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30 January 2007 - Nuclear companies from around the world are positioning themselves to win lucrative contracts to build new nuclear reactors in the UK ahead of its government's energy "white paper" in March.
Mike Graham, national secretary of trade union Prospect, which represents nuclear engineers, said there was "a lot of interest" in the possible revival of the UK nuclear industry from suppliers. "Everything seems to have been speeding up within the last month."
Although deal-making cannot go ahead until a formal decision from government to give the green light to new nuclear reactors, companies that make nuclear reactor technology as well as those that build nuclear plants have started positioning themselves.
In its review of energy policy last July, London said a new generation of nuclear power stations should be built and run by the private sector to replace those built in the 1960s and 1970s.
Last week executives from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the Canadian state-owned nuclear group, arrived in London to meet nuclear regulators and officials at the Department for Trade and Industry and promote its new line of heavy-water nuclear reactors.
Jerry Hopwood, vice-president for reactor development at AECL, said his company was already familiar with the UK energy industry, having conducted a study into new nuclear reactors with British Energy at the time of the last energy white paper, in 2003. "We have started talking to a number of utilities companies in the UK, and also extensively to the regulators," said Mr Hopwood.
Mr Hopwood added that, if hired to build a reactor for the UK, 70 to 80 per cent of the manufacturing would take place in the UK, creating jobs and safeguarding nuclear skills. He also said that AECL had a good record of building reactors on time and on budget.
If, as expected, the energy white paper gives the go-ahead to new nuclear plants, the first step is for the Health and Safety Executive to approve or "pre-license" a number of reactor designs. The government wants to create competition between reactor manufacturers, so would like the HSE to approve at least two designs for power companies to choose from.
Mr Hopwood said AECL would spring into action as soon as a formal decision was made.
AECL will be competing against more established reactor manufacturers such as General Electric, Westinghouse and Areva of France.
Robert Davies, UK marketing director for Areva, said his group had also been talking to the government about its latest design, the European Pressurised Water Reactor, as well as to energy companies Electricité de France, Eon and RWE.
"We intend to pre-license the EPR in the UK and we would not do this unless we thought we had some customers."
Westinghouse, last year sold by British Nuclear Fuels to Toshiba of Japan, has also been active in promoting its AP1000 reactor.
David Powell, vice-president of the European fuel business at Westinghouse, said: "We've talked to all the utilities that might be prospective investors, and also to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (part of the HSE) and the Environment Agency."
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