{"id":512712,"date":"2025-01-31T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T09:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=512712"},"modified":"2025-01-30T12:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T12:50:09","slug":"roundtable-overcoming-the-barriers-to-building-more-nuclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/sections\/long-reads\/roundtable-overcoming-the-barriers-to-building-more-nuclear-31-01-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Roundtable: Overcoming the barriers to building more nuclear"},"content":{"rendered":"

A roundtable hosted by CN and Gleeds gathered a group of experts to discuss the challenges of delivering more nuclear power in the UK. Topics included how to overcome pipeline uncertainty and inspiring the engineers of the future<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

On the panel<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Graeme Bellingham<\/strong>, consultant, Bellingham Services<\/li>\n
  2. Stuart Bridges<\/strong>, operations director \u2013 nuclear, Mace<\/li>\n
  3. Andy Ellis<\/strong>, managing director \u2013 energy, Gleeds<\/li>\n
  4. Steve Golding<\/strong>, director and framework account lead for Sizewell C, Gleeds<\/li>\n
  5. Tom Greatrex<\/strong>, chief executive, Nuclear Industry Association<\/li>\n
  6. Phillip Haddow<\/strong>, programme manager \u2013 low-cost nuclear, UK Research & Innovation<\/li>\n
  7. Morgane Jossic<\/strong>, deputy innovation and digital manager, Bouygues Construction<\/li>\n
  8. Xanthe Kueppers<\/strong>, head of financing and economic regulation, Sizewell C<\/li>\n
  9. Lindsay Roche<\/strong>, business development director, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure<\/li>\n
  10. Jamie Townes<\/strong>, fusion engineering business strategist, UK Industrial Fusion Solutions<\/li>\n
  11. Shauna Young<\/strong>, head of responsible business, McLaughlin & Harvey<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Chair:<\/strong> Ben Vogel, deputy editor, Construction News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \"\"\u201cWhen the commitments to being net-zero carbon by 2050 and a low-carbon economy by 2030 were made several years ago, it felt like they were in the distant future \u2013 now it doesn\u2019t,\u201d says Andy Ellis<\/strong>, managing director, energy, at Gleeds. That the recently elected government has signalled it wants to move to a low-carbon economy at speed and is establishing the new Great British Energy to boost renewable sources are \u201cpositive signals\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

    However, despite the role nuclear could play in the transition, there is just one new nuclear power project under construction and one other large-scale project just starting construction, while several existing plants are due to come offline in the next few years.<\/p>\n

    \u201cGovernment is so important because every aspect of nuclear is reliant on public policy ultimately\u201d<\/p>\n

    Tom Greatrex, Nuclear Industry Association<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    So what is currently holding the UK back from going for more nuclear power? And what are the solutions to these issues? A roundtable held in London by Construction News<\/em>, sponsored by Gleeds, gathered leading industry figures to discuss the way forward.<\/p>\n

    Pipeline<\/h3>\n

    \u201cGovernment is so important because every aspect of nuclear is reliant on public policy, ultimately,\u201d says Tom Greatrex<\/strong>, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association. \u201cThat\u2019s the root of why wherever you look around the world it takes a long time to get them going. But once you do, the value that it brings to society and the economy as a whole is huge.\u201d He adds that France has seen a decline in electricity prices and an increase in energy security since its nuclear programme took off in the 1970s and 1980s. It is also a resilient supply that, unlike other low-carbon energy sources, is not dependent on the weather, and the UK regularly imports power from France as a result.<\/p>\n

    Other consequences of building nuclear include a boost for businesses and job creation. Lindsay Roche<\/strong>, business development director at Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, says her firm invests in its supply chain and in apprenticeships where it is working, including at Sellafield. \u201cWe could do so much more with a clearer pipeline, clearer certainty and confidence from government,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIn order to create certainty we need somebody to make a commitment to the programme of nuclear… We want certainty of investment, but equally investors want certainty of outcome\u201d<\/p>\n

    Graeme Bellingham, Bellingham Services<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    This would be the case on both major gigawatt plants and small modular reactors (SMRs). \u201cIf we have that pipeline, we can use the blueprint of what we\u2019re doing now and take that to other areas of the country and replicate it.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe can do it with our partners \u2013 when you get the supply chain and tier ones all working together, it really amplifies the impact within the supply chain [and among] the tier twos and threes.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Consultant Graeme Bellingham<\/strong> points out the chicken and egg situation in which the industry finds itself. \u201cIn order to create certainty we need somebody to make a commitment to the programme of nuclear, and one of the challenges of nuclear, particularly recently, is, do we ever deliver on time and on budget? We want certainty of investment, but equally investors want certainty of outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Alluding to the pace of nuclear building over recent decades, Greatrex says: \u201cThe best way you get certainty of outcome is not by doing one project then waiting 25 years and doing another one.\u201d Bellingham agrees and compares the situation to the falling cost of wind energy in recent years. \u201cWhy is that? Because there\u2019s been the certainty of a pipeline [so that people can] invest in the supply chain. It\u2019s driven innovation and driven scale, which has reduced the overall costs and improved reliability.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The planned Sizewell C facility in Suffolk is the first example of trying to capitalise on an existing nuclear supply chain in years, notes the project\u2019s head of financing and economic regulation Xanthe Kueppers<\/strong>. Modelled on the under-construction Hinkley Point C, it should be able to be delivered more cheaply than the Somerset plant. \u201cSizewell C will be financed using the regulated asset base financing model,\u201d she adds, referring to the method used in the water sector that sees private investors buy stakes in projects and users paying for it through their bills rather than general taxation.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe could do so much more with a clearer pipeline, clearer certainty and confidence from government\u201d<\/p>\n

    Lindsay Roche, Morgan Sindall<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    \u201cIt is novel for the nuclear industry but not novel in the UK infrastructure industry. We are seeing interest from investors particularly in the wider context of needing to decarbonise, needing to see growth, needing to see investment in UK industry.<\/p>\n

    \u201cBoth investors and big tech companies are focusing on the need for abundant low-carbon power that can power data centres and very energy-hungry AI now and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Cooperation<\/h3>\n

    Gleeds\u2019s Ellis points out that commercial relationships between contractors and developers are key to making projects work. \u201cYou need commercial models that allow suppliers and clients to work more as an enterprise and move away from the traditional adversarial ways of contracting and trying to transfer all the risk, completely inappropriately, to contractors that aren\u2019t well placed to manage the risk on their own,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

    Phillip Haddow<\/strong>, low-cost nuclear programme manager at government-owned body UK Research & Innovation, says that when developing new technology, it can be challenging to bring different companies together to collaborate rather than compete. \u201cI\u2019ve been involved in those processes a few times, and we have said, \u2018let\u2019s not focus on the specific technologies, which might have commercial sensitivities \u2013 let\u2019s start by collaborating on the really broad stuff where none of us know what to do\u2019.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI think that can lead to more open conversation, making sure you\u2019ve got the right people in the room. If you\u2019re competing with someone, it\u2019s a lot more difficult to collaborate.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Skills<\/h3>\n

    Several speakers mention the skills shortage facing the sector, and the need to attract a younger, more diverse workforce. \u201cThe term \u2018nuclear\u2019 is still perceived as slightly dirty and as an industry that young people don\u2019t really want to come to,\u201d says Shauna Young<\/strong>, head of responsible business at McLaughlin & Harvey. She calls for national and regional communications strategies to be developed on the issue. \u201cIt really does need a mass national communication piece and labour market and supply chain market [involvement] as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe perception that nuclear is something you can\u2019t be confident and proud of and speak about openly needs to change\u201d<\/p>\n

    Stuart Bridges, Mace<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Stuart Bridges<\/strong>, nuclear operations director at Mace, says the industry has tried to rebrand nuclear before but governments have not given enough support to those efforts. He believes that with stronger government support, many of the barriers to growth will fall away. \u201cIt\u2019s about that voice from government level and through the key policies that government enables. The perception that nuclear is something you can\u2019t be confident and proud of and speak about openly needs to change, and I think some of these other problems will fix themselves after that,\u201d he says. \u201cI think it will just spawn a whole industry if the government\u2019s got the gumption to say: we\u2019re going to do 24GW by 2050 \u2013 go and do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Jamie Townes<\/strong>, fusion engineering business strategist at UK Industrial Fusion Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, offers a different perspective on solving the skills shortage. While the under-development fusion energy through the STEP programme will not be available in time to help the UK reach net zero by 2030, he nevertheless highlights a key attraction the sector holds. \u201cYou often find an inspirational mission, like trying to put fusion power on the grid, brings people in to STEM subjects right the way through from schools to universities and graduates.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI think nuclear can talk a lot about its innovative role in supporting the future energy mix, which is not just about innovation in reactor technology but in what you apply that to.\u201d<\/p>\n

    He says nuclear energy can help decarbonise aviation by providing heat or electricity for hydrogen fuel. \u201cWhen we talk about those things, people get engaged in thinking about how to apply creative solutions \u2013 that\u2019s what engineers like doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The need to move forward with nuclear is driven home by Steve Golding<\/strong>, director and framework account lead for Sizewell C at Gleeds. \u201c[Expanding the output of nuclear] is a UK plc problem that straddles whatever government is in place, because if we don\u2019t, we\u2019ll get to the stage where the lights go off because we won\u2019t be able to hit the demand for data centres, for electric vehicles \u2013 that\u2019s where you need to have that certainty of supply.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThey need to find better solutions for a lot of the blockers, because it\u2019s a critical problem for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A roundtable hosted by CN and Gleeds gathered a group of experts to discuss the challenges of delivering more nuclear power in the UK. Topics included how to overcome pipeline uncertainty and inspiring the engineers of the future On the panel Graeme Bellingham, consultant, Bellingham Services Stuart Bridges, operations director \u2013 nuclear, Mace Andy Ellis, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53981,"featured_media":512800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[559],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n