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Nuclear 2024 roundup: ‘Urenco can scale up HALEU operations where needed’

10 December 2024

The modular flexibility of Urenco’s advanced fuels’ operations was emphasised at the Nuclear Industry Association’s (NIA) Nuclear 2024 conference last week. 

Head of Advanced Fuels – Commercial, Magnus Mori, told a panel on allied fuel supply that both supportive Government policy and customer contracts were key to standing up the developing market. 

With regard to increasing the supply of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) when momentum picks up from reactor developers or utilities, he said: ‘Everything we build is highly modular at Urenco. The first cascade to be built in the UK (at Urenco Capenhurst) can be easily replicated. If the market expands, we can expand very quickly.”

Urenco is building Europe’s first commercial scale HALEU facility at Capenhurst as part of a co-investment with the UK Government. This fuel will help power the smaller, advanced reactors of tomorrow. 

Ministerial keynote speech

Elsewhere at the London conference, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband lauded the success of the nuclear energy industry, and said it had a vital part to play in the future of the UK’s energy landscape. He said new nuclear was a “part of the economy we are trying to build”, explaining it wasn’t just about the energy itself, but growing jobs and building communities, such as at Sizewell C. 

He additionally said he was “constantly struck” by the excitement around advanced modular reactors (AMRs) and the promise to decarbonise heavy industry. Mr Miliband said his “door is open and his department is listening” when it comes to new nuclear projects in the UK. 

SMR potential 

Separately, CEO of X Energy, J.Clay Sell, referenced the company’s recent deal with Amazon to provide SMRs to help power the tech giant’s operations, including artificial intelligence. 

He said X-Energy wanted to work with more countries including the UK Government but “the opportunities have to be seized and seized relatively quickly.” He said clarity and certainty was needed from the UK Government in the first instance. 

Changing the way nuclear is delivered

Meanwhile, the CEO  of Great British Nuclear (GBN) Gwen Parry Jones, said the industry should now “embrace disruption” and reinvent itself to find new ways of building nuclear energy provision. This could mean anything from building power stations in fleets, new locations to regulations and new sources of finance. She added: “We need to think about micro grids.”

UK nuclear landscape update

Managing Director of EDF, Mark Hartley, told the conference there was a good technical case for a possible 20-year life extension to Sizewell B, from 2035 to 2055.

The decision to extend the lives of four Advanced Gas Cooled Reactors (AGRs) in the UK, would help to keep the UK’s nuclear energy output at a consistent level in the coming years. He added that more than 8,000 people had been trained at Hinkley Point C’s centre of excellence so far, and there had been a 25% growth in young people coming into the Somerset area to work on the new-build power station.   

Separately, Managing Director of Sizewell C, Nigel Cann, said 2025 was a key year for the newbuild project in Suffolk, with a final investment decision hoped for from the Government. 

He added that the ambition was to deliver Sizewell C with 20% increased productivity and 20% more efficiency than Hinkley Point C. 

Annual Dinner 2024

Urenco attended the Annual Dinner 2024 after the conference, hosting a number of clients and partners.