The
generation of nuclear power in the UK over the past 60 years has left a
residual site legacy which will require managing over many decades to come. The
challenges are numerous, but the long-term decommissioning programme presents
significant opportunities for growth and sustained employment throughout the
supply chain.
After providing
safe low-carbon energy for decades, all of the UK’s Magnox reactors are now in
the process of either being defueled or decommissioned before eventual
dismantling. Please see https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/magnox-ltd. Several nuclear research facilities and
fuel plants have also reached the end of their working lives, and there are
decades worth of spent fuel and waste material which will need to be eventually
safely stored or disposed in a geological disposal facility. The latest 2018
report from the National Audit Office estimates that the total cost of
decommissioning in the UK alone is thought to be in the region of £120 billion
over the next 100 years while the Department of International Trade estimates
that the international decommissioning market across Europe and the Far East
will be worth c. £250 billion between now and 2030.
The
decommissioning programme is the responsibility of the Nuclear Decommissioning
Authority (NDA), a non-departmental government body created in 2004 Please see https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/nuclear-decommissioning-authority The NDA owns 19 sites across the UK previously controlled by the United
Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA, now part of BEIS) and the abolished
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL). These sites include both operational and
non-operational civil nuclear reactors, fuel processing plants, storage sites
and former research facilities. Current UK plants involved in active
decommissioning include the Magnox managed sites at Berkeley, Bradwell,
Chapelcross, Dungeness A, Harwell, Hinkley Point A, Hunterston, Oldbury,
Sizewell A, Trawsfynydd, Winfrith, Wylfa as well as the Sellafield and Dounreay
sites in Cumbria and North East Scotland respectively.
Manufacturers
and the wider supply chain have a key role to play in this decommissioning
programme, providing the innovation, technology and equipment to safely
dismantle plant, handle contaminated material and support secure long-term
storage. The decommissioning programme has also provided opportunities to
innovate and learn through sharing good practice. The ongoing decommissioning
process at Trawsfynydd for example, has adopted 'lead and learn' principles,
with lessons learnt being shared with other decommissioning plants across the
UK.
Much
of the decommissioning programme requires innovative approaches and creates new
challenges for the supply chain. By successfully managing these challenges, the
UK can become a world-leader in the decommissioning market, with significant
potential for exports of products and services, and many of the companies
within the Welsh supply chain are well placed to gain significant work.
Companies that can secure a place in the decommissioning supply chain will also
be well placed to participate in the new build programme, and vice versa. Key
areas for shared expertise include mechanical components and fabrications
across all quality levels.