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Whatever Happened to the Nuclear Renaissance?

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Whatever Happened to the Nuclear Renaissance? THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - OCTOBER 2017 Industry Perspective 13 Whatever happened to the nuclear renaissance? arly in the 21st century, the nuclear power plants are located in Despite numerous term “nuclear renaissance” North America and the European setbacks and Eentered our lexicon. The fu- Union, in some Western countries, ture of nuclear power looked bright- such as Germany and Austria, anti- challenges, some er than ever in the West, as fossil nuclear activism has kept public sup- fuel prices rose and concern over port for nuclear low for some time, argue the nuclear global warming grew in the public’s with anti-nuclear sentiments exacer- consciousness. bated by the Fukushima Daiichi inci- renaissance is far Riding the wave of new-found en- dent in Japan. Switzerland has an- thusiasm for nuclear power, plans nounced that it is phasing out its from dead. were made to deploy new units in nuclear programme, and even long- Europe and in the United States us- time nuclear supporter France has re- Elina Teplinsky and ing a new generation of nuclear reac- cently announced that it will be re- tor designs like Areva’s EPR design ducing its reliance on nuclear energy. Vince Zabielski and Westinghouse’s AP1000. In Eu- Making things even more difficult rope, construction of the first EPR for those countries with plans to pur- began in 2005 at Olkiluoto in Fin- sue new nuclear, Austria has vowed land, followed in 2007 by another to fight any new nuclear projects EPR unit at Flamanville in France. anywhere in the European Union, In the United States, two AP1000 and has challenged the state aid units commenced limited construc- granted to the Hinkley Point C proj- tion at Plant Vogtle (Georgia) in ect in the UK. Although nuclear is 2009 and two more AP1000 units the only source of low emission entered the construction stage in baseload power, governments in the 2013 at the V.C. Summer plant West have limited their financial sup- (South Carolina). In the UK, starting port to renewables, putting nuclear in 2008, potential new build projects on an uneven playing field. Zabielski: new nuclear construction is surging in the East were identified at sites in Somerset, So is it safe to say the nuclear re- Wylfa, Moorside, Oldbury, and naissance is dead? Not by a long to completing a four-unit project at Germany, in a knee-jerk reaction to Bradwell. shot. The nuclear renaissance is alive Barakah; Turkey has just kicked off the Fukushima Daiichi incident, de- Fast forward to 2017, and none of and well, but its epicentre has shifted the construction of its first plant at cided to phase out its nuclear pro- the plants mentioned above has gen- eastward. In countries like India, Akkuyu; and countries in the MENA gramme with little consideration of erated a single kilowatt of power. Ol- China, and the United Arab Emir- region, such as Egypt, Jordan and the long-term climactic impacts. kiluoto 3 should have entered service ates, nuclear power has been em- Saudi Arabia are in advanced plan- So has the East beaten the West? in 2009, but it is now projected to braced as the clean energy of the fu- ning stages for new nuclear. Not yet – thanks to the UK. From a be on line sometime towards the ture. Russia is steadily constructing Recent and ongoing nuclear new nuclear power development perspec- end of 2018, a staggering 13 years reactors domestically, while also es- build projects have given countries tive, the one shining light in the West after construction started and bearing tablishing itself as a leading supplier like China, Russia, and Korea – is the UK, where the government has an eye-watering price of €8.5 billion of nuclear technologies and services. which has added over 5 GW of nu- taken climate change very seriously -- a cost overrun of €5.3 billion. For rapidly growing economies, clear capacity domestically in the and has recognised the advantages of Likewise, Flamanville 3 is now nuclear provides reliable baseload past six years and is building the carbon-free baseload generation that expected to start operations by the energy to power quickly growing in- Barakah project in the UAE – valu- can operate 24/7. The UK has ex- end of 2018, six years late and at dustries. China since the early 1990s able nuclear construction experi- tended the same contract-for-differ- least €7 billion over budget, assum- has invested into importing nuclear ence, much of which has been lost ence scheme used to ensure the via- ing technical issues with metallurgy technologies, as well as developing in the West due to more than three bility of wind and solar projects to are sorted out. its indigenous nuclear industry. The decades of no new nuclear develop- nuclear new build. This scheme rec- In the United States, the owners of country now wants to reap the bene- ment. In addition, China has pur- ognises the environmental benefits of the V. C. Summer plant have aban- fits of this investment and has stated sued an aggressive localisation pro- carbon-free power, and provides the doned the project after sinking about its intention to become a leading nu- gramme, boosting its reactor design, developer with a guaranteed price for $9 billion into it, and the Vogtle units clear reactor exporter, offering Chi- manufacturing, engineering and the electricity generated. are struggling with cost and schedule nese designs with innovative and ad- construction capabilities to make it The UK government’s Education & overruns. In the UK, the project in vanced design features as well as increasingly independent from the Skills Funding Agency has also rec- Somerset – Hinkley Point C – is the manufacturing and construction sup- West in pursuing nuclear growth ognised the need for skilled nuclear farthest along, with some initial port for Western designs like the domestically and developing nucle- workers, and has developed nuclear ground works under way, and a EPR and the AP1000. ar export capabilities. apprenticeship programmes. In the planned operating date between 2025 India, on the other hand, has relied, The fundamental difference be- 2015 Spending Review, the UK gov- Teplinsky: the nuclear and 2027. since 1974, on its domestic industry tween the East and the West when it ernment committed to invest in a nu- renaissance is alive and well, Despite the fact that the majority after it was banned from the global comes to nuclear power is largely clear research and development pro- but its epicentre has shifted (255 of 449 worldwide) operating nuclear community post a nuclear one of will. In China, high energy gramme as part of its wider energy weapon test. Since it was recently re- demand growth and record air pollu- innovation initiative, which by 2021 admitted to that community, India is tion are such great concerns that the will reach over £400 million ($542 seeking to benefit from an ability to country is deploying all available million) per year. import foreign technologies, equip- clean energy sources to address these In November 2016, a £20 million ment and technical support to grow concerns. In India, where GDP grew programme was launched that sup- its already impressive industry. South an impressive 7.1 per cent in 2016 ports innovation in the civil nuclear Korea has been developing its nucle- alone, additional baseload capacity is sector across several major areas, in- ar expertise for decades, and its de- desperately needed to power the cluding advanced nuclear fuels, re- signs are a development of technolo- country’s rapidly expanding industri- search on next-gen reactor technolo- gy originally imported from the al base and burgeoning population. gy, nuclear materials, and advanced United States via a technology shar- In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, both manufacturing methods, including ing agreement with Combustion En- countries rich in energy resources, small modular reactors (SMRs). The gineering, a US company that later the governments realised that every Department for Business, Energy & was acquired by Westinghouse. barrel of oil they burned to generate Industrial Strategy has also created a So is the East moving ahead of the electricity was one less barrel avail- competition to identify the best value West in the nuclear power race? able to export. These governments SMR design for the UK. In a nut- Many indicators would say yes. New all made a very conscious and shell, the UK is poised to become a nuclear construction is surging in the thoughtful decision to pursue nuclear major powerhouse in the global nu- East. Of the more than 50 reactors power and its many benefits. clear renaissance – if it keeps its po- under construction today, the vast The West, on the other hand, has litical resolve. majority are being deployed in the for the most part ignored the impor- East, including 20 in China, seven in tant climatic benefits of nuclear ener- Elina Teplinsky is a Partner in the Russia, five in India and four in the gy. In the US, subsidised solar and energy practice at Pillsbury UAE. Further, China plans to quin- wind energy, combined with the Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP (elina. tuple its nuclear capacity to 150 abundance of cheap (but greenhouse [email protected].) Vince GWe by 2030, while India seeks to gas emitting) natural gas have forced Zabielski is a senior lawyer in Pills- add 17 GW of nuclear by 2024. In less economical single-unit nuclear bury’s energy practice (vincent. addition, the UAE is well on its way plants to prematurely shut down. [email protected])..
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