to treble generation capacity is ‘significant task’

The government’s bid to treble its nuclear generation capacity is a “significant task”, a top boss at one of the contenders in the race to build small modular reactors (SMRs) has warned.

Sean Sexstone, executive vice president of advanced nuclear at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, told City A.M. that the government must ensure stability in the current investment climate if it wants to revive the country’s nuclear ambitions,

“It will take a renewed and accelerated nuclear industry to deliver this, alongside stable forecasts, engagement and incentives, as well as a future focused training and skilled labour development plan. The government will be key to seeing this through,” he said.

Nuclear power is a key feature in the government’s energy security strategy, with Downing Street aiming to ramp up generation from 6.9GW to 24GW over the next three decades to meet its environmental goals and reduce its reliance on overseas vendors to meet its energy needs.

With no new power plants built since the nineties, and 85 per cent of the country’s ageing fleet set to go offline in the next 12 years, the government is eager to green-light new projects.

So far, this has included Hinkley Point C – a full-scale 3.2GW power plant that could meet the energy needs for six million homes – which is set for completion in 2028, and a proposed, near-identical Sizewell C project that awaits a final investment decision (FID).

It is also backing SMRs – scaled-down nuclear power plants that can be built in factories and shipped to sites at a lower cost – with freshly launched industry vehicle GB Nuclear overseeing a competition with a £20bn tender.

GB Nuclear has shortlisted six bidders including GE Hitachi, alongside EDF, Holtec Britain, Nuscale Power, Rolls Royce and Westinghouse.

The designers will be invited to bid for government contracts later this year with successful companies announced next spring, and contracts awarded in the summer.

The aim is for final investment decisions to be reached by the end of the decade and for SMRs to be operational in the UK by the mid-2030s.

The UK’s ageing nuclear fleet is set for winding down, creating an urgent need for new projects

Sexstone was impressed with the government’s approach to boosting nuclear, and believed GB Nuclear was a “great signal to the market” with its mission to get at least two SMRs over the FID hurdle by the end of the next Parliament.

“We are encouraged that this has created the right investment climate to establish the UK as a European hub for the nuclear industry and GE Hitachi is keen to play a role in enabling this,” he said.

This comes amid investment challenges for nuclear, with the government struggling to attract private investors to back Sizewell C – which has instead been backed with over £1bn in taxpayer funds.

There is also an impasse at Chinese-state owned Bradwell B nuclear power station which has been dumped in development hell amid security concerns.

Meanwhile, the Horizon venture has been ditched, which was overseen by Hitachi – is one half of the GE Hitachi alliance alongside US giant General Electric.

Hitachi scrapped its attempt to build two advanced modular reactors at Oldbury and Wylfa in 2020, eight years after buying the venture from RWE and Eon for nearly £700m.

However, GE Hitachi is more optimistic over its BWRX-300 SMR reactor design, which is based on established power plant models and fuel supplies.

It is a simplified 300MW version of larger-scale reactors, with the first to begin construction in Canada in 2025 – due for completion in 2028.

While GE Hitachi would not confirm the expected cost of each reactor, it has confirmed it has held talks with Welsh authorities over developing Wylfa into an SMR facility – which is also being eyed as a potential site for full-scale generation.

The company is open to being selected alongside multiple winners in the SMR race.

Sexstone said: “We believe the best way to de-risk the new nuclear programme is to select multiple technologies and partners. GE Hitachi is ready and committed to provide a share of this new nuclear energy to the UK as soon as possible.”

City A.M. has approached the government for comment .