Our nuclear renaissance:
before the lights go out
How can
nuclear power
help meetthe demand or
fast, sustained,secure and optimised low-carbonenergy production,
in a marketsuering ferce competition orresources, people and plant?
1
Part of a series of papers on IBM Smarter Energy
Our nuclear renaissance:
before the lights go out
Time is running outor Britain’s energy.
Based on currentcapacity,
demand couldoutstrip supply as earlyas 2016.
At the same time,Britain is committed to an
80 per cent reduction
in greenhouse gasemissions by 2050
–and almost half ofBritain’s current CO
2
emissions
stem romelectricity generation.
Based on current capacity
, demand or energy could outstrip supply inBritain as early as 2016. At the same time, at least a quarter o Britain’selectricity generating capacity will need to be replaced in the next ten years.I the country’s energy needs are going to be met in the long term, we willhave to act quickly to address the situation now. We need to create a revitalisedenergy network that is available and secure, with consistent supply. And weneed to make the most o our energy capacity.
Nuclear power will be a crucial element o te uture energy mi.
The UK’s Low Carbon Transition Plan species that “around 40 per cent o electricity will be rom low-carbon sources, rom renewables,nuclear and clean coal”
1
by 2020.Nuclear power produces less than two per cent o theemissions released by coal to generate the same amount o electricity. Increasing the proportion o electricitygenerated by nuclear power – currently around 13 percent – could help the UK meet its long-term carbonreduction targets and maintain secure supply.For this to be achieved, the UK needs to start thenew-build programme now. By 2025, all but one o theUK’s current ten nuclear power stations (representing 19operating reactors) are due to be closed down as they reachthe end o their planned working lives. It takes up to ten years todesign, build and commission a new nuclear power station and costs can runinto the billions. The rst new nuclear plant in the UK is likely to be built by EDFEnergy at Hinkley Point in Somerset and be in ull commercial operation by2018.
2
The company plans to build our new nuclear reactors in the UK, subjectto the right ramework being in place, with rst concrete on the rst plantexpected to be poured in 2013. This means a possible short-term energy gap asdemand overcomes supply, with the long-term picture remaining unclear.Once this new nuclear generating capacity is up and running, it must takeits place as a core part o the UK’s generation capacity. This means ithas to be sae, available, secure and operating eciently at alltimes. It will also have to share the stage with more partnersthan ever and cope with more sources oeringunpredictable supply, including distributedrenewables, imported/exported power, nextgeneration gas, micro-generation and more. Then there are the skills and resources to consider. Ithas been nearly 20 years since the last major nuclearplant build in the UK and a generation o engineers withexperience in this specialised arena is now hittingretirement age. Building new nuclear acilities is only part o the story; they need to be maintained and operate at highestpossible eciency. The act that around 30 countries worldwide are
How can we meet the demand orast, sustained, secure and optimisedlow-carbon energy production, in amarket suering erce competitionor resources, people and plant?
By designing and building facilitiesthat aim to operate in an instrumented,interconnected and intelligent way fromthe start, and doing so in a smart way.
40%
of the UK’s electricitywill come from low-carbon sourcesby 2020
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