{"id":404,"date":"2014-11-20T19:30:11","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T19:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/sussexenergygroup\/?p=404"},"modified":"2024-01-10T15:10:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T15:10:16","slug":"will-we-ever-be-cooking-christmas-turkeys-from-hinkley-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/sussexenergygroup\/2014\/11\/20\/will-we-ever-be-cooking-christmas-turkeys-from-hinkley-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Will we ever be cooking Christmas turkeys from Hinkley C?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The proposed nuclear development at Hinkley point in Somerset is once again in troubled waters\u00a0 following news that shares in the French state owned reactor vendor Areva have\u00a0plummeted by almost a quarter<\/a>. The company is the only one that can construct the proposed EPR reactor, as well as owning 10% equity in the project. Areva faces\u00a0legal battles, vast cost escalations<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0delays of up to 10 years<\/a>\u00a0at its current new build projects in Finland and France, for the same reactor type destined for Hinkley. Regarding investment in the Somerset site, majority state owned utility EDF are said to have\u00a0\u201cbalked\u201d at the demands of Chinese state-owned companies<\/a>\u00a0China General Nuclear Corporation and China National Nuclear Corporation. Thus\u00a0negotiations<\/a>\u00a0have also begun with Saudi Arabian state owned company Saudi Electric to invest in the Hinkley project.\u00a0Costs have risen<\/a>\u00a0from initial estimates of \u00a310 billion, to \u00a314 billion, to 16 billion, and most recently, the European Commission recommended factoring in potential costs of \u00a324 billion for the construction of the two proposed reactors at Hinkley point. This is all based on the presumption of a 2023 start-up date. However,\u00a0also reported today<\/a>, UK Government is said to be conducting a \u2018secret\u2019 review into the Hinkley project amidst fears that the 2023 start-up date is a pipe dream.<\/p>\n

I began my PhD on democracy in UK energy policy back in 2009 and today I\u2019ve been recalling the often-forgotten initial justifications for much of the Hinkley project. I recall that EDF negotiated a historic speeding up of the UK planning system when they were allowed to conduct\u00a0\u2018preliminary works\u2019<\/a>\u00a0on the Hinkley site through local planning procedures at the District level \u2013 prior to permission being granted to construct a nuclear reactor. Or as the late Crispin Aubrey described it, \u2018putting in the foundations before having permission to build the house\u2019. EDF admitted that their request was a \u2018highly unusual\u2019 one (EDF, 2010a) but nevertheless \u2018necessary\u2019 as it was in \u201cin response to exceptional national need\u201d (EDF, 2010b), and that the \u201cprogramme is for the new power station to commence operation in 2018.\u201d (ibid) What is more, part of that justification was that \u201c\u2026accelerating the completion date of Hinkley Point C by twelve months would result in a saving of approximately twelve million tonnes of carbon dioxide, which would otherwise be emitted from power stations burning fossil fuels\u201d (ibid). Indeed, as\u00a0Vincent de Rivaz, CEO of EDF UK<\/a>, famously declared, \u201cSome people would be cooking their Christmas Turkeys with power from Hinkley C.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s news may be more a case of chickens coming home to roost rather than Turkeys being cooked however. There could well be a\u00a0Hinkley-sized hole<\/a>\u00a0constituting 7% of future UK electricity capacity that was originally to be filled in three years\u2019 time. Prominent pro-nuclear environmentalists have referred to the German\u00a0Energiewende<\/em>\u00a0that involves an abandonment of nuclear as\u00a0\u201cutter madness\u201d.<\/a>\u00a0One wonders the view from Germany as its share of renewables continues to rise, looking \u00a0towards the UK as it attempts to construct new EPR reactors as a valid choice to deal with the urgency of climate change; a reactor that many\u00a0industry experts<\/a>\u00a0and enthusiasts admit is likely never to be attempted for construction again as it is so problematic, a reactor that is billions over budget and 10 years behind schedule in Finland, 5 in France, and with delays now confirmed in China: \u2018Does this constitute sanity then?\u2019 may be the question.<\/p>\n

Of course, nuclear is low carbon, and who knows, maybe it will be completed by the revised start-up date 2023. I’d be interested to see the odds at the bookies however. What is clear though is that we need to be realistic about nuclear power: the constant complaining that a seemingly infinitely powerful force of\u00a0\u2018irrational environmentalists\u2019\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0has prevented the most uniquely\u00a0state-subsidized and ring-fenced technologies<\/a>\u00a0from prospering as it should, needs to give way to a balanced debate that acknowledges through observing the Hinkley C story, the fact that despite the UK Government\u00a0doing virtually everything in its power<\/a>\u00a0to make the development happen, it is still in doubt. Questions related to the role of the state, and political-economic and democratic issues become far more pertinent to a proper evaluation of the practicalities of various technological options\u00a0than the singular focus that permeates a lot of UK energy debate: it\u2019s big, it\u2019s low carbon, and therefore it\u00a0must<\/em>\u00a0happen.<\/p>\n

But back to Hinkley C: what if the worst case scenario regarding nuclear financing occurs and Areva pulls out of the Hinkley project, and we will not be able to cook our\u00a0 Christmas Turkeys from that corner of Somerset? You\u2019d think there would be a back up plan: think again.\u00a0In the words of Vincent de Rivaz<\/a>, “There is no alternative to security of supplies, there is no Plan B to keep the lights on, there is no alternative to tackle climate change, there is no Plan B to remove CO2 emissions.”<\/p>\n

There you have it. A power station that is in serious danger of never being built, and for which there is no plan B.<\/p>\n

Dr Philip Johnstone<\/a> is a\u00a0Research Fellow at the Science Policy Research Unit\u00a0and a member of\u00a0The Sussex Energy Group.<\/h4>\n

EDF (2010a)\u00a0Site preparation works: planning statement<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>[Online] November, 2010.<\/p>\n

EDF (2010b)\u00a0Environmental statement: statement of need<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>[Online] November, 2010.<\/p>\n

Note: these are no longer available online.<\/em><\/p>\nFollow Sussex Energy Group \"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The proposed nuclear development at Hinkley point in Somerset is once again in troubled waters\u00a0 following news that shares in the French state owned reactor vendor Areva have\u00a0plummeted by almost a quarter. The company is the only one that can…<\/span><\/p>\n

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